A few annoying issues... What could it be?

[KITTAU]

Hi All,

Im not sure if anyone can suggest what these few issues Im having are at the moment with my VE Calais V 60Th Anniversary V8 is currently experiencing? Its due for 45,000KM Service next month and Im going to raise them when I take the car inn...

1) Slight clunk sound from front end when going over speed humps or turning into driveways... Sounds like suspension or something in the steering? Bushes??

2) Car experiencing an idle issue... Only happens sometimes after the car has been driven for awhile and is already at operating temp.. I drive the car. Come back to the car say 10 mins later or so and when I start it up if feels like the car is in warm up mode or like the aircon has been turned on as the revs sit up a bit and when the car is in drive the INT FUEL reading window shows it idling 3.2 - 3.1... When its operating fine its normally sits at 1.9 to 2.2 on the Int Fuel thingy... Seems to be doing more lately in the cold weather?? The car sounds a bit louder too when it does this and when you have the car in drive I have to keep my foot on the brake harder than normal as it wants to sorta creep away faster than it normally does... Turn the car off and and back on again say after a min and its fine???? Its driving me nuts

3) Power steering feels over easy sometimes and then other times stiffer as it feels like it needs more effort to turn the wheel? Hard to explain this one??

I have raised issue 2 (Idle) once before when it was in service but they said they could not fault it... They changed the airflow sensor, reset the crank angle sensor from memory and but it always shows its ugly head every now and then???

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I want it sorted out as warranty is up in July! Any ideas??

Cheers

Tim

[Boonz]

if youve complained about it before while it in warranty, its still covered until its fixed

sounds like you need strut top bushes to fix the knocking sound, have been doing heaps of these at work, they seem to be sagging and causing noises.

with the idle, have your battery tested and charged with a calcium battery charger, when the idle picks up, its usually the alternator giving the battery about 15.5-16 volts to try and give it some more charge, easy enough to check anyways

[daron]

my knocking was bushes and things and were replaced under warrenty
replace ya factory battery with new one best thing i did havent had any electrical probs since

[TinSnips]

Knock will most likely be strut tops, upper control arm bushes, or sway bar bushes - or a combination. Very common. Mine's had all three fail.

[greenacc]

^^ I should get you to come for a ride in my car, you must be an expert on identifying knocks n rattles by now.
Puts flame suit on ;}

[HEXEM]

2) Car experiencing an idle issue... Only happens sometimes after the car has been driven for awhile and is already at operating temp..

Mine seems to go the other way. 3 weeks ago the Holden rep thought my car idled a bit low (below normal) when at operating temp... The taco needle sits about a needle width over the 500rpm mark.. I don't think this can be rectified by Holden - unless they start changing throttle bodies etc..?

[Boonz]

you can do an idle relearn on the VE's, should set it to between 650-700 rpm depending on the running conditions

[TinSnips]

^^ I should get you to come for a ride in my car, you must be an expert on identifying knocks n rattles by now.
Puts flame suit on ;}

Don't know about that.. but I'm pretty good at sussing out where they're not, apparently!

[HEXEM]

you can do an idle relearn on the VE's, should set it to between 650-700 rpm depending on the running conditions

Is that standard rpm for an Auto? Who can do the idle relearn, Holden or myself?.. Do you have a proceedure to follow? I know if I go to my local they will more than likely say "what the?"

[Boonz]

thats about the standard idle speed for alloytec's, if you take it to a holden dealership and they dont know how to do it, i wouldnt be taking my car there again.... takes a whole 2-3 minutes to do with the tech 2

[sersev]

had a knocking noise on the rhs, got it changed today. Turned out to be the stabilizer links, if thats any help.

[Thumpin]

What sort of K's are we talking with these bush/link replacements?

Unless your rally driving these things, even 45K is crap durability!

[sersev]

Got 85.000 on mine, theres a lot of speed humps around my work area, also there was a caprice with the same problem at pedders while mine was getting changed. The guy at pedders said it was very common on the ve's.

[TinSnips]

What sort of K's are we talking with these bush/link replacements?

Unless your rally driving these things, even 45K is crap durability!

had the strut tops done at less than 10,000. D bushes at around 15,000 and upper control arms at around the 30,000 mark.

[daron]

i got 50k before they replaced it i owned the car 1 week

[SSV Redline]

Knock will most likely be strut tops, upper control arm bushes, or sway bar bushes - or a combination. Very common. Mine's had all three fail.

Hey Snips, I'm starting to get the impression you have had quite a lot of probs with your VE. Dont disppear. Our tour manager owns a 2002 Alfa Romeo and she has spent over $20,000 on replacement parts, servicing etc. The solution, give the alfa to a roadie, he'll drive it into a bollard, collect on the insurance. Spoiler alert: I am in no way advocating you rip off an insurance company if you are an Alfa owner. The grass aint greener on her side of the fence.

Have you got all your probs fixed yet?