2013 Chevrolet Corvette Problems: 4 Known Issues

On the 2006-2013 Chevrolet Corvette 7.0L LS7 V8, the C6 Z06 (2006-2013) uses the LS7 7.0L V8 with titanium intake valves and aggressive valve springs. The valve guides (most often on the intake side) wear prematurely, allowing valves to cock sideways, break valve springs, and drop valves into cylinders. This is catastrophic engine failure. The issue is most common on 2006-2008 models but can affect all LS7s. GM never issued a recall or a published warranty extension; some heads and engines were replaced under the original warranty, and a 2015 owner class action (Pilgrim v. GM) was filed over the guide wear. The titanium intake valves and sodium-filled exhaust valves are unique to the LS7.

On the 2006-2013 Chevrolet Corvette, the C6 Z06 (LS7) and ZR1 (LS9) use a dry sump oil system with an external oil tank and scavenge pump. The oil tank can develop internal baffle failure, and the scavenge pump lines can leak at fittings. The dry sump system is more complex than the wet sump in base C6 models. Oil level must be checked differently (engine warmed to 175°F, then shut off and checked 5-15 minutes later). Overfilling or underfilling can cause issues. Some owners report oil starvation during sustained high-G cornering despite the dry sump design.

On the 2005-2013 Chevrolet Corvette, the C6 Corvette does not use a single fuel tank. Because the rear transaxle and torque tube run down the centerline of the car, the fuel is carried in two connected saddle tanks straddling the driveline, and each tank carries its own level sender. The driver-side tank holds the fuel pump module and the primary sender; the passenger-side tank holds the secondary sender (Sensor 'B'), which is the one P2067 reports on. The secondary sender is a wiper arm riding on a printed resistive card, and it is the resistive card and its contact surface that fail. Two mechanisms are documented by C5/C6 owners. The first is contamination: sulfur and ethanol residue in pump gasoline plate a film onto the contact track, and once the wiper starts skipping across a corroded or scored section of the card the ECM sees the signal collapse toward ground. The second is plain mechanical wear — the wiper cuts a groove into the card at the fuel levels the car spends most of its life at, and once it wears through the circuit reads as a short. Either way the signal voltage on the Sensor 'B' circuit drops below roughly 0.2 V and holds there, and the PCM sets P2067. Owners describe the gauge dropping to empty immediately after a fill-up, a 'Low Fuel' and 'Service Fuel System' message on the DIC, the range-to-empty readout going blank or nonsensical, and a check engine light that returns within a drive cycle or two of being cleared. Because the fault is contact-related rather than a hard open, it is often intermittent at first, appearing at one particular fuel level and then clearing as the float moves past the bad spot on the card, before eventually becoming permanent. Note that the wrong-year replacement sender is a genuine trap here: the resistance range specified for the sender changed during the C6 run, so a brand-new but incorrectly catalogued sender can leave the gauge reading wrong and the code still set. Owners also correlate which tank is at fault with when the gauge misbehaves, since the passenger-side tank is emptied first, its fuel transferred continuously to the driver-side tank where the pump sits.

On the 2005-2013 Chevrolet Corvette, the C6 Corvette carries its fuel in two saddle-shaped tanks that straddle the driveline tunnel, each with its own level sender. The left tank holds the fuel pump module and its sender is Fuel Level Sensor 'A'; the right tank has a passive sender, Fuel Level Sensor 'B', and its fuel is siphoned across to the pump side. Because the right tank is drawn down first, the 'B' float and its resistor card spend much of the car's life sitting in vapor rather than submerged in gasoline, and owners report the code appearing most often when the car is driven hard on less than half a tank. That dry-wiping is what kills them: the wiper arm scrubs a dead spot or a high-resistance band into the resistive card, so the sender's output stops tracking fuel actually being burned. The PCM compares the two senders and the fuel actually consumed, and when the 'B' signal is present but not credible it sets P2066 rather than a hard open/short code such as P2067 or P2068. Owners typically describe a gauge that reads correctly on a fresh fill, then hangs at a fixed value for many miles before dropping abruptly, a Driver Information Center range-to-empty figure that goes nonsensical, and in some cases a gauge the cluster disables outright. The condition is not mechanically dangerous, but it strands owners who trust the gauge, and a stored MIL will block emissions readiness. Note that P2066 on this platform can also be provoked by a weak siphon jet pump that leaves the right tank unequally full, so the fuel level of both sides should be compared before condemning the sender.