What would you do/What should I do?

[Zealot06]

Still asking newbie questions, so please bear with me.

I've never owned a high-performance car like my 2002 Z06. Mine has 64,000 miles on it, and the more I drive it, the more I am absolutely thrilled with it. That said, I'm also getting the distinct feeling that she may have been "ridden hard and put away wet". I intend on babying mine!

I was told that this car spent the last 2 years in storage at a reputable Corvette dealership (in a Corvette collection), and that it had a thorough inspection prior to being brought to the showroom floor. Aside from the fact that I believe it needs new rear wheel bearings, I am quite pleased with it's condition. However, I am wondering if I need to do some servicing on it just to get it to a "ground zero" point for me, if you know what I mean.

So it light of my previous observations, if you had a car like mine would you do things like an oil change (my oil life indicator says I have 40% left), transmission flush/fill, coolant flush, transaxle fluid change, etc, etc.? What have you guys done to yours, if you bought yours used with little or no history behind it?

As usual, many thanks for the input!

[YumaZ06]

First thing I would do is run the vin number at the service desk and see what was done to it in the past, that may help you decide on what to do first.

What makes you think you need wheel bearings? Noise from the rear end?
Maybe a fluid change would help there. How old are the tires?

Oil change first, then trans and differential fluids. Do a brake flush and clutch fluid change and finally a coolant flush..

All this can be done over time as budget permits. Does it have a new battery in it?

These are the things that I would do personally if this car was mine.

[vant]

Welcome aboard, Zealot06. Also, you may want to inspect the belts and hoses if the car has been in storage. Next time you have the wheels off, inspect the brake pads and rotors.

And be aware, if those tires have been on the car for many years, they may not be as grippy as the tread-thickness would indicate. Just a FYI going into the winter months.

[racingvette]

You will get more information as how the internals are working by sending fluid samples to like Blackstone Labs

You can via their website get free kits they send you and before changing the fluids/oils put small amount in the kits and send it to them to analyze and they send you a full report back. They charge around $25 per test sample.

If unknown, most forgotten is also change the power steering fluid and use cleaner for fuel system and injectors.

Go to a good tech and have them do a full OBD-II testrun and from that you would know how well/poor engine is running and if a tune is needed.

Check date codes on side of tires, new rules is tires should not be more then 6 years old.

At the least if unknown is replace the 2 front 02 sensors as they degrade after 30,000 miles and lazy ones can lie to the PCM as true AFR.

Do a full load test of the battery as the electronics and sensors function only as good as the voltage and current levels.

Check end links for both sway bars.

Check major ground points to be clean and mounted correctly.

Check fuel rail pressure, should be around 58 PSI, if lower could mean the gas filter/regulator needs to be replaced.

Do a Ohms test on each fuel injector's 2 wiring pins (about 15 Ohms), sparkplug wires ( all should measure about the same) and closely look at sparkplugs.

Of course close look at brakes, wheel bearings and ball joints.

Lastly might want to do a compression and leakdown test of cylinders and checks for any air or exhaust leaks.

Clean the MAF and throttlebody, clean or replace air filter

[Zealot06]

Gentlemen, this is the kind of information/advice I was looking for and I do appreciate the time you all have taken to respond.

Yuma, I will have a VIN check done and attempt to get a service history. And yes, based on what I've gleaned from this forum and a couple others, I am convinced that the rear wheel bearings are shot. I had a very similar issue with my 2004 Saturn Vue. I changed the rears myself and it's been quiet ever since.

Vant, I did notice that the rear Goodrich CompT/As are almost worn. I intend to save my $$ and get a pair of Michelin Pilots to match the front by summer. I won't be driving her this winter unless the roads are dry and the sky is clear, but I will make note of the potential lack of grippiness as you suggest.

Racingvette, great suggestions. I am familiar with Blackstone; we send aircraft engine oil samples to them for analysis. I will check with the local Chevy dealer and get some quotes for the tests you recommend.

These are very helpful insights, thanks again!

[SRK]

It's not the space shuttle - it's a Corvette. They're tough.
Change the engine oil for sure, and the coolant. Have the battery load tested, replace if indicated.
Drive the car and enjoy it.
As to the wheel bearings, if one fails it doesn't mean the other has. The statistical odds of two wheel bearings failing at the same time is astronomical. Maybe one, not both.
A single oil analysis will show a failure in progress, but unless you have a sequence of tests done to establish a baseline, little else.
The car will tell you what it needs, not the other way round.

[trigger]

agree with Yuma. Not doing that ruined my first track event. i found the tranny was overfull and vented fluid on the track. I drained and refilled all fluids with good stuff and proper amounts. Also, if your car was hammered on, you would want to change the oil before 40% indicator. also that indicator is for synthetic, if its mineral oil, it way overdue.