VS troubles. cranking too long. sluggish. thumping. (new coil packs???)

[nathanVY]

hey everyone

been trying to figure this out for quite sometime now have been doing a lot of reading on here. would like some opinions/ideas on what could be the issue.

sometimes the car will start in a second first go, other time it crank for 4-5 seconds and slowly start up, a few times it has even made a sound like it spun out and had to get speed back up again before starting (during the crank)

despite changing spark plugs, leads, air filter, oil & filter, trans fluid & filter, etc that car is still sluggish! Maybe its just me but my VR definitely went harder than this, really bad off the line like theres a flat spot sometimes.

(seems to work best when fuel is just above the redline?? :S)

Also since I've had it the car has thumped on downshift, while shifting manually (its an auto) with the shifter and also if you're going down a hill. Thumps after shift too.


I am thinking new coil packs due may help with the sluggishness/hard starting... other than that I havnt done the fuel filter yet but would that cause all this?

ideas much appreciated!!!

[moff_man]

stabbing in the dark, but it sounds like you might have an injector thats flooding a cylinder causing it to fuel up too much and not firing on one cylinder. this could would be why its spins fast than slows.

i had a vr that after 1h sitting it would flood the cylinders and turn over like it had no compression new rail and injectors (second had) fixed my issue , but in the meen time all i did was remove the vac line to the fuel pressure reg start it than put the line back on.

[emir3008]

i have the same problem, also same model car+year and looks like same colour aswell.

[hako]

Re the thumping into gear, check or replace the throttle position sensor (TPS) - if it's dodgy, the transmission will have no idea of whether you have the pedal on idle or flat to the floor.
I'd go with moff_man and check the injectors.
Good Luck
ps....may pay to do a fault codes check as well: Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)

[nathanVY]

Thanks guys! Perhaps new o-rings & pintle caps for the injectors would be a good start? only a few bucks and pretty easy to do.
I was thinking about new injectors, possibly VX or VY - I put VT injectors in my VR and it was the best mod I ever did. Not sure if this was because of the VT style injector or just because they were newer.

Can someone explain the TPS where it is, etc a bit more?

EDIT: yes i should check the codes but i know a few mechanics so may wait til they can scan it lol

[immortality]

i can confirm that the injector diagnosis is spot on. i too have this problem and reco'd injectors fixed the problem. then i changed the fuel filter recently and the problem returned

[nathanVY]

i can confirm that the injector diagnosis is spot on. i too have this problem and reco'd injectors fixed the problem. then i changed the fuel filter recently and the problem returned

aha wtf!

might change fuel filter and all o-rings & pintle caps at once for an under $50 fix (hopefully) otherwise new injectors may be in order.


something else to think about, one time a few months back i washed the engine bay at the carwash, started it up fine drove off and was missing like an american soldier, no power, barely made it through 1st. drove it to the trainstation, went to work, came back and it was fine.

did i bugger the coil pack or something?

[2SidedVR]

You may of done some damage to the coil pack but generally keep high pressure/water away from your engine bay, will usually give u issues just for a clean looking engine. lol

[nathanVY]

thanks heaps for the discussion guys, will replace fuel filter and service the injectors and see how she runs afterwards!!!

[hako]

TPS is mounted on the throttle body - you'd be advised to beg, buy or borrow a Gregorys manual (library has them) as they have test procedures etc for all electricals in the VS.
You should also do the fault codes check: Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)
as it should give a fault code for a bad TPS. Thumping into gear will eventually kill your transmission.

[[p]wrr-247]

ok i have a vs its doing everything these guys are saying i have changed my tps it made it a litlle bit better but now i get the code 22 which is the tps and i have changed it four times my flat spot is between about 1200 rpm to 1850rpm and ame with the starting it will take a bit to strt sometims others probably starts quicker than any other car even had it lunge forward a few times on start up

[nathanVY]

dunno mate, im gonna get some secondhand injectors. $90 for 6 VY injectors from the wreckers, hopefully that helps the start issue. good luck with yours! have you checked the wiring? maybe needs a new loom?

[[p]wrr-247]

yer ill play arund on the weekend see how i go let me know how yours goes with the new injectors ill let you know if i find out whats playing up with mine thanx anyway

[nathanVY]

will do, depending on how much money comes in. got a new job today so should be able to fix her up a bit more

[nathanVY]

Cleaned the throttlebody today, was pretty dirty and also the first little bit of the plenum intake. Had to replace a vac hose because one broke. I noticed traces of oil in the throttlebody anyone know what can cause this? stuffed pcv?

throttle response is better. still really sluggish (reset the ecu so some of it is given).
I'm beginning to think maybe my exhaust is causing it, Twin 2.25" twin mufflers and cats maybe I should drop it back to one muffler or something?

[[p]wrr-247]

i dropped thed the oil and changes the filter in the gear box and replaced with new oil fixed the cranking problem and hard gear change but yer a bit slugish still i got a feeling i have got a hole in my exhaust and i think i have got a hole in the vacum hose aswell i could ere like air being sucked in threw there ill change the hose and spark plugs and see what happens after that but really happy with the smoothness of the car after a quick service of the box

[[p]wrr-247]

every ecotec i have looked at there has been oil in the plenum take the top off and give it a good clean and ck
heck it again if theres more oil in there like a fair bit then start to worry the rubber gasket is reusable if ts not broken

[nathanVY]

after driving it a bit more I have noticed a fair difference in throttle response, unsure if i mentioned this before but my car used to not shift out of 1st at all under load (eg foot to the floor) it would just hang at 5000rpms until you backed off. doesn't seem to be doing this at all anymore. so the carbon clean has made a difference, I think I will take my plenum cover off and clean in there to it didn't look to healthy.

[richo12]

i got a vs coomodore and the throttle boady got no power goint to it will that stop the car from starting

[seq4x4]

What do you mean, the throttle body has no power?

[wana s' charge stock vt]

ok i have a vs its doing everything these guys are saying i have changed my tps it made it a litlle bit better but now i get the code 22 which is the tps and i have changed it four times my flat spot is between about 1200 rpm to 1850rpm and ame with the starting it will take a bit to strt sometims others probably starts quicker than any other car even had it lunge forward a few times on start up

did ya reset the ecu after ya changed the tps??? would be the same code from the first one if ya didnt and will stay in ecu till ya reset it..

[wana s' charge stock vt]

Cleaned the throttlebody today, was pretty dirty and also the first little bit of the plenum intake. Had to replace a vac hose because one broke. I noticed traces of oil in the throttlebody anyone know what can cause this? stuffed pcv?

yep sure dose, mine backfired hard core (thanks to half a can of maf cleaner spray'd in while running woops) and blew every hose off, split intake pipe and stuffed the pcv, then had oil running down the intake pipe from then on and found out it the stuffed pcv,... new one fixed it and stay'd clean as,

,but if its just a little bit dirty is normal.. if its actual oil/liquid its not really normal

think worn rings can cause it too but a pcv's cheaper to try.......

[elmaso]

with the trans dose it jerk forward changing up (as in you can feel the entire car force itself forward, whilst accelerating), or have trouble getting out of first?

[nathanVY]

used to have trouble getting out of first eg- flaring like the bands are shot. was hammering it pretty hard off the line last night and it shifted fine! still thumps a bit, thinking of taking the plenum off and cleaning that but i'll wait till i have new injectors first

[[p]wrr-247]

yep it did but its a lot smoother now