My VX Commodore Purchase

[lee345]

Hi guys, just purchase a VX Executive S2 yesterday, upgrading from a VN Berlina.

Just a few things i noticed, the car has been sitting there for about 5 months without being driven at all, so it is a bit rough, but its starting to come smooth after a few drives. I notice a hissing noise when i accelerate, like a gas noise, im not too sure what that is. Also when braking from around 80 the braking makes the car shake aswell as the steering wheel, i bought it from my girlfriends cousin and they bought it like that, the salesman told them it is normal and its part of the ABS, i doubt it though.

Also the glove box roller/clip on the right hand side is broken and the glove box falls down when you open it, will that be an easy job to fix, aswell as the little compartment, it doesn't lock, seen a few posts about that and know its a fault with the vx, could someone point me in the direction on a guide to fix that.

Cheers guys.

[Cursed CX8]

hi mate, welcome to the forum.

When these cars sit around for awhile they get a build up of sludge in the throttle body, get a clean cloth and clean/rub the crap out. You will need to remove the induction tubing to do this and refit it once clean. The hissing sound could just be the dirt and stuff in there or it might be the Idle Air Controller which controls the idle when u move the gear leaver etc so the car doesnt stall with the extra strain on the engine.

Now the shaking of the brakes might be 3 things
- wheel alignment, about $45 to get done at any local tyre place
- Rusted break rotors, give the car about a week to break all the rust off the rotors and see if it still shakes
- warped break rotors, this occurs when the rotors can no longer effectively manage heat, the rotor will warp slightly effecting the breaking surface and angle. I think its about $40 a rotor/disk to get machined. Most tyre shops will do this too

let us know how you go

CC

[lee345]

the brakes had just been replaced before they stopped using it, so hopefully it just needs a bit of running in, or else its the alignment, which i can get done, thats fine.

I will have to have a look at the throttle body sometime in the next few weeks and see how it goes, thanks a lot for that.

[Cursed CX8]

no problems mate, let me know how it all goes

[lee345]

hi guys, at work and showed a guy who knows a decent amount about cars the hissing noise, i have a bit more info.

While in park/neutral, revving the car does not make it hiss, only when actually driving the car, he thought it was a vacuum leak but its only in mid-range acceleration, i put it in first, got it to the point where it cant accelerate any more and revved it a bit, i cant hear the hissing noise then.

Also, the battery was dead, i need the stereo code, i went to a holden dealer, they contacted steinborner holden where the car was originally purchased and they gave me a code that was in their database, it didn't seem to work, but now the stereo is locked with ---, had it once before and it took a while to unlock, just wondering what that lock time is? Other than that they have to take the stereo out, get the serials, fax off to Eurovox and get the code, which will cost me $25.

[Cursed CX8]

i think the lock time is only 60mins or something

id say the hissing is the dirty IAC which i mentioned before

[lee345]

hi, i'm just wondering where i can locate the IAC, i'm not exactly cluey when it comes to the mechanical side of things, i'm more into the electronic side, but a few indicators as to where it is and i will be fine. lol.

thanks a lot.

EDIT: Also from the looks of it the car seems to be very rough on startup, quite a few times i have had it stall on me at low speeds just after getting it going. Any ideas on this?

[lee345]

from what i see around these forums, it could also possible be the purge hose on the throttle body making it hiss, might take the cover off tonight and have a look.

[bpottz]

with the brakes mate, some people just say "my brakes have been replaced" or whatever, but do you know if the actual rotors were replaced or was it just the pads?

[lee345]

nah, probably just the pads mate, rotors are probably shot. I will have to look into that.

Also, i am getting a really rough idle now, while in neutral is it fine, just a little, but as soon as its in gear it gets really rough and almost stalls, occasionally it does stall.

Im going to check the purge hose once i finish work, i see that as a common problem for the syptoms i have, so hopefully that fixes it.

[lee345]

the hissing and rough idle are gone now, took off the cover on the engine, a hose was disconnected from the purge hose line, idle's perfectly and no hissing noise, thank god for this forum lol.

[SAV_117]

it would most deffinetly be the rotors for the breaks and car shaking

[lee345]

yer, im having them looked at, the car was serviced just before they stopped using it for 5 months, and the oils are filled up way to much, so im having a minor service and the rotors checked.

the car is running great though, took it for about 200km drive yesterday and it was great. I couldn't ask for it to be any better, im really happy that i purchase it, now i just have a few things like the glove box to fix, which one of the rollers is snapped off, im guess i need a whole new glove box door?

one of the rear vents was smashed up by the kids in the back seat from the previous owners, are they hard to take out and replace?

Just fixed the compartment under the radio which the latch broke on it, $16.50 for it, bit of a rip-off lol. Getting a new glove box inside tomorrow for $30 and will hopefully fix that, after that its just the rear left vent to fix and the LED behind the RPM Gauge.

How do i pull it apart to get into the rear vent and how do i pull it apart to get to the LED's behind the dash?

[XeKToReX]

if the glove box is anything like a vr, it should have a little push in clip/bar thing that goes right down in the bottom corner and pushes into the dash, look for holes

[lee345]

thats all been fixed now guys, the glove box, small centre compartment and the rear vents have been replaced, took a little while and very sore fingers, but i got there. Lol.

Next thing up is i might just through the stereo in there myself and see how i go, did it in my vn no probs, so its should be too much different. Hopefully i can get the rear speakers going as they aren't working currently.

[lee345]

Hey guys, going to fit my stereo in a few weeks time.

My next thing to ask is, what sort of rims look good on the VX, i know it should be a personal thing, but i would like to know what some of you thing look good on them, i saw these which i really like:

Wheel King

I like the look of those, has anyone else got an opinion on what looks good, where is the best place to get them?

Cheers guys.

[JoeFish]

my parents own a 99 Statesman and their glovebox thing was stuffed as well. But im pretty sure they got a friend to get one from the wreckers and he managed to put it in. works like a charm now