Vr Commodore Misfiring problem

[Thunder Child]

Hi Guys,

Now before I start, I'd just like to say that I am not that knowledgeable on how cars work entirely, i'm pretty handy and have been replacing parts and fixing parts from following DIY vids on youtube and also what you guys have been saying on here, so forgive me if I own a car and not know everything about it.

Now comes the dumb part

I bough a 94 VR Commodore Auto Ecotec last year for around 2600. About half way through the year, I notice it has trouble accelerating and sounds as if these isnt enough fuel or mixture to burn, so anyway, I have done a million little things to the car and along the way, found the fuel injector O rings weren't sealing properly, which I solved with some rubber grease.

Thing is that it has gotten worse, to the point where it almost and sometimes does stall when sitting in idle or even worse when I try to reverse.

Though if I let it sit in neutral, the car doesn't have a problem in the world, runs fine, even if I rev the engine while its in neutral, no symptoms occur.
Also, the gearbox seems to be having a little trouble changing gears. The gear change from N to D is delayed by about 4 seconds and when it finally does kick in, its slightly abrupt.
When driving, the gears change but for some reason, the engine starts to revs heaps before finally changing.

When I go to use the air con, while the car is running, it stalls it, but not when the fan is running, it just seems to be the air con that pushes it over the edge. Is this an electrical prob? Battery?

I put it in for a service yesterday and the guy said there was a heavy miss in the engine and admitted it runs like a bag of shite in its condition

I want to get this repaired, but I was unsure what would need to be repaired as I obviously dont want to pay more for the car than its worth. Im just unsure whether the problem is the gearbox in conjuction with a bad battery or whether the engine is just misfiring bad.

I fix alot of things I own myself and while I may not try to fix this, Id like to see if anyone could identify what it might be and a solution/price?

[justbad4you]

do a error code check Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)

Hi Guys,

Now before I start, I'd just like to say that I am not that knowledgeable on how cars work entirely, i'm pretty handy and have been replacing parts and fixing parts from following DIY vids on youtube and also what you guys have been saying on here, so forgive me if I own a car and not know everything about it.

Now comes the dumb part

I bough a 94 VR Commodore Auto Ecotec last year for around 2600. About half way through the year, I notice it has trouble accelerating and sounds as if these isnt enough fuel or mixture to burn, so anyway, I have done a million little things to the car and along the way, found the fuel injector O rings weren't sealing properly, which I solved with some rubber grease.

Thing is that it has gotten worse, to the point where it almost and sometimes does stall when sitting in idle or even worse when I try to reverse.

Though if I let it sit in neutral, the car doesn't have a problem in the world, runs fine, even if I rev the engine while its in neutral, no symptoms occur.
Also, the gearbox seems to be having a little trouble changing gears. The gear change from N to D is delayed by about 4 seconds and when it finally does kick in, its slightly abrupt.
When driving, the gears change but for some reason, the engine starts to revs heaps before finally changing.

When I go to use the air con, while the car is running, it stalls it, but not when the fan is running, it just seems to be the air con that pushes it over the edge. Is this an electrical prob? Battery?

I put it in for a service yesterday and the guy said there was a heavy miss in the engine and admitted it runs like a bag of shite in its condition

I want to get this repaired, but I was unsure what would need to be repaired as I obviously dont want to pay more for the car than its worth. Im just unsure whether the problem is the gearbox in conjuction with a bad battery or whether the engine is just misfiring bad.

I fix alot of things I own myself and while I may not try to fix this, Id like to see if anyone could identify what it might be and a solution/price?

[The1]

The factory tune runs higher idle in neutral then in gear, sounds like TPS sensor is stuffed, id also clean the throttle body and IAC sensor and passage while your at it.

[HSVGTS E2]

Do an error code check or possibly it could have a stuffed altenator or the brushes are worn and will not give enough energy to the battery to handle the power not sure about the tranmission tho they cost alot of $$$ to get fixed try getting a really good battery and new or reco altenator new spark plugs and tension leads as well as cleaning the throttle body and TPS and the IAC sensor and if its taking 4 second to get neutral to drive then it's probably a good idea to go and c a transmission place... I had the same prob when i bought my car and had to get a reco transmission. $$$$ Then the engine was so bad i had to go and get a reco engine for it as well... But trying 2 sell it and runs really well.

[FstStig]

Misfiring is most likely your Coil Packs and DFI Module, these are the most common things to go in the commodores, although I don't think yours would be an ecotech being a VR, unless it was one of the very few that came out with them or it has been put in as a replacement from your Buick motor.

[Thunder Child]

Thanks for the info guys, I will get it checked out, I had a feeling it may be the throttle body. Could someone give me a reallly reallllly rough estimate of how much I'm looking to spend here? from $300-$1000?

I'm guessing there is a thread here somewhere on how to check error codes, unless someone can tell me quickly.

I bought the car for 2600 and it was mainly an option for me to get to uni with.
Now that I'm not studying, with the option to get a another car, I'm just wondering whether its worth spending the money trying to fix the problems or whether I should trade it in on a newer one?

[The1]

Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)

[Thunder Child]

Thanks, I hadnt seen that above.
Will check the error codes when I get home and post results


Cheers