Vy ss a lemon??
We brought a 2002 vy ss in nov 10 with 126,000 kms on it and have had nothing but trouble since start of jan this year.
We r the 3rd owners but the previous owners have got it serviced every 10,000 kms with holden and the last 1 being ultra tune (thinking that may b the problem?)
the engine light started coming on in dec, only once the car heated up and we never got around to getting it checked as i was due to have my 2nd baby after xmas.
The 1st week of me driving it the car was on 1/4 tank petrol and it just started dying on me on the fwy and i quickly pulled over n turned it off as it said low fuel but i couldnt put my foot down it just slowed n wouldve just ended up stopping.
So i got it filled back up n started fine (at that stage the engine light had never come on) so i learnt u pretty much cant let it go under a 1/2 tank or near 1/4 like my old shit box.
Then the engine light started showing up, once every few days or atleast once a week. Then just before i had my baby (31.12.10) it started coming up everytime we started the car.
Then on the 4th jan my partner said it started feeling abit sluggish n he turned it off and from then it never started. We rang racv n he came out n had a look n plugged it in but nothing came up saying it was wrong. He tried turning it over again n it sounded like it was firing wrong, so he said he didnt want to f it anymore and 2 get it towed 2 a mechanic which we did the next day.
The mechanic finally had a look at it and rang us to say that the motor had blew up (although my partner had told him if u turn it too much u'll f it more)
he finally found the problem an injector was staying open and had blown a hole in the sump (great just what we wanted to hear)
we got a 2nd hand motor from a 04 ss with 70,000kms on it got it put in 2 wks later had our car back!!
Now 6wks later i started hearing a noise at the back when i put my foot down, like a jet taking off. Had the wheel bearings checked - not them! Changed the tyres with my partners vl ones - the noise still there.
Then my partner checked the diff oil and there was some metallic shit in it, so now what should we do?? He's gonna change the diff oil but i bet the noise is still there knowing our luck!! So whats next a new diff?? Or a re built 1?
I feel like ringing the dick head up we brought the car off n having a go at him as the thing has cost us 2 much $$ in 4mths!! Its stupid, the thing is a lemon!!
Oh n the battery went when we picked the car up after the motor got done!!
Some imput would b good bout this new noise, thanks
Also adding all oil levels and everything have been fine n no leaks!!!
checked by my partner n step dad who is an ex cop mechanic
Last edited by carlz04; 20-02-2011 at 03:50 PM. Reason: ######## comment
at the end of the day, its the buyers responsibility to check over the car. sure 95% of people will most likely not tell you about all the niggly bits and troubles theyve had with a car, but thats the risk you take. just because its the most expensive car dosent make it a good one
a racv check would never have picked up the hole in the sump, unless they took the whole motor out, i was just wondering if the diff is the problem now and if any1 else has had motor trouble with the ss's??Originally Posted by don0xer
at the end of the day, its the buyers responsibility to check over the car. sure 95% of people will most likely not tell you about all the niggly bits and troubles theyve had with a car, but thats the risk you take. just because its the most expensive car dosent make it a good one
loked on other thread n doesnt look like it, who said anything bout it being expensive?? we've spent over 3k in 4mths not something u wanna b doin
An 8-9 year old used car with 126000 kms on it and 2 owners does not make the car a lemon. It is all in how the car was both driven and maintained by each owner. You cannot expect new car reliability in a car like this but you do not expect to have to replace an engine that's for sure.
1. If you want a better car then you certainly do not buy one with those kms and preferably you buy a one owner. (More kms and more hours of operation = more wear and tear). It is not very hard to find a one owner VY S or SS for sale in Melbourne with under 100,000 kms.
2. You need to have a thorough pre - purchase mechanical inspection by a competent mechanic before you buy any used car. Plenty of people come on this forum with complaints about their used cars they just bought and clearly never had them professionally checked before buying.
3. Servicing ANY car just every 10000 kms is not enough. Critically, how then did the 1st owner look after it and how was it driven?
4. Plenty of people buy the SS and then drive them quite hard. If the car you bought was thrashed by the first or second owner, or both, then you are likely going to have plenty of problems.
5. The Diff.
The limited slip diffs on these cars are fine if they are not thrashed and abused. A noisy or clunky diff on these cars is most often evidence that it has been driven very hard (as is an engine which is terminal at about 130000 kms). Diff problems on these cars that have been abused at some stage in their working life is not uncommon.
I sympathise with your problems but when buying any used car (especially the example you bought) you should always assume it has plenty of faults until proven otherwise. For the price you likely paid for this used car plus repairs, and it's 126000 kms of use, you could have purchased a nice smaller brand new car with 3 years new car warranty.
yeah but were not even sure it is the diff (do they make wining noises?? that sound like a jet?)
the 1st owner was an older guy, 2nd owner a younger guy who most likely thrashed it!!
Dont u worry i wish we did get a different car - i try n tell my partner this!
I love our car but if were gonna have 2 keep replacing things left right n centre i wanna get rid of it
1. I would recommend you drive the car down to a diff specialist in MEL and have them check it for you. (Most of these guys will have seen and heard plenty of faulty VT - VZ series car diffs). I guess there should be one specialist around the Dandenong area somewhere.
2. With those kms on the car you are going to have to replace worn items and those that develop faults from time to time (- in addition to usual servicing and preventative maintenance). It goes with the age and kms. If the car has been frequently thrashed by past owners you may inevitably have more mechanical issues crop up. There is plenty of info on this forum on the sorts of issues you might expect to deal with on your car.
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Last edited by Sean880; 23-02-2011 at 01:09 PM.
yeah but need to get babies around lol
yeah my partner is ringing 2moro as no 1 is open 2day
he changed diff oil and there is all metallic shit thru it, hopefully the new oil will give abit of time until we can get in somewhere.
fingers crossed its nothing major and not $1000
oh n the kms were pretty low compared to some the same age, glad new motor is only 70,000
i never read anywhere about you checking oil levels or anything ? having a baby is no excuse to neglect routine maintenance especially when a problem arises as your baby would be then in an unsafe vehicle ! . the first thing you do is check it over. this is where the problems started. and an injector issue isnt going to blow a hole in the sump. hitting something will ! and also, they're would have been oil smells and stains and oil light on in dash !
thrashing a car is fine if you maintain it, avoid maintenance and routine checks and you have engine failure...
ps, any mechanic telling you an injector has blown a hole in your sump is talking out his arse !
hey mate calm down, i dont check the car my partner does n yes all oil checks and everything were fine!! no leaks nothing!! nothing was neglected we were gonna take it to a mechanic after i had my baby
We didnt thrash the car the previous owner did and the fuel injector was staying open so we got told then him turning it over f'd it, then he found a hole in the sump after pulling the motor apart.
obviously a problem not from us as we had it 2 mths and driven fine!!!
The story about the injector and the hole in the sump doesnt make sense. Id be definitely getting a second opinion and taking it to another mechanic and getting them to check it out before you hand over any cash for anything.A leaking injector is not going to put a hole in the sump,it might bend the conrod if the engine is started whilst one of the cylinders is full of fuel from the leaking injector,but for that to happen is very rare.A leaking injector will just usually cause hard starting and black smoke from the tailpipe at startup.
i am calm, and sorry, i wasnt having a go neither, you never said what you had done hence me not reading you checked oil and water etc and thats fundamental...
i still dont see how it takes for an engine to come apart to see a hole in the sump ? oil would be everywhere on your driveway unless you hit something and it dumped its guts out on the road while driving ! then it would seize !
oil light would be on on dash constantly unless broken, engine would rattle like hell till bottom end dried up and seized, woudl overheat and lots more...
If you've hit a stone/speed bump or something then thats shit luck to have holed the sump.. they just don't hole by themselves unless holden has a fault with them which i doubt .
and a sticky injector would cost pennies to change out ! prevention is better than cure !
hope it doesnt cost ya too much to fix !
we already got the motor fixed, we spent 3k on a new 1 well 2nd hand 1.
f knows what happened with it 2 b honest with u my partner nor myself hit anything, no oil leaks or nothing.
thats wat we said to the mechanic when he said theres a hole in the sump, bcoz when it left us it wasnt turning over without sounding like it was firing wrong and there was NO oil leaking!!
but my partner went down n had a look and there was a big mass arse hole in the bottom of the sump. and injectors had never been done, god knows wat the mechanics actually replaced when the previous owners got their services??? but im pretty sure it had something to do with the conrod so what would cause that? as i was in hospital then 2 days later it blew up?? so my partner was driving it
so now the new thing is the diff whine, its getting looked at 2moro or tues
well there's the old chinese proverb....."if its got tits or wheels, its gonna cost ya ! "
hope it turns out well for you !
geelong diffs will give you a truthful fair assesment of whats wrong if anything and do a good job in the process ask for andrew 52781132
I'm a bit confused, the car was running then died, then the mechanic ended up lunching the motor?That sux mate, one piece of advice i would give u is not to return to that mechanic. Injector has blown a hole in the sump? Yeah, right next to the flux capacitor.
OEM+
Commodores use clutch type LSD. As the clutches wear they pollute the oil with particles of clutch material, however if you can see it in the oil then it's been left too long (imho). That is why you need to change the diff oil on a regular basis unless you want it to make bad noises and cause premature wear. Eventually the clutches will wear down enough that the LSD just operates like an open diff.
What you can do is get the diff "shimmed" to get the clutches working again.
The car wasn't involved in burnouts prior to the noise was it? Because that is a big NO for a standard LSD unless you want the clutches to wear down faster then you can say holy shit and need to replace the oil everytime you fill up with petrol... I know people who have gone through 3-4 LSDs and they don't do burnouts or even drive their Commodores that hard.
I agree, how does an injector problem = a new motor? Running rich blowing a hole in the sump? Black smoke and running rough, maybe you flood it and it stalls. But no hole in the sump. Combustion is still limited by o2 and not going to wreck the bottom end with to much fuel. I would ask the mechanic WTF BEFORE i bought another motor.
But you need to move forward so:
Perhaps the diff oil needs to be changed BEFORE you buy another one? Was it low? I am not familiar with the diff itself so other than silver oil I will leave that to someone else. But it's possible its stock oil, did it smell?
Your OP was suggesting your alternator wasn't charging and after you mentioned the battery I you buy a multimeter and apply it the the battery terminals to see if it is charging (you should get at least 14v) or you'll soon need another battery.
The "have to have 1/2 tank" thing is odd. Perhaps the fuel tank is full of crap seeing as it "worked" with a large volume of fuel. Open it check the pump and filters too.
For all 8 cylinders...
On ething I have noticed with my SS is that the engine management light comes on if teh battery terminals are not quite tight enough. My car makes the jet noise you are talking about, maybe time to change the diff oil for some autoshock or something. Basically thicker oil. My engine has done 220000kms and still going strong. I also can't help turning the traction control off and going sideways round corners, but hey, I expect it to go wrong then, but having fun at the same time.
My monaro had a similar thing, my engine light came on all the time and it was slow and sliggish my cousins vs 5L clubsport flogged me lol. All it ended up being was the knock sensors, overnight stay at the auto electricians and it was all good. Sounds like you got screwed to me
Just thought you should know. GM did a recall on a run of this model for a faulty fuel gauge so this my explain the failure mid freeway.
I have owned my car VY-SS Auto Sedan since new and have over 132,000 kms (and over 70,000 kms of that with a Sprint-GAS injection system). It has been to WA and Back towing a trailer and now it drives me from Berwick to Sandringham and back every day for work plus several trips to rural VIC and besides getting the front end struts done (TTF @ 626 South Road Moorabbin were the only place that could get this right) my old girl has not missed a beat. I gave up on getting GMH to service it (to $$$ and way to dopey - One service they tried to charged me for 6 Spark plugs - its a V8 fella's!!!) and have started to do it myself.
I think you should be right after you get that diff seen to but if it due to some "hard acceleration" in its history the it may pay to have the complete drive train looked at (universal Joint and the like) as the whole lot may be about to let go.
Did the car have a Tow-bar when you took ownership? A friend of mine with an old 5.0 ltr Kingswood as a tow vehicle for his Ski Boat (worth more than his car at the time) had an issue with his LSD after it was "Serviced" and the Diff Specialist cleared the "Breather" valve and allowed the lake water in the next time he backed the boat trailer in - just a thought!
There is a lady at work with a AU XR6 that has had Diff Wine for most of it life - known issue and there is special oil and additives from Ford to stop it.
Good luck - Had our Second baby on the 13 Nov BTW to Congrads
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