Vp knocking noise

[Letscruise]

Hi guys first time posting on the forums just after some help pinning down a problem with my VP. It has developed a knocking noise over the last couple months and i can quite work out what it is. At first i though it was the harmonic balancer, so i popped off the drive belt to confirm it was just the balancer but the noise then stopped, i was honestly surprised since it was still the original balancer in the beast. So i was thinking passably some bearings on the alternator or A/C but they all seem to run smooth.

Could it be that it is the harmonic balancer but it only creates the knocking under strain?
Or is there something i have over looked?
any suggestions appreciated, cheers

[Azp]

Is the rubber on the balancer intact or all cracked? Did you give the tensioner pulley a spin when the belt was off?

[levymetal]

i had the same problem, turned out to be the water pump. perhaps it's not so easy to check for shaft play in the v6 pump but yeah have a look at that. stick a screwdriver up to it with the handle to your ear (be careful not to get chewed up) and see if you can hear anything coming from in there.

[Letscruise]

Thanks for the replies i'll have another look at the car soon, i got a mate who is pretty mechanically minded i'll get him to have a little look around with me see if we can sus out the problem. And the harmonic balancer has some very small cracks in the rubber around the outside, would that be enough to cause a problem? If it is i might need to bite the bullet and fork out at $120 or so for a newey. And the tensioner seemed sweet, ran nice and smooth.

justcommodores forums rock, good helpful advice, thanks

[pimpmyvr]

sure it wasnt the hydrolic lifter?? mine tends to come and go, i suggest a $12 bottle of lifter free before you bite the bullet

[wagonist]

if you have any luck diagnosing this, I'd appreciate some feedback, too.

My VP makes a constant knocking type of noise & after recently having a VN motor "drop" its bottom end, I really can't afford to have another one go.

It kind of sounds like insufficient oil getting to the heads, but I'm no great mechanic by any stretch of the imagination.

[Letscruise]

Thanks guys, going to see my mate tomorrow hopefully we can work it out and i'll try to get it sorted over the weekend if i get a chance, lucky i am not driving my car much at the moment. Also i chucked some injector cleaner in my petrol tank today when i filled it up, was running a bit rough, hopefully that'll sort out the roughness

[crazy.vr]

Also check out the transmission mount. That can make some awful knocking/vibrating noise. Also, if you need a new balancer, check out Supercheap Auto. They have them for 80 bucks.

[Letscruise]

Sorry i haven't been on the forums in a while been pretty busy (last week of uni ><)... still haven't got around 2 working out the problem... i got some door seals 2day from the wreckers (finally no more dripping on my foot when it rains). anyway i have some thinner oil in my car now and the noise seems 2 be louder... this is concerning... i haven't noticed any change in power or anything but i really want 2 sort this out since i'll be driving about 3500KM in a couple weeks. I may be taking it down to a mechanic friend at the end of this week.. see how it turns out. to give more detail is kinda sounds like... hmmm when u gently shack a spray can and the ball in the bottom moves around.. and it is a bit of a strange pattern 2 it, i'm really not sure what it is... hope it isn't anything serious. i have pretty much ruled out the harmonic balancer, transition or and of the pullies... so yeah i'm not sure....
thanks guys i'll try 2 post again soon

[delcowizzid]

if the noise went away without the belt on ide say balancer they make no noise with the belt off

[excalibur]

my guess would be balancer or water pump. i know my water pump is making lots of strange noises atm really need to get that fixed.

[Letscruise]

hey guys i got a harmonic balancer 2day $80 from supercheap good price considering every other place wanted $150+ anyway gonna put it in this arvo and hope it solves my problem, i'll get back 2 u guys with the result... I have another problem i have had 4 a while and i though i would get some input.... my steering wheel gets little bit of a vibration happening when i get over about 85-90KM/h, (maybe only like 5-10mm at the most) i know it isn't the tyre balance... so i'm thinking i might need to get my rotors machined? what do u guys think? i had a new steering rack put in not long ago always had the problem tho... the beast is lowered if that info helps at all. any input appreciated thanks guys.

[crazy.vr]

Check your tie rod ends and ball joints. Rotors should be ok but if it vibrates while braking the rotors might be out of shape. Also consider looking at your front wheel bearings.

[Letscruise]

well... that harmonic balancer was a prick.... getting that nut of the front wasn't that bad but my god the balancer was stuck on tight.... i got a pulling tool but is was bloody useless... i ended up welding bolts on the front of the harmonic balancer just 2 make the pulling tool work... then when i finally got it off and threw the new one on. I go 2 put the belt on and my tensioner decided it was a good time to break so tonight i am putting on a new tensioner on and hopefully the beast well be back in working order. as 4 the slight bit of play in the steering it is going 2 be a problem 4 me 2 sort out next week. o and with the harmonic balancer instructions it said i may have to adjust the crank angle sensor, is that hard 2 do? i know where it is just not sure about the actual adjusting of it (it shouldn't really need adjusting the old one wasn't grinding on the teeth)... anyway another day and another car problem.

Thanks guys

[Letscruise]

Ok new harmonic balancer is in and all good the noise is gone thank you everyone. And i had the fun job of replacing the tensioner 2night. It is also now done and the car seems 2 be running fine. In the process of changing the tensioner i ended up draining my power steering fluid (and i also pulled my radiator out the other day 2 get easy access 2 the harmonic balancer). So after getting everything back in 1 piece and all the fluids topped back up again i now have this strange noise coming from the dash.... like someone is blowing bubbles with a straw , and it just comes and goes every minute or so... anyone know what it is? maybe air in a line? should i try draining my power steering fluid/coolant? I'll have a close look at the car tomorrow when I have light Thanks for all the help I'm really happy now the "knocking" noise is gone car seems so much better already .

Also looking at getting my cars computer chip modified get it running a bit nicer it has extractors and air pod and i don't think it was ever tuned properly for them. Hoping 2 get a few more km's out of a tank and maybe a touch more power i'll let u guys know how that goes.

[delcowizzid]

the gurgling is air in the heater you need to bleed the cooling system again to get it out do it with the heater on hot so the air has a chnce to come out.want a tune PM me i can do something to make the vp go better and use less gas

[Letscruise]

Well yeah the heater coil has stopped making the noise... just ran my car with full heater on and it sucked some more coolant into the system. Also got the new tensioner on and it is sweet.. but like i said with cars you never done... i recently completely stripped my car and repainted it so this is the 1st time it has been out in the rain.. so i discover my boot it leaking my back window defogger wasn't working and my windscreen wipers needed replacing... have fixed those few things up just working on sealing up a couple things in my boot... then 4 no reason 2day my glove box decided it was stuck closed so after much frustration i ended up breaking the locking clip, so I'll replace that tomorrow as well... yeah fun fun.... but overall car is running nice now and in good condition so thank u for all the help

[Letscruise]

well fun fun fun.
I just took my car for a 3500KM drive, engine ran like a dream, however my attempts to fix the steering shake before leaving seemed to be in vane... i did a swap of any part on the front end of my car that looked worn, ball joints, shock mount plates, etc etc etc. basically had the entire front end steering and suspension out (except the rack). then went and got an alignment... now it is really strange my steering wheel does this constantly now it'll start of dead still, slowly build up vibration, slowly the vibration well die and the steering wheel it dead still again... i found this strange... and it just keeps doing it over and over, the higher the speed the worse it vibrates so any ideas on what that might be?

Now the 2nd thing this really kinda bugged me on the way back a kangaroo decided it would be fun 2 jump into my car (Lucky i had managed 2 break down 2 60KM before it hit me) so now my brand new paint job is a bit stuffed and i'll be doing some panel work this week (front bar is stuffed need to fiberglass new mounts and patch it up, also going to fiberglass a vent in for my cold air intake since i'll be doing alot of work 2 it anyway) drivers side front quarter panel and door also go smashed fairly hard so going 2 be fun trying 2 fix them

But other than that some figures on my economy i averaged about 420KM from 60L that that was with 4 people in the car total, loaded roof racks and doing a few mountain climbs so i couldn't really complain
BTW is anyone wants 2 take there lowered vn/vp commodore 2 the snow forget it u can't get chains on... they scrap on the guard
I found out when i got there, ended up having to drive my car up and down mt Hotham on a nice day when chains weren't required

ok guys Thanks 4 the help talk to you all another day