VN Calais engine problem (and pics)

[VNCalais98K]

Hi All,

Just purchased an 88 VN Calais, and have a strange noise that I hope someone can shed some light on.

When driving (mainly under load) between 1500rpm and 2100rpm (predominently 1800rpm) there is a rather obvious rattle noise, almost like what youd expect if there was stones in the muffler except that its from the front of the engine.
Im tossing up between either a dodgy AC bearing/compressor or a loose timing chain or the unknown.
Went to a mechanic who took a quick look and 'guessed'- I use that term loosely - that it might be the chain, but then said he didnt know and that his brother that usually does the diagnostics is away...
Theres no effect to the power output of feel of the engine, and fuel economy is also quite good with an average 11.8-12.1L/100km.
Worth noting is that the whole car has only 99,000km on it (98,960km when i bought it) so whilst i expect body and suspension to fall apart, I would be hoping that the engine is in good nick.
I have noticed that when i first start the car after its been sitting for a few hours that it doesnt make the noise until after a couple of minutes of driving.
Also, I checked the crank pulley and that has very minimal play in it, which also suggest something else than the timing chain.

If anyone has had this experience, or can suggest what I should be checking would be great...



Anyway, back to the purchase...

1988 VN Calais, 98,960km on odo when purchased
Hayman-reese towbar
Immaculate interior
Good engine (apart from rattle)
Above average body (for age)
Light tint on rear passenger and back windows.

Only plans so far are aftermarket alarm/immob (getting installed on weekend), CD Player/Splits/6x9 (swapping out of my old car), and probably darker tint.
MAAAAAAYBE some rims... but I dont want to attract any unwanted attention from people with wandering hands.

Heres some pics:
Car Front (bonnet not quite straight, but noticed this with a LOT of VNs)



Car side/rear



Interior pics (notice no cracks in dash - I was impressed)





Engine Bay

[jack.mc]

That engine bay is immaculate! I thought mine was good! Nice looking car, very clean.

[KaleJudd]

hey dude theres a good chance its your harmonic balance, they are made out of a some sort of rubber or something and if it falls apart too much before getting replaced you could possibly saying goodbye to your radiator.

[Emackulation]

Yes, a very nice clean car mate. Im also thinking the harmoic balencer?

[F&B]

hey mate have a look at ur harmonic balancer and you'll see the center bolt holding it in then a ig heap of rubber followed by a small outer ring of metal that the belt rides on. inspect the rubber for any cracking especially around the the outer edge if you notice some cracking its prolly time to replace it, if you dont and it spins ( and if seen it happen heaps) the timing becomes totally F*^$#d and it will rattle its head off and be as gutless as theyre not that expensive to buy new and are a piece of piss to change. fair chance that it is the source of ur worries its a typical problem on V6 commo's

[VNCalais98K]

What do you mean say goodbye to radiator? what sort of damage are we looking at?

Is this hard to replace? costs involved?

Ive replaced timing belts on CA18s before, so im guessing this would be more or less the same difficultywise.

Harmonic balancer... hmmm... what does this do? and where can i find it?

[F&B]

right at the bottom of the block big round circle the belt goes right around it

[Emackulation]

Yeah, its located righ in the centre down the bottom, the biggest pully/circlethingy that the best rotates.

[VNCalais98K]

Cheers, i'll check it out tonight.

[Doctor Bob]

sounds like the vn timing chain rattles

Rob

[VNCalais98K]

Well thats one of the options, but the chain doesnt seem to be loose.... theres only a small amount of play on the crank pulley

[holden007]

Nice car, looks like its been resprayed, engine in nice nick. Check cracks in the rubber of the harmoic balancer, as mentioned. Not expensive if you change it yourself, but that centre bolt can be very hard to take off.

[JSTPOZN]

Where abouts in adelaide you at man? sounds like harmonical balancer they always go on vn's and crap..

[KaleJudd]

ive seen a harmonic balance that was left to degrade and when it gave up went straight through the radiator.

[JSTPOZN]

Yeah ive seen some crazy shit with the harmonic balancer

[VNCalais98K]

I'm north of adelaide, but work in town, so I might take it to a repairer in the city soon, that way regardless of whether its the chain or balancer, they can fix it and then time it right and service while there.
If it is the balancer id assume that this could be replaced very cheaply and if its the chain, then id imagine that replacing the balancer at the same time would be no extra cost beyond the part itself.
Now assuming that the chain is similar to the belt, id allow maybe 3-4 hours work to change at roughly $70/hour, plus parts... maybe $80-$100??
$350... $500 max would be a good guess?

[JD]

thats heaps low k's man
mines just clicked to 263000.

[JSTPOZN]

In the Clubsport?

[beefcream]

thats one ###n clean calais.. well done

[VNCalais98K]

well i checked the balancer and that looks brand new, the rubber is immaculate and doesnt even have any fading let alone cracks.
I reckon its the timing chain.
Mechanic says for timing chain kit and labour im looking at about $700, they based that on 260 for the chain kit and then 300 for labour then more money for additional fluids/seals and what have you... i reckon that hes having a nice old tug there... repco have the chain kit for 180 or the chain alone for 45 - I may as well get the kit and saave any future hassles, and the mechanic has already comitted to 300 labour (which is fairly reasonable for a job like that) So i will get it in asap to get fixed.
Anyone know if holden dealer mechanics are reasonable for this kind of work? if theyre anything like nissan then they will be pretty crap.
Anyway, cheers for the advice and comments on the car

[JSTPOZN]

PM sent man

[JD]

In the Clubsport?

yep odo reads about 263000 motor runs sweet though so not worried about rebuilding just yet

[PaRaDoX]

HOLY MOTHEROF GOD, THATS LIKE THE PERFECT CALAIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GIVE ME !!!! LOL well, that rattle may be called pinging, my calais does it on crap fuel, go put in say 20L of bp ultimate (98 ocatane) and see if it does it then,
the fuels that my car likes / dislikes are

likes
---------
shell 95
bp 91
bp 98

dislikes
------------
bp 95
shell 91
shell 98
shell 100

dont ask me why but thats just what burns best in my engine

[JSTPOZN]

ahha my car takes what evers going these days, actually its sittin in the back dead empty haha

[VNCalais98K]

Ok, well I got the brakes done today, which was first on my list.
I highly recommend Jon at ABS on Grange Rd, Findon.
Being the owner of the business, he did a great job on my brakes, very meticulous, but also friendly and helpful ($185.00).
Secondly i grabbed a new tensioner pulley, as i hear these are bullshit and have a habit of breaking, so I got a KC chunky metal one which should last forever ($32.99).
I also picked up the timing gear kit from repco.
Crow Cam Timing Kit for VN single row chain, with gears and all that crap - $157.99! Pretty cheap compared to 280 odd from the mechanic.
So thats getting swapped in on wednesday along with my alarm and hopefully that will fix the problems.
Then after that within the next 2 weeks i am ordering in some gabriel shockers for all four corners ($80 each) and might get some springs to drop her 1.5-2 inches while im at it, just to stiffen up the performance because im a little dissappointed at just how 'boatey' the car feels when turning out of a corner.
Then finally I will get the A/C and cruise control switch looked at and then everything will be sweet.
Until the next thing breaks.
But the consisten comment i get from anyone who sits in it is how many km it has, or rather doesnt have on it.
All in all, even with a few things to fix up, its still worth it.