My "New" VR.....advise/help please!

[charvel]

Hello all!

I've joined this forum to help me sort out my recently acquired VR wagon, and I must say there is some great info on here! The how-to's regarding removing the dash was extremely helpful!

I'm hoping someone can offer advise on a few issues I'm having. Any help/tips greatly appreciated, as I am trying to get the VR to pass a Roadworthy and need to fix a few things, most of which I'll be able to cope with, but some....

1) Water Temp and Fuel gauges not working - after searching through the forums, I managed to remove the dash cluster and resolder the voltage regulator. I now have a working Fuel gauge, but its movement is not smooth. The Water temp gauge is still not working, so I think the sender unit for this gauge may be faulty. Can someone tell me where it is on the motor, so I can check it and/or replace it?

2) The rear washer jet is not working. There's no info on this in the Gregory's workshop manual I bought. I've filled the washer bottle, and the front jets work ok. Does the jet on the tailgate just pull out like a rubber grommet? Where is the pump located?

3) The steering wheel grip is loose. Does anyone have a stock unbroken non-airbag steering wheel for sale to suit VR? If not, I'll get a boss kit for one of my SAAS wheels....

Thanks in advance for any help/telps/advice! I'm going to keep searching for info on the above....

Cheers.

[moff_man]

2) the hose usually brakes just near the air box, but you should see a big mess on the ground if this is the case. does the pump run at all when you hit the rear washer

[hako]

Welcome to the forum.
1....not sure of exact location but will be near thermostat housing and has one wire connected to it. With ignition on, remove wire, short it to earth and temp gauge should go to fully HOT....this will test if the gauge is faulty wires are intact.
2...cannot help
3...do a search on fixing the wheel - you can inject glue to firm up the grip.
Others will supply more info. Good Luck.

[seraphic06]

2. The nozzle is a nightmare to remove without damaging it or the tailgate. It is held in place by two barbs. If it is blocked trying sticking a piece of thin wire through the nozzle and see how you go. However a more likely cause of the blockage is at the pump end. Remove the pump from the reservoir and give it a good clean, including the rubber "filter" that covers one of the intake pipes. These get clogged up with algae and debris.

[v6lux]

With No 2, try getting some compressed air and "back-blowing" it into the nozzle. There is sometime scum and algae build-up in the water tank that dislodges and gets sucked into the pump

[charvel]

Thanks to all who replied to my original post, much appreciated!

1) The temp gauge has come good! I ran the car for half an hour, just idling, and the needle on the gauge moved up eventually. I didn't know the VR's took so long to warm up, although the motor would probably warm up quicker under normal driving conditions, rather than just idling in the driveway....

2) I got the rear washer working, too. I took out the bottle, rinsed it out, and disconnected the hoses from the pump. I managed to get the jet off the tailgate (as well as some paint), and blew out the hose from back to front, blew out the crap from the jet. Once the bottle and pump were back in and connected, I then flushed the line without the jet connected, and lots of crap came through. All works well now, except I broke the rubber peice that the pump pushed in to.....

3) I think I'll try the super-glue-though-a-syringe trick and see if that will work. If not, I'll go put a sports wheel on.

And while checking everything else, I found problem number four....

4) Positions 1 and 2 of the heater/air con fan switch don't work. Is there an easy fix, or should I replace it? The car is a column shift model, and looks different to the floorshift ones. Are they the same switch, just mounted differently, and with a different cover?

Now back to the post regarding illumination replacement....

[Brett_jjj]

4) Positions 1 and 2 of the heater/air con fan switch don't work. Is there an easy fix, or should I replace it? The car is a column shift model, and looks different to the floorshift ones. Are they the same switch, just mounted differently, and with a different cover?

If the fans lower speeds dont work its most likely a stuffed heater fan resistor which is in under the black plastic cover thats under the windscreen wipers.When you remove this cover(you have to remove the wipers and the little clips to do this),theres a little round hump looking thing on the passenger side with 2 screws holding its cover on,and its under this hump cover thing that the fan resistors are located,its a little cage looking thing,it just unplugs from the plug.The resistor elements break and the fan stops working on the lower speeds.Its a very common problem.

[charvel]

If the fans lower speeds dont work its most likely a stuffed heater fan resistor which is in under the black plastic cover thats under the windscreen wipers.When you remove this cover(you have to remove the wipers and the little clips to do this),theres a little round hump looking thing on the passenger side with 2 screws holding its cover on,and its under this hump cover thing that the fan resistors are located,its a little cage looking thing,it just unplugs from the plug.The resistor elements break and the fan stops working on the lower speeds.Its a very common problem.

Can the resistor elements be resoldered, or do I have to find a good working unit?

[seraphic06]

Can the resistor elements be resoldered, or do I have to find a good working unit?

It can be yes although in all honesty it is just easier to go to a wrecker and pick one up from there.

[Brett_jjj]

Can the resistor elements be resoldered, or do I have to find a good working unit?

I soldered one up and it lasted about 8 months before it went again.Its worthwhile getting another one from a wreckers as seraphic06 suggested.Thats what I ended up doing.

[wortus]

Can the resistor elements be resoldered, or do I have to find a good working unit?

The original ones consist of a number of nichrome resistance wires in a metal cage they run in series with the motor switched through the speed control and these nichrome wire(s) break, they are not easy to solder without the proper flux if at all. I replaced one in a VN and the genuine replacement was a lot different kind of like a circuit board with a heat sink attached to it and it never played up after that.
I'd check availability on a new one from Holden.

If it's a VR non airbag steering wheel horn pad thats loose on the wheel they just push in with some plastic tags with a slot down the centre, these can get loose you can try shoving a bit of paper in the slot to force the sides back out and then push it back onto the wheel. I had the same wheel on my VN as the VN ones are a bit too big.