jfcupolo
Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2004
- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Pinellas Park, Florida 33782
- Corvette
- 1994 Dark Red Coupe - Automatic
I don't know if this problem has ever been addressed but since it took me 2 years and $2,000.00 to find I figure it might save someone a whole lot of grief. I have a 1989 coupe, my first Vette, bought with 100,000 miles on it and all original and it still runs great. I began having the following symptoms;
- check engine light would come on and go off at random times
- when it did, sometimes nothing noticable would happen
- sometimes the engine would begin to misfire or run rough or stall at idle
I went through the entire gamit of possible causes starting with the relays and engine management systems and computer chips, lions, tigers, and bears.
Nothing solved the problem and I eventually one by one changed every possible part that cold be involved from relays to throttle position sensors to disassmbling the wiring harness and inspect and rewrap it. Now I should mention here that I am a fairly good mechanic and a better than average trouble shooter. In desparation I took it to a Corvette Guru outfit here in Tampa Florida having conceded defeat and willing to pay anything to solve the problem on my beloved "Cher." A waste of time and money lets just say to be kind to the idiots that call themselves technicians at this joint.
Still this problem was elusive. One day after a weekend 8 hour session with no luck, while the engine was running in the garage, I allowed the hood to close with it's full force and the engine died. I restarted the car and repeated the motion and it died, 4 out of 5 times. I concluded it was a loose connection or corroded connection and went at this demon with renewed vigor.
I finally found the problem and repaired it. The problem was an issue I would think would be common on a high mileage daily driver like mine. The two relay sockets on the firewall that now had new relays looked fine but the contacts where the blades slid into the socket is designed with a strip of metal in each one that folds over creating a little spring pressure to push the contact point against each blade of the relay. Over the years the little spring contacts had begun corroding under the bend on each one until the contacts looked fine and even cleaned up fine from the view where you insert the relay but when you poked at them to test their structure they simply fell apart or some broke instantly at the bend or just had lost all their tension to make good contact.
The quick fix was to remove the socket and attach a female spade connector to each wire and slide them on to the proper relay blade individually. It has now been 4 months and over 20,000 miles with no issue. The only problem now is where do I get new sockets? I don't want to get ones from a salvage yard that are well on their way to developing this same issue. So any help with this need would be greatly appreciated folks.
I sincerely hope this helps someone currently pulling their hair out over a similar problem and I apoligize if this is a redundant explaination that is listed somewhere else.
Joe Cupolo
- check engine light would come on and go off at random times
- when it did, sometimes nothing noticable would happen
- sometimes the engine would begin to misfire or run rough or stall at idle
I went through the entire gamit of possible causes starting with the relays and engine management systems and computer chips, lions, tigers, and bears.
Nothing solved the problem and I eventually one by one changed every possible part that cold be involved from relays to throttle position sensors to disassmbling the wiring harness and inspect and rewrap it. Now I should mention here that I am a fairly good mechanic and a better than average trouble shooter. In desparation I took it to a Corvette Guru outfit here in Tampa Florida having conceded defeat and willing to pay anything to solve the problem on my beloved "Cher." A waste of time and money lets just say to be kind to the idiots that call themselves technicians at this joint.
Still this problem was elusive. One day after a weekend 8 hour session with no luck, while the engine was running in the garage, I allowed the hood to close with it's full force and the engine died. I restarted the car and repeated the motion and it died, 4 out of 5 times. I concluded it was a loose connection or corroded connection and went at this demon with renewed vigor.
I finally found the problem and repaired it. The problem was an issue I would think would be common on a high mileage daily driver like mine. The two relay sockets on the firewall that now had new relays looked fine but the contacts where the blades slid into the socket is designed with a strip of metal in each one that folds over creating a little spring pressure to push the contact point against each blade of the relay. Over the years the little spring contacts had begun corroding under the bend on each one until the contacts looked fine and even cleaned up fine from the view where you insert the relay but when you poked at them to test their structure they simply fell apart or some broke instantly at the bend or just had lost all their tension to make good contact.
The quick fix was to remove the socket and attach a female spade connector to each wire and slide them on to the proper relay blade individually. It has now been 4 months and over 20,000 miles with no issue. The only problem now is where do I get new sockets? I don't want to get ones from a salvage yard that are well on their way to developing this same issue. So any help with this need would be greatly appreciated folks.
I sincerely hope this helps someone currently pulling their hair out over a similar problem and I apoligize if this is a redundant explaination that is listed somewhere else.
Joe Cupolo
