One angry VX owner!

[mainpath]

Hey all,

I love all the holdens that have come cross my hands, but i'm starting to really dislike my normally very reliable VX, I came home from visiting my Gf in hospital to find that one of the ball bearings have stopped turning and causing the belt to burn, now i made it home with the car, but now my question is would anyone know where i could get a ball bearing from as the car is stuck at home, would super cheap carry them or would i have to go to a mechanic to get one?

The reason i'm so ****ed is because the car was fine until 2 days ago when it went in to service for it's 200,000k, went on a long trip from sydney to adelaide no probs what so ever, (mind you we went with 2 vx's and the second vx had the exact same bearing issue which got fixed by holden in broken hill)
I paid $578 for the service with inc a few extra things and i'm very angry that it was fine before and now it's not specially when i need to be going to the hospital often.

end of life story, any help appreciated.

Thank You

[Mick1988]

Can you get to the bearing? You'd probably be able to strip and clean it with White Spirits and then re-grease it

[sway9]

repacking????? hmmm.... nah which bearing is it?

[mainpath]

oooo i was thinking that, the bearing is up on the top i can 100% get to it and i've seen it taken off @ holden before, so i know how to take it off and put it back.
Now what is white spirits? and what type of grease would i need? and since i'll be very close to a super cheap tomorrow do you think they will have everything i need?
Thanks heaps

[mainpath]

edit: top right bearing small one

[Mick1988]

oooo i was thinking that, the bearing is up on the top i can 100% get to it and i've seen it taken off @ holden before, so i know how to take it off and put it back.
Now what is white spirits? and what type of grease would i need? and since i'll be very close to a super cheap tomorrow do you think they will have everything i need?
Thanks heaps

White Spirits is just an alcohol based cleaner usually gets rid of grime and crap in bearings. Any sort of grease suitable for bearings would do the job, but if in doubt ask the guys at supercheap (perhaps take the bearing with you) and they'll get you the right one.

This MIGHT work, but might not. If not, you can probably just buy a brand new bearing from a Holden Dealer's parts department. Chances are they'll be no more than 10 dollars.

[accentstencil]

Repco have idler pulleys for around $30.

[mainpath]

they cost $61 for a replacement one @ broken hill for mum's bf car, hummm it's the whole thing of getting to a holden dealer lol okay i shall give that a shot and write back tomorrow. thank so much :-D

edit: i shall go to repco then thanks heaps.

edit2: How do i know that they didn't do something to it during service? and how come they didn't notice it when i could hear this squealing sound ever since i picked it up?

[davway]

if you could hear the squeeling sound, why didnt you check the sound for yourself instead of leaving it till it was stuffed?
Things do wear out by themselves, so theres no point trying to put the blame on the service dept.
you didnt pay them to check every single nut and bolt on the whole car - you paid for a service.
go check your service manual and you will see exactly what they did - it tells you.
anything NOT listed didnt get done.
you better go buy yourself a new belt as well because that too is stuffed now.

[Holdens Rule]

Did I read this wrong or something? You did about 2000kms after a service and then the bearing went so your angry. Considering you normally service about every 5000kms when would you like it to go? the car has done around 200,000 and bearings don't last forever. I understand not being happy about it especially if your g/f is in hospital but really disliking your car over something little like that is a bit rich isn't it?

[fuzzy2308]

repco have idler pulleys for around $30.

do you work at repco you seem very fond off them lol

[mainpath]

if you could hear the squeeling sound, why didnt you check the sound for yourself instead of leaving it till it was stuffed?
Things do wear out by themselves, so theres no point trying to put the blame on the service dept.
you didnt pay them to check every single nut and bolt on the whole car - you paid for a service.
go check your service manual and you will see exactly what they did - it tells you.
anything NOT listed didnt get done.
you better go buy yourself a new belt as well because that too is stuffed now.

I agree new belt as well,
Now this wouldn't be the first time when i've taken a car to service and it's come out worse then before.
Yea i understand things wear out, so what, fact is i've driven the car no less then say 30k's out from the service department which if they had done the service properly they would have heard it squeak (hey i'm no mechanic hence the reason why i give it to the "professionals" to do)
Good thing is i know it's not an expensive part. I know that during the service the car went through a major check up of the motor (i asked for it)
End result is i'm not a mechanic i'm learning as it is, I gave them my car, a service centre that always checks out the car very thoroughly and reports back with problems, i'm just angry that they managed to over look this and that it was fine before. Oh and it's not my job (the non mechanic) to be opening the bonnet after a service to check everything (even though i should of and it's my fault) was done according to what was told to me over the phone.

[accentstencil]

do you work at repco you seem very fond off them lol

No I don't work there but I buy stuff I need there because they are usually cheaper than Holden and have a much larger variety of spare parts than Supercheap. Repco also seem to have plenty of stores around Australia. I have also bought things from Holden, Bursons, Supercheap, Auto One and numerous other places.

[Holdens Rule]

Next time you take your car in for a service try telling them problems you know there is even if it is just a squeak don't expect them to find everything that is wrong with it. Sometimes you find that a apprentice has done the service and it is quite easy for someone not very experienced to miss some things.

I have seen a apprentice drive a brand new SS of the ramps after he did the first service on the car and it caught on fire. The car had 1000 kms on it and he forgot to do up the fuel filter and she caught alight. How ****ed do you think that owner was?

[stevoss]

my dads vx has got 55,000 and the idler bearings went, my vt has 200,000 and they are still factory so dont be 2 upset can happen to anyone, and you cant really hear them happening until its 2 late.

[commsirac]

I agree new belt as well,
Now this wouldn't be the first time when i've taken a car to service and it's come out worse then before.
Yea i understand things wear out, so what, fact is i've driven the car no less then say 30k's out from the service department which if they had done the service properly they would have heard it squeak (hey i'm no mechanic hence the reason why i give it to the "professionals" to do)
Good thing is i know it's not an expensive part. I know that during the service the car went through a major check up of the motor (i asked for it)
End result is i'm not a mechanic i'm learning as it is, I gave them my car, a service centre that always checks out the car very thoroughly and reports back with problems, i'm just angry that they managed to over look this and that it was fine before. Oh and it's not my job (the non mechanic) to be opening the bonnet after a service to check everything (even though i should of and it's my fault) was done according to what was told to me over the phone.

I havent had the idler bearing go on my vx yet(are we clear that was really the offending part?), and dont know how much warning it gives in terms of noise before it fails. Im assuming it wasnt squealing like a banshee when it was at the service dept, or you'd have heard it too? and that its just one of those things......
Holden could take the other approach and simply replace everyone's idler bearing at every service because they might fail.....Im sure many of us wouldnt be happy with that either. Though we'd all be happier if GM as a matter of routine did replace this obviously compromised component with one that would last the life of the car free of charge. I dont have a problem with parts that prove unreliable.......just the manufacturers profiting from their bad design!