Some times stalls when selecting drive from neutral

[pete001]

I have just bought a vs statesman with the standard v6 commodore motor. When I bought it she ran very rough on idle but I thought that would be due to the exhaust manifold being cracked. I have since replaced it with a new one and it did help about 80%. When its cold she idles fine and selects drive and reverse perfect but when warm she sometimes kicks when going into gear and almost stalls, sometimes she actually does stall. Any ideas would be a appreciated I am not much of a mechanic but I am slowly learning. I was thinking I should change the crank angle sensor just to rule another thing out.

[hako]

I always do plugs and leads in any car I buy so I know where I stand. For a V6 thay should only cost around $70. After fitting them, if there is no improvement, I'd clean the throttle body and the IAC (idle air control valve) as they control the idle speed to a certain degree. See the "how-to" section in this forum. Also would be a good idea to get hold of a Gregorys manual for the car and learn all you need to know. Welcome to the forum as well - you get varied answers to most questions but there are some smart people more than willing to help. It will not be the crank angle sensor I think. Good Luck.

[pete001]

Thanks hako I will get onto that first thing tomorrow. Just one question where is the "how-to" section?

[PirateJoe]

There is! Holden Commodore How-To's

Firstly I'd say base idle is to low, however the fact that it 'kicks' into gear, could be a solenoid/band problem inside the trans or low filthy fluid. Does it only happen when selecting from Neutral into gear or whilst shifting gears?
Get the trans checked out, if the engine is running fine. I'd say a trans service would do it wonders anyway, probably been neglected..