VY SS 5.7Ltr GenIII - Motor misfiring and lacking power (like running on less cycl)

[Nastynath]

PLEASE HELP!!!!

I am an Engine Reconditioner by trade and having headaches with my SS.
Had it to Holden twice so far and no remedies.

I have replaced Spark plugs, Ignition coils, and fuel filter.

My car has been misfiring and running jerky for a week now and no one can pinpoint me the thing to correct it.

Engine has been tested for cyclinder compression, replaced plugs, coil packs, leads, tested a TEST ECU from Holden, checked vacuum hoses, tappet covers removed, checked for broken springs, no sound visible of a broken cam lobe or Lifter lock up or collapsed. Fuel pressure is fine thoughout rev range.

My thought now is maybe Crank Angle Sensor is dying????????????? My mate has said when he had his VL Turbo his car jerked and splutted over a period of time and then the car just died!

Is this what my Engine is doing before I am stranded on the side of the road???

Please can ppl steer me in the right direction.

I have had my SS for 7 yrs this month from new, got 180k on the clock. Its an Auto- everything on the card is stick and I have not wanted to mod it at all. I have replaced the following on the car in the last year:

• Alternator
  Vacuum hose on Valley
  Fuel filter
  Air filter
  All cooling hoses and heater tap
  Radiator (due to thermo fans thrust had made hairline cracks and coolant seeping out

I have had the diff rebuilt twice as due to normal driving the fron pinion bearing has lost its case hardening (pure back luck!)

Please has any one had problems of this nature as I need to find the fault!!!!!!!!!!!

[ARATIC]

I'd say o2 sensors, see a lot of similar threads and these are commonly the fault.

Failing that could be the TPS

[Vt_vic]

i had a similar thing ran like it wasnt firing on all cylinders,power and acceleration wasnt smooth and it was the o2 sensors

[schlompy]

Hey mate I had a very similar problem, took off the intake pipe to the throttle body and noticed a pool of oil, had oil all through the intake. Ran a can of combustion chamber cleaner through and worked a treat.... Just drove Sydney to Melbourne no problems whereas before I couldnt get halfway to Wakefield from Sydney before I was stranded on the side of the road unable to turn it over...

[Nastynath]

I am going up to shed now and lifting her up on stands and going over all under it- HOLDEN did say and showed me that the left side (passengers) engine mount had broken - this being last friday when I picker her up from HOLDEN.

I have already ordered a new mount.

HOLDEN had said to me that they had removed the O2 sensors and said they were fine???????

Do you all still think it could be that?

I will pull them out and look at them. Anything in particular I need to look at?????

Thanks in advance guys!

[ARATIC]

Faulty o2 sensors won't always bring up an engine check light and I doubt anyone can tell by looking at them whether they are stuffed or not.

[GenReaper]

Check to see it has injector pulse on all wiring harness injector plugs.
Requires special checklight to suit.

[Nastynath]

I have gotten underneath my SS and checked the O2 sensors and they have not been touched!

HOLDEN said they pulled them out and inspected them?????? WTF??????


I will keep going over my car tomorrow night- bed time for me!

Glad I got my Toy Car- my little old and highly modified GEMINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least it goes!!!

Talk tomorrow night all!

[GenReaper]

They pull them out to make sure they are not full of scaley crap.

[ARATIC]

I have gotten underneath my SS and checked the O2 sensors and they have not been touched!

HOLDEN said they pulled them out and inspected them?????? WTF??????

Yeah you'll learn not to listen to what HOLDEN have told you. In fact I'd stop taking the car there altogether

[nate-vy]

have you changed your o2 sensors yet ? did it end up being them ? mine did the same thing but i bypassed them in the tune and used wideband instead

[Nastynath]

have you changed your o2 sensors yet ? did it end up being them ? mine did the same thing but i bypassed them in the tune and used wideband instead

What is wideband mate? Is that a brand?

Thanks for feedback fellas as been having to spend time after work of a night with the wife as we are expecting- and I still have my Gemini to drive.

Last night I replaced the Engine mounts in the car as the pasenger side was broken all the way round the rubber donut and the drivers' side was 70% broken around its ring.

Now I still have to lower the car down from the chocks tonight- as last night I did not finish till 1am. Gonna dump the oil and filter and service it before lowering and then drive her.

I went over all the wiring in case I have broken a wire or it pulled it from the motor lifting under load from the broken passenger mount when engine is under thrust/load.

The car started up ok, but I could not really rev the engine as it was like 1am when I put her back together and dont wanna piss off neighbours.

I have not replaced the sensors as of yet- I worked at AutoPro for 5 yrs and also spoke to my old Boss and he said he and when I was there, has never sold any O2 sensors for my make of car... But from peoples' feedback there has been some trouble with all of your cars and you have all changed them being the item at fault.....???????

I was thinking the back of the engine.... Maybe raw air from brake booster line? or the air actuator (right word??) for the air settings from face/feet/window knob?????? As I drive alot from Newcastle (my Hometown) to Armidale (inlaws live there) and I have noticed when I take the drive up through Gloucester mountain the settings dont switch over correctly and I have had to play with the knob on the dash to get them to work correctly..... Is it the rise in atmospheric pressure??? as you climb up the mountain very quickly.....????? But it sounds silly.............

I'll drive her when I get home and report back guys.

Also thanks very much for everyone's ideas- it helps in my time of need.

[Nastynath]

Well- hoping it was an Earth through the Engine mounts as they are metal like attached internally inside the rubber mould- I could see this through the old cracked engine mounts.

But nothing!!!!!!!!!!!

Gonna look at the O2 sensors as everyone says.

Guys you have said O2 sensors but..............have you had same issues as I am having?????????

[Nastynath]

OK, I am going to pull out the O2 sensors tomorrow night as car is too hot right now and going to bed as I'm over the barstard!!!!!!!!!

All I can say is around a month ago I accidentally put 2 tanks of e10 thorugh the car as I filled up of a morning when driving to work at 6am and tired and did not notice that the SHELL servo I always use had finally gottten e10 for customers.
The pump I always pulled and filled car with had been changed to e10 and I accidentally placed 2 tanks worth into my car before noticing.

I am gonna pull out O2 sensors and check them- Ill see if they look suss and try clean them otherwise I will find some second hand O2 sensors of buy new- either way hopefully it will eliminate another thing with the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ARATIC]

Hey mate the cheapest place to buy new sensors Ive found is Cyberspace Auto Parts - EFI and Engine Management Automotive Components, about $60 each for Bosch sensors

[Nastynath]

Hi guys,

I have replaced with NEW Genuine O2 Sensors and it has made no difference.

Now I have been doing the jiggle test and I disconnected the sendor that is on the right hand side of the throttle body....
When I disconnected it it came up on dash ++++check engine warning+++ light , just like it has a few times when driving the car. When its disconnected it drives like it has been doing- hesitating, lack of pwr, like running on less cyclinders.
But then when I reconnected it the car seemed to improve and drive normally?????? When I reconnected it the revs of the engine picked up- and before at idle you could spot the misfire , but now when at idle and when driving it seems to go good..............

Is it the throttle body sensor I am talking about??? Also when I diconnected the wiring and reconnecting it the ++TRACTION CONTROL OFF++ light comes on and stays on until I turn off the car and restart the engine (so the ECU can reset itself).......

I think I maybe on to something!!!! ?????????????

Please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!! Could the sensor attached in the picture at the bottom be the fault and it like trips in the Traction Control when driving and makes it run like a dog?????

What are the two sensors called?

Top- Throttle body sensor
Bottom- Traction control over-ride sensor that stop the car reving so you dont lose it when the ass end goes under acceleration???

[GenReaper]

Pretty sure that bottom plug is a stepper motor for when the air conditioner is turned on so it applies a bit of throttle to keep constant idle.

Anyway i made a suggestion to you before to check injector pulse but you seem to have ignored that so good luck with it

[Nastynath]

Pretty sure that bottom plug is a stepper motor for when the air conditioner is turned on so it applies a bit of throttle to keep constant idle.

Anyway i made a suggestion to you before to check injector pulse but you seem to have ignored that so good luck with it

The stepper motor me thinks is faulty and turns off and on making the motor run like shit.

HOLDEN have checked all injectors (including pulse) and even removed and cleaned and tested all 8 injectors and they returned all positive results. They replaced all orings too.

Has anyone had problems with this stepper motor?

I'm gonna remove it and have a look when the motor cools.

[colgf]

Have you checked the little vacuum line that runs from the rear of the inlet manifold next to the large brake booster vacuum line , it sounds like there may be a hole in the vacuum line ???

[vy_iceman]

I'm having problems like this ATM. VY LS1, Berlina, Auto. 16xxxx k's. It surges, seems laggy at times, and when i am cruising to melbourne, going up one incline on the way, "Check Engine" comes on. One time travelling to melbourne, it came on 13 times. thats a 2.5 hr trip.

Took it to Holden, they said it was shagged O2 sensors. So i replaced them...

Then they thought it was the PCV (?) Line... They replaced it.

NOW they think its an edit that the old owner had on the PCM and its going mental, and i should get it tuned or restore the original software or some shit. It's like a little gremlin.

Drives me INSANE!

[DevilDRake]

All you can do is get it retuned man, that's your last bet. You've tried everything you really can.

[ARATIC]

Top- Throttle body sensor
Bottom- Traction control over-ride sensor that stop the car reving so you dont lose it when the ass end goes under acceleration???

I think the top sensor is the IAC (idle air control) and the bottom one is the TPS (throttle position sensor), which would prob explain why the trac control throws a fit when you unplug it. I'd be getting the TPS checked, or just go and buy a new sensor for $24 off ebay, easier than paying Holden another hours labour to test it

[Vt_vic]

take it to a proper performance servicing centre they should find the problem in minutes.where abouts are you

[Nastynath]

PROBLEM FIXED!!!!!!

I have found the problem under dark room conditions in my shed- It was the plug leads..

Even though I had first replaced these with new ones as the original had been on the car since new 180k KM's ago - the leads were the problem to begin with also!!!

BUT, when I replaced original leads with new TOP GUN leads I did not notice that one lead had a nick or slice or a.k.a. a HOLE in the black rubber end that slips over the actual spark plug that clips onto the end of the spark plug....

This hole in the boot end that goes on the spark plug was arching inside of the heat shields!!!

Bloody barstard of a thing and I could see flashing inside of the heat shield when car was running in my garage with the garage lights off..

So problem fixed and CASE CLOSED!!! Thanks for everyones input also!

I replaced my O2 Sensors on the car and have my old ones that work fine if anyone would like them!!!

[ONECREW]

Thanks guys , after reading all your talk about the misfiring i now have a better grasp on whats going wrong with my crewman, i made the right descion and am getting the leads changed first, tomorrow, then it'll be the o2 sensors if that hasnt fixed it, i can use a few of your other suggestions after that, its been bloody annoying , cheers !!!