VN HSV SV3800 - Help!

[VNSV38]

Hi Guys,
I recently bought an '89 sv3800, with a rather high 330XXXkm's on the clock.
The owner says that the previous owner had the engine rebuilt about 3 years ago, and it seems to run well, but I cant tell as i've never owned a commodore before.
what can I do, short of a rebuild, to bring a bit of factory power back?
is a full service a good plan?
how much is an estimate for a service?
I'm happy to do things like change air filter and spark plugs, but I dont have huge mech knowledge.
also, the pwer steering is stupidly light.
i dont really like it, and im scared il kill myself if i sneeze on the wheel in the wet.
could it have a 'not factory' steering pump/rack on it?
any help would be awesome.

[vn calais manual]

a good service, plugs, leads, fuel filter, oil and oil filter, will get her runing nice n clean. none of which are terribly hard or require much knowledge, perhaps the steering pump and rack have been recon'd at some stage.

[levymetal]

pump is probably worn for p/s, for some reason steering gets easier when the components wear out. try a reco pump.

[VNSV38]

thanks guys!
il get on that.
and look into a new pump.

[88GreenVN]

Or a second hand pump from the wreckers - depends on how much they are new or s/h

[Paiste402]

Yea man a service will be great for it, not too expensive either and it adds alot.

Also ive read somewhere that changing your oil can add 100,000 km to a motor. Since its mainly crappy oil and filters that kills motors with normal driving.

[STEALTHY™]

Has it got the dash clock?

[vnv8driver]

this is a guide i have on my site, its for the v6 & v8 so disregard the part where you adjust the timing...


Tools Required-

3/8th ratchet, extensions and socket set (sparkplug socket)
flat blade and phillips screwdriver
clean rags
19-22mm ring open ender spanner
small oil filter remover (shouldnt need it)
hydraulic jack and safety stands
Timing light

Parts-

air filter
set of quality spark plugs
set of spiral Leads
rotor/cap for the v8, points for early carby motors only
5 liters of oil (20-50w)
5 litre drip tray
nulon engine oil flush
metal sump plug washer
nulon lifter free tuneup
throttle body/carby cleaner/upper cylinder cleaner

fuel filter

ImageImage

Most people insist on jacking up your car for a service but i have always had plenty of room even with the low springs.

1.first add the engine oil flush to the motor and let your car idle for 10 or so minutes, then shut it down.

2.take off the oil cap to allow easier flowing of oil through to the sump

3.place the drip tray under the sump plug and use your 19mm ring spanner to undo the bolt being careful that contents may be hot.

4.whilst your waiting for the oil to drain you can install your air filter, sparkplugs and rotor button/points.

Airfilter-if its a panel filter, undo the metal clips that hold the air box together and remove/replace the panel element and make sure the bottom of the box is clean. and if you still have the snorkel attached to your box then rip it out. for a pod simply undo the clamp then remove and replace.

installing rotor button and points (early pre vh commodore model v8's) - Basically its just undoing the 2 clips on the side of the distributor and popping the cap off, the button simply pulls off, its not a difficult job on the late 80's carby motors but with the introduction of the efi 5.0 in 1989 that features a large inlet manifold it makes reaching the distrubutor a tricky task, with practise youll learn that the easiest way is to put a pillow on the radiator support bar & rest your weight on it, lean over the manifold and pull back the 2 hoses that run along the firewall fo easier acess. When refitting the leads to the dissy cap the firing sequence is 12784563, start with number one lead on the rotor caps north east plug and continue in a clockwise direction in the firing order. The points are screwed to the bottom of the distributor, you need to adjust the new points to the exact same gap that the old ones are positioned at(use the proper tool if you have it) if your new to this than id get someone else to do it, remove the points by undoing the screw and the wire, place the new points in the distributor and hold the points to the correct gap(if you change the gap then the spark given from the points will be weaker)the point gap can be adjusted by undoing the hold-down screw until it's loose. theres a gap for sticking a screwdriver into the points frame, so by twisting the screwdriver, you can move the points frame to slightly open or close the gap, push down and screw in the points, replace new rotor button and attach the cap and 2 side clips. you can replace the condenser unit if your keen but not compulsory.

Spark plugs- give each cylinder a number from 1-6, mark the number on each lead so you dont forget which lead goes where. use your ratchet, sparkplug socket and extension bar(s) to remove each spark plug, on the commodores you dont need a swivel. install the sparkplugs by placing each plug into your socket and without bumping the electrode, screw the plugs in finger tight, then do up with the ratchet, without over tightening them. replace your leads.

5.the oil from the plug would be down to a slow drip by now so move your pan so its under both the oil filter and the plug. you should be able to undo the filter by hand with a rag but if its been done up ridiculously tight use a oil filter remover.

6.get your new oil filter and lube the seal with some engine oil to stop the seal from cracking, screw on the new filter hand tight only.

7.replace sump plug when the dripping of oil stops and replace the washer if needed.

8.add 4.1 litres (v6) / 5.1 liters (v8) of engine oil and screw on the oil cap. start your motor for anything up to 10 seconds to circulate the oil through your oil filter and to ensure your motor is running smoothly.

9. stop the engine and after waiting for a minute or so check the fluid level, it should be 3/4 or more up the 'add oil' line of the dipstrick remembering that the lifter free tuneup additive still needs to go in.

10.remove the intake piping from your throttle body and spray a liberal amount of carby cleaner/throttle body cleaner inside the intake, whilst opening and closing the butterfly (accelerator) and make sure you clean the idle control motor out by attaching a small spray can hose to the can's nossle and spraying a good amount in the little hole that you can see when looking into the throttle body in front of the butterfly.

11.leave the cleaner soak in for a few minutes then spray it again to remove the majority of the carbon, wipe with a rag. next start your engine and whilst holding the rpm to around 1500-2000 MAX!!!, spray the cleaner into the intake, give the motor a few stabs of acceleration from under the hood

12.stop the motor, add the lifter free additive to the oil and take your car for a test drive, you should feel a differance in power, noise reduction, improved idling and more responsiveness.

13.whilst parked with the motor running on level ground, check the auto trans level and add as needed(will do a post shortly on how to service autos and manuals/diff etc, also check brake and power steering, radiator and overflow fluid levels

people normally add a set of leads to a full service but is only needed when one is stuffed.or they havent been replaced in the last 5 years. Change the fuel filter (near fuel tank EFI / Under bonnet carby) by unscrewing the hose clamps connecting the filter to the hose, simply switch it over making sure the flow direction is cirrect.

Last but not least you can check the current tune of any holden v8 by hooking a timing light up to it. Standard dwell is 10 degrees BDTC, but in most cases you can safely run 12 degrees and ain a little more response (98RON recommened)

Start by hooking the positive and negative ends of the timing light to a power and earth source, then find no. 1 cylinder. To tell which cylinder is no. 1 look parallel to the cylinder heads side on to the motor and see which bank sits further forward than the other, the spark plug lead closest to the bonnet grille is the no. 1, hook the extra connector hanging off the timing light to this lead. NOTE- On EFI models (vn+) you need to set the ecu in diagnostics mode, do this by bridging the correct terminals on the aldl plug which is located under the passenger side kick panel. (see diag below for correct bridging points for dig mode) On a carburettor fed motor you dont need to do this.
Now start the motor and let it warm up at idle, point the timing light which should now be flashing at the harmonic balancer (bottom central pulley on the motor), wave the projected light over the harmonic and you will see a reflected light displaying on a marking beside the crank. Turn the motor off and look closer at where the light was displayed and you can work out how much timing advance your motor is currently running, There will be a '0' on the plate where the light reflected onto, if the motors timing is advanced it will be displayed more to the left of the plate. By memory every notch to the left of the '0' is 2 degrees so 5 notches to the left is 10 degrees.






AUTOMATIC/MANUAL SERVICING




This is important to keep temperature down as well as to reduce or even stop gear slippage/grinding.
For both autos and manual you need to jack up the front and if you can, the back and secure jackstands under the car and let the jack down.
Written specifically for vn-vs model commodores however differant models are basically the same procedure except the amount of fluid may differ, refer to your manual if in doubt.
AUTOMATICS-
1.look at the auto pan and get a drip tray which is larger than the auto's pan.
2.remove the dipstick under the hood to allow the oil to enter the pan quicker.
3.remove all the bolts holding the pan on remebering to leave 2 bolts on each corner of the pan so it doesnt bend and tip fluid on you whilst your removing the bolts.
4.with the pan under the car and you out of the way carefully undo the remaining 2/4 bolts whilst putting preasure on the pan with your hand.
5.carefully lower the pan and disguard the fluid. if your new to working under a car then id bet youd spill some fluid but not to worry at least the old stuff is gone!
6. once the dripping has stopped, look up and youll see a rectangular piece of metal with 'jackets', this is the valve body, you will also see the filter which easily pulls off.
7.If the filter isnt that dirty, clean it, otherwise replace it.
8.clean all the gunk you can get to with a rag and pipe cleaners.
9.replace filter
10.inspect the pan gasket, it should be replaced but if it seems to be ok and not squashed/frayed just reuse it.
11.bolt up the pan EVENLY, but take a pen with you because the chances are the gasket has moved and youll need to realign it with the pen.
12.It is very important to not overtighten the bolts otherwise the cork gasket will crack. Do them up until the gasket starts to squish.
13.add .5 litre of oil under the hood through the dipsticktube, dont fill it too fast.
14.start your car and add another 4.5 litres of oil.
15.sit in the cab and with your foot on the brake go through all the gears to distribute the oil.
16.with the motor running, at operating temperature and in park or nuetral on flat ground, check the level with a rag 2 or 3 times and fill as nesessary. note that the marker on the dipstick has a 'addoil' level, the distance between the bottom of the fill line and the top of the fill line is 1 litre, this goes for motor oil as well.
17.Check for leaks and test drive your car.
MANUALS-
1.The manual gearbox has no pan, there is only a bolt on the bottom and side of the box , undo the bottom drain bolt with a regular sized pan and drain the fluid until it stops. note-the bolt is magnetic and normally picks up metal shaving that float around, inspect and remove as nessesary. This is a good way to tell how a manual has been treated.
2.replace drain plug
3.by memory the manual takes 1.5 litres of oil and to do this remove the fill plug and either use a proper pump or use a clean/brand new grease gun.
4.fill until it starts overflowing then replace the fill plug.
5.test drive vehicle

[VNSV38]

Has it got the dash clock?

yeah mate, it has the dash clock, all working too!

[VNSV38]

this is a guide i have on my site, its for the v6 & v8 so disregard the part where you adjust the timing...

mate this is a great service guide!!!
even I can understand it.
thanks for posting it up!

[vnv8driver]

not a problem, its apart of a project im doing while im on my disability pension.