2009 Chevrolet Corvette

PURCHASED USED 2009 CORVETTE Z06. IMMEDIATELY NOTICED GAS SMELL IN GARAGE. DISSIPATES AFTER SITTING FOR SEVERAL DAYS. IMMEDIATELY RETURNS UPON DRIVING A FEW MILES. THIS IMPLIES IT IS AT LEAST FROM A PRESSURIZED LINE (PROBABLY THE FUEL PUMP FITTING.) RESEARCHED CORVETTE FORUMS AND FOUND THIS IS COMMON PROBLEM ON C6 CORVETTES USUALLY WITH FUEL PUMP FITTING. CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE. THEY AUTHORIZED DEALER TO CONFIRM LEAK. DEALER DID SO. REQUESTED GM TO PROVIDE REPAIR OR AT LEAST PROVIDE REPLACEMENT PARTS. GM REFUSED. THESE GAS TANKS AND FUEL PUMPS SIT IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE SEATS IN A CORVETTE AND VERY CLOSE TO THE EXHAUSTS. COME ON NHTSA. DO A RECALL ON THESE FUEL PUMPS BEFORE PEOPLE DIE FROM FIRES OR EXPLOSIONS.

MY 09 CORVETTE BASE MODEL LT1'S TAIL LIGHTS WENT OUT AFTER I REMOVED AND REINSTALLED THE FUSE BLOCK. I CHECKED ALL FUSES AND RELAYS AND THEY SHOW TO BE GOOD. BRAKE LIGHTS WORK AS SHOULD AS WELL AS TURN SIGNALS BUT ALL FIVE TAIL LIGHTS WILL NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN TURN ON. UPON FURTHER RESEARCH THIS SHOWS TO BECOMING A MORE COMMON PROBLEM AMONG EARLY C6 MODEL CORVETTES. TAILIGHTS WILL RANDOMLY GO OUT AND PROCESS TO BE A TAIL LIGHT HARNESS ISSUE. I HAVE TALKED TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND THEY SHOW TO NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OF SAFETY RECALLS ON FILE FOR THE ISSUE. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE FOR THE DRIVERS AND FELLOW DRIVERS ON THE ROAD. THE DEALERSHIP ALSO DOES NOT KNOW THE ISSUE OR SOLUTION TO THE ISSUE. I WANT TO AT LEAST NOTE THAT THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO ADDRESSED FOR SAFETY CONCERNS AND LOOKED INTO FOR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE ISSUE.

I HAVE A 2009 CORVETTE WITH ABOUT 68,000 MILES. FOR MY LAST THREE TANKS OF GAS, I HAVE NOTICED THE SMELL OF GAS COMING FROM WITHIN THE DRIVER SIDE REAR WHEEL AREA WHEN THE FUEL TANK IS MORE THAN HALF FULL. THE SMELL FILLS MY ENTIRE GARAGE AT NIGHT, AND THE SMELL IS VERY STRONG. EVEN WHEN PARKED OUTSIDE, THE SMELL OF GAS IS RECOGNIZABLE FROM ABOUT TEN FEET AWAY. THE SMELL IS ALSO PRESENT WHILE DRIVING WITH THE WINDOWS DOWN. THE DEALERSHIP DID A PRESSURE TEST, SMOKE TEST, AND VISUAL CHECKS. THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND ANY ISSUES, EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE AGREED THAT THEY COULD SMELL GAS FROM THE REAR DRIVER SIDE WHEEL AREA. AFTER THOROUGHLY RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE ON THE CORVETTE FORUM, IT SEEMS THAT THE PROBLEM IS MOST LIKELY RELATED TO THE FUEL PUMP, WHICH IS MOST LIKELY CRACKED. A RATHER LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE REPORTED IDENTICAL SYMPTOMS. THE PROBLEM IS DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE, BECAUSE THERE ARE NO VISUAL SIGNS OF A LEAK, AND THE DEALERSHIP SEEMED AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT MIGHT BE CAUSING THIS PROBLEM. MOREOVER, THIS IS A DANGEROUS ISSUE, BECAUSE GAS IS HIGHLY FLAMMABLE AND VERY HOT EXHAUST PIPES RUN DIRECTLY IN BETWEEN THE TWO GAS TANKS.

AFTER INTERMITTENTLY SMELLING FUEL IN OUR GARAGE I CRAWLED UNDER THE VEHICLE AND NOTICED A WET SPOT ON THE FUEL TANK. THE DEALER FOUND A CRACKED FUEL TANK. IT SEPARATED ALONG A SEAM. IT WAS LEAKING FUEL WHEN IT WAS OVER 1/2 FULL. THE VEHICLE HAS LESS THAN 40,000 MILES AND I FEEL IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED AS A RECALL AS I HAVE SEEN MANY OWNERS HAVE REPORTED A FUEL SMELL. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT.

2ND OCCURANCE IN 6 MONTHS I WENT TO FILL MY CAR WITH GAS. FILLED IT UP AND GAS GAUGE WENT TO 0. ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, FUEL SYSTEM WARNING CAME ON AND THEN LOW FUEL WARNING. DROVE A FEW MILES AND GAS GAUGE WENT UP AND DOWN OVER AND OVER AGAIN. JUST CALLED DEALER AND HE WANTS $2000 TO REPLACE FUEL SENDING UNIT. I HAVE READ A HALF DOZEN CORVETTE FORUMS AND THIS IS A POPULAR PROBLEM FOR C-5 AND C6 CORVETTES. YOU WOULD THINK CHEVY WOULD HAVE FIGURED OUT THE FSU IS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDS TO BE RECALLED