My Blue 202 vh commodore wagon keeps dying on me randomly

[mondy888]

Just wondering if anyones got any idears on my whats wrong with my motor and how to fix it, it keeps dying on me randomly one minute it works then the next it doesn't. when it doesnt work i try turning the ignition on and it comes up with a (brake) light not the park brake light but another one, she wnt even turn ovr, i know theres nothing wrong with the starter and the battery is fine any idears?

[vkberlina]

bad earths

[ari666]

well, i think we are gonna need you to give a little more info.

for 1, does it "die" on you when its running? i.e. whats your temp guage saying? when it wont start, is it after its been parked overnight or just been run? when was the last time you checked basic items like spark, fue,l battery charge etc.

if you cant give us more clues, you got buckleys of us giving you a decent answer.

[mondy888]

well she judt doesn't start sometimes, when it running it seems to be fine but it did die on me once 4 no reason, she randomly sometimes doesn't start after been parked ovr night and after she's been running. i havn't done to many basic checks as yet due to time management if i get time this weekend ill have a look, i know my thermostat is locked open im pretty sure and the temp guage is working properly

[mondy888]

the car is also in gas im currenlty running it on petrol though, and im pretty sure it died on gas as well when we drove it, as far as ovr night though i dnt think it evr died on gas when i tried to start it

[ari666]

when you say "doesnt start" do you mean, doesnt crank over, or doesnt fire.

die it "die" on you going round a corner? heavy braking? sitting at idle at the lights? just on acceleration?

a locked thermostat could cause a few issues when its cold. especially if you have all that TVS rubbish still attached. but yeah. more info pls.

basic checks that you can do in a few minutes:

take off the air filter peer inside, what does it look like? all black? covered in junk? or clean as a whistle.

start it up for a few seconds. then stop it. peep down at the fuel pump. does it have a wet patch around it? or is it bone dry? look at your fuel filter. does it have liquid in it? look at the outside of the carb, does it have any wet patches?

now go to your dizzy, pop off the cap, look inside the cap at your points, are they covered in greenish-white-powdery-stuff? look at the dizzy, does the rotor button have that greenish-white-powdery-stuff?

meh, thats all the free/easy stuff i can think of right now.

[mondy888]

yeh it doesn't crank at all, well it died when we were driving i think we were going around a corner i dnt know exactly the old man was behind the wheel. also if i give it a rev when u come off the throttle it dies ive done that a few times when ive moved it

[az_sv6]

i had somthing similar in my vs stato. it turnd out to be my dizzy.

[mondy888]

wat was wrong with the dizzy exactly???

[ari666]

yeh it doesn't crank at all, well it died when we were driving i think we were going around a corner i dnt know exactly the old man was behind the wheel. also if i give it a rev when u come off the throttle it dies ive done that a few times when ive moved it

lets do this one at a time shall we;

if it doesnt crank at all you will need to do as scott said and check your earths first. i dont know if the VH has their fuse box in the engine bay, same as VK, but if it does stick your head down there between the enigne and inner guard, and find that flat plug with around 6 chunky arse wires going into it. from memory 2 black 1 purple 2 yellow 2 red. that plug burns, cut it off and join all the wires up with either solder or some realllly heavy duty yello crimps (i used crimps cs' soldering down there is a pain) now you need to get on the ground and check that the fat arse wire from your battery to the starter motor is completely tight. and the small purple wire to the starter is getting a good contact (wriggle it around a bit maybe squash it flat on the terminal)

then, dont try and start it yet, cos you need to check all this stuff periodically anyway so may as well get it out of the way now that you have your "working on cars" clothes on.

hop in the car. if its manual disregard this bit; pop the transmission selector cover off with a blade screw driver, stick your head in there and check that the two purple wires are connected to the neutral safety switch tightly, if they are loose (they shouldnt be) then squish them and make them tight. move the selector back and forth from P to 2 and back to P a few times to check that the switch is engaging and disengaging, if it isnt, then adjust it.

try and start it. if it is still a no-goer, you ill need a test light to check that voltage is going to and from the places it should be. but thatll be a story for another day.

ill bet that plug is at fault.

[mondy888]

sweet ill give it ago tonight and see how that goes i think the fuse box is in the car under the sterring wheel to the right? but im not a hundred 100% percent also atm the moment the car runs do ill have to wait until it stops again, so ill run it tonight just at idle 4 half an hour and then see if it stops.

[mondy888]

by the way the car is an auto it has that trimatic in it

[ari666]

i think the fuse box is in the car under the sterring wheel to the right?

yeah same as the VC, nevermind. see if you can find the plug i am talking about. i am pretty sure they used the same type, but it will be somewhere else, maybe on the drivers side. that plug caused me no end of problems, and the car switching off suddenley was one of them.

also, you will save yourself a lot of time by buying a test light today, so you can run some tests immediatly as soon as it faults. they are about ten bucks from any store that sells crap tools. i have two at home, two at my workshop and one in my car. lol, invaluable bit of kit when you are dealing with electrics.

[VKCOMMO]

have you checked for perished fuel lines, dirty carby, dirty fuel filter???

[mondy888]

ok i did some checks last night the air filter is clean as a whitle now and was pretty pretty dmn clean before hand, theres no fuel around the carbi, the fuel pump is dry after running it 4 a bit, but has some oil around like the rest of my motor. the fuel flter has fuel in it and is dry around it and the plugs r looking ok from wat i can tell that the plug with the chuncky wires, i hope that helps you guys a bit

[mondy888]

just a quick question when it comes to pulling off my dizzy to have a look do i have to pull the leads out as well of can i just unclpi it?? also should dissconect the battery......(i dnt trust anything in it atm)

[ari666]

nah, just unclip the two metal hooks on the side and lift it off and try not to turn the dizzy at all. when you put it back on there is a little tab bit that means it will only fit in one specific spot you might have to spin the cap slightly to get it in the right spot. dont take the leads off cos' itll just mean more work figuring out where they go back on.

so far its pointing to an electrical fault then

[mondy888]

scrap that last thing, i look in the dizzy theres a very very minimal white dust but yeh, also i twisted the rotor to the right i cant cant twist it very much and it does spring bck into place not super sharply but probably the normal amount that it should

[mondy888]

idk know if u'v looked up the screen but i did a lot of those checks u said, also my old man reckon it cold be a faulty ignition switch? where is that located and how could i check that

[lil_mickey]

The ignition switch is in your steering column,

This is defiantly an electrical problem,
check power to the small wire on the starter when the key is turned to "start",
From how it sounds, I woul place money that it is your neutral safety switch or the starter solenoid for sure,

do the lights on the dash go out when you turn the key to crank?

Is there or has there been an immobilizer on the car?

If you (or your old man) know how, Try to hot wire the car before you try attacking the ignition switch.

PM me for details if needed as i wont put them here for obvious reasons...

[ari666]

so monday888, did u invest in a test light?

[mondy888]

how do iget to the ingition switch? do i just unscrew all the plastic around the steering column? and nah i havnt yet i think the old man has one though so should be sweet!, btw im a noob on this sight how do i pm u and delete threads??, i thought this problem was electrical

[ari666]

click on his name, itll take you to his page, then there is an option to "send private message"

[mondy888]

cheers ive always thought it was the bloody ignition switch but im not sure about it i was tlking to a mechanic last night he reckons if it turns out to be that i should put a relay on it,

[mondy888]

cheers i cnt read it now due to internet sercurity gggrrr anyways ill take a look tonight