Smooth9883

Sometimes I think the forums are the worst! They're a great place to discuss information, but I swear if I didn't read half of the things on here I might not have noticed some of these issues. So tell me what you think about the below, "symptoms."

I have just under 8,000 miles on my 16 Z-51 with an A8. For your information I purchased the car in March of 2016 but it was built in December of 2015.

So here is what I'm seeing:
- Normal rev matching downshift in all gears except going from 3-2. The balance of the car changes dramatically and the car sometimes feels like the transmission is letting go. I've had it at the dealer twice for the symptom and they said everything is normal. The last time it was there they said they were talking with engineers to determine the build date of the car. The car has done this it's entire life.

- When in manual mode and slowing down using engine braking the transmission will again feel like it's letting go. The tach shows an increase in engine RPM, marked by a blue line, then engages again and the car will start to slow down. This really is noticeable when going down a steep hill. It use to be more pronounced in second gear but now I can also have it happen in 1,2, and 3.

- RPM's fluctuate when going from V8-V4. Normally there is a slight increase, about 100-150rpm, when the engine goes into AFM mode. I have also seen this on my 2016 Yukon which has the 6 speed transmission and I've written that initial surge of RPM as a normal tendency. What has me feeling worried is the RPM's will fluctuate by about 100 depending if the vehicle needs power or not. With cruise control on and on a level road the vehicle seems to hold RPM while under constant acceleration. Once the vehicle let's off the throttle the RPM's seem to drop by about 50-100. Living in Colorado we have more grades than level surfaces it seems. Since the vehicle is trying to maintain the speed when it's on cruise control it's constantly adjusting throttle which means my RPM's are fluctuating. It's not a constant thing though. It really only seems to happen when the load conditions change and the throttle is applied. It's not like the videos where peoples RPM's are bouncing up and down. There is no frequency or pattern to it.

- Rear end whine. So this one I haven't taken the car in for yet, but I'm thinking it's a normal condition of the vehicle. If I'm driving fairly spirited and the fluids are up to temp and possibly above what they would be when driving normally, I can hear a whine from the rear-end when applying throttle. When the temps go down to normal the whine seems to go away. Does this sounds normal? I did have a service rear-diff indicator come on about 8 months ago but I was told by the dealer if the car was sitting for a few weeks, which it was, it was possible the electrical system needed more charge and that's why the warning came up. I haven't seen it since.

Well? Hypochondriac?

sTz

Forums certainly provide a gauge on what is normal, acceptable, or needs fix'n. I find that they cost me money... in mods.

cor28vettes

Only if you notice you have no round taillights on your C7

owc6

FWIW, forums give a skewed picture of problems. People have a real or perceived problem and join a forum and complain or look for possible answers. Does this represent the average Corvette owner's experience?

No.

However, many stick around and become more knowledgeable than the average Corvette owner.

23/C8Z

Nope. Forums just expose the weak spots that the engineers, designers, etc missed.

every car made, certain things are inevitable for one reason or another. For example, it's a given that if you don't protect the sides if a GS or Z06 it will get sandblasted. Now, there could be ideal conditions say where a driver never drives the car fast enough to propel the debris into the quarter... but it will happen if driven like all others. Same holds true for the converter issues.

point being, if the A8 has a run of bad torque converters, every c7 in that run will exhibit symtpoms. Some people live with them, either oblivious or knowing and not caring to fix it, deem it liveable....

so you are not a hypochondriac. You're a realist and the victim of a bad run of parts.

Larry/car

The new automatic transmissions have more functions than just changing gears as speed and engine RPM dictate. I have a 2016 Colorado (V6 with speed auto), the engine runs great unfortunately it is mated to a horrible transmission. This transmission exhibits all the issues I read about here on the forum. The transmission shifts ok in manual but seems to have trouble selecting lower gears especially excelerating on a hill. If I select the trailer towing mode the shift points are modified which helps somewhat. Thankfully I have a manual in the Corvette.

dvilin

My guess is that Corvette owners who are not forum members are enjoying their cars and thankfully ignorant of many of the issues raised by forum members.

vbdenny

I'd go with maybe. I find the forum to be very interesting and entertaining and like everything else, some things break. 200 years ago all of Europe could have been destroyed and it would take months to hear about it. Now you have live video instantly for a backfire in Berlin. Massive input of information make you think too much sometimes.

jdsaengine

I have a folder 1/2" thick of problems and how to solve them printed for my C5. Out of the dozen or so common ones I only had one issue over 10 yr. In the meantime, I've had the fear everyday of "when is that next problem coming" all because of the forum. Maybe I would have been better off not coming here

Foosh

My view is that the forum is a great resource, and the frequent problem reports on internet car forums don't cause me any concern. Most reports are either not credible, or are not problems at all.

There are a handful of members, who I have come to respect as highly credible. When one of them speaks, I do listen, and mentally file the report for future reference. However, statistically speaking, I know the odds are greatly in my favor.

dval

It's not just corvette forums its motorcycles ,snowmobiles , boats , atvs and more.You have to put forums in perspective there a great place to learn things but don't let it ruin the present over some thing that might happen in the future

Vetteman Jack

As others have said, it is usually the owners with problems that post up those details on forums. The owners who experience zero issues just happily keep motoring on down the road. I keep a file of issues as they appear and their solutions as a resource should something happen, but I don't spend my time worrying when the next thing will hit.

dbaker

These cars are great....but some flaws are inherent to any machine
that is mass produced on an assembly line.

I do not have any stats,but I would venture to say that the MTBF of most of the parts/pieces is well within acceptable industry standards.

I say drive'em,maintain 'em and when something breaks,fix 'em

\db2

Rebel Yell

To address your trans. These A8's are quirky that's for sure. Myself, I would worry about that slight of rpm difference. The torque converter locks and unlocks in so many gears, that may be what you are experiencing. I just drive mine (A8), and let it play it's games. If it's shifting smoothly (it is), and not bumping/thumping (it ain't) then I'm happy,happy, happy.

And, about this forum. I know folks have problems, and I hope their situations are fixed to their satisfaction. But if mine is doing fine, I don't go looking for problems. IMHO this is a great forum with some of the best and most knowledgeable folks around with just the right amount real pecker-heads thrown in to make it interesting.

cor28vettes

You hear about planes crashing more than you hear about planes landing.


The only exception is Mar-a-lago