Opinion/Assistance needed....

[Emily]

Hi all,

I have a Holden Commodore VS 1997 that I'm still having trouble with mechanically. As some of you may remember, I have posted on here previously in relation to the same problematic car (re: heater core).

The current issue I am having relates to the vehicle cutting out with no notice whatsoever. The current mechanics have no idea as to the cause, and since it's an intermitent problem, I'm having difficulty with rectifying it.

There seems to be no consistency with how or why it cuts out. It can be idling in traffic and then cut out when I start to accelerate. It also can cut out when coming out of round abouts, or a turn.

The car's temperature doesn't appear to be influencing it, as it cuts out when cold and hot.

When it does cut out, the steering locks, so I have very little control over where the car goes.

The car is dual fuel, and it does cut out on both gas and petrol.

It's currently doing it once or twice a week or fortnight.

Any suggestions on what's going on????

Thanks!
Emily

[seq4x4]

Can you restart it straight after?

[Emily]

Can you restart it straight after?

Yes, but it is extremely difficult to turn it over, as in strength-wise.

[Brett_jjj]

Id be checking for any logged error codes, and if theres nothing showing up there, Id look at replacing the CAS (Crank Angle Sensor) as these can cause similar problems to what youve described, like the engine cutting out randomly etc, and it is very common part to fail on these cars. Some cheaper aftermarket CAS's can fail very quickly after theyve been fitted, so try to use genuine holden parts if you need to replace any engine sensors, like the CAS..If your not sure about checking the error codes, then look at the posts in the link below for a detailed explaination.
---Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)---

[drewVHSS]

I had an old customers VS wagon that had the same issues last year.
One by one it got better with the following:

Replaced coilpacks
Replaced DFI module
Replaced Crank Angle Sensor
Replaced fuel pump.
Been fine ever since.

Afterwards another vs (a mates sedan) Similar issues, I wonder if the original coils, dfi, cas and pump last long enough. They seem to eventually all want to die.

Crank Angle sensor normally fails when the engine is warmed up and/or hot weather, Get a bottle of ice cold water and pour it between the crank pulley and front of the block, if the car starts easy/easier after doing this... CAS is on it's way out.

If it's not temperature dependant, and you've inspected your plugs to ensure they've been firing (i.e. not covered in wet fuel) then you'll be looking more towards your fuel pump being on it's way out. The injectors need a decent amount of pressure in the line before they'll run, if your fuel pump is dying (you have flow but insufficient pressure) you'll have troubles starting and running.

Check also the wiring harness where it connects to the DFI module (coils are mounted on top of the DFI) you may have a dodgy wire or crud in the terminals.

You dont run E10 do you? Every VN-VS commodore i've encountered with a premature fuel pump failure has been running E10. If your pump is either original or older than when E10 came out, you'll find the older pumps dont survive for long or cope well with E10. In fact i've had one customer get 3 pumps done in a year, he finally stopped running E10 and hasn't been back since.
Not saying E10 isn't good, just saying for this particular model car, E10 isn't liked by most of the common brand fuel pumps available.

Just a few things to suss out for you..
Cheers

[hako]

You say: "When it does cut out, the steering locks, so I have very little control over where the car goes. ".......does this mean that the actual ignition turns off and the steering lock engages?