VZ “Check Powertrain” at high revs
I need a little help before I spend more money on the wrong things.
My VZ started having powertrain issues whenever the revs went past 2500rpm. Especially when accelerating up hill. You would feel the car missing and “Check Powertrain” alarm would go off. I’d pull over, the car shutters. I turn the car off then back on with no problem or alert. No error codes on the system.
I was told by a mechanic (without a decent inspection) that it was a coil issue. Instead of spending over a grand to have those replaced and fitted by the mechanic, I got some recon coils and fitted them myself.
Testing the old coils (assuming I was doing it the right way) I found at least one with a high ohm range of 15.5, the rest less then .3 or nil. The shit one was at the front, so it was an off manifold job.
The recon coils seem good. All giving nil to .3 on the ohm metre.
I seem to have gotten a bit of power back and the car defiantly feels better, but the issue is still there. Now it craps out at around 3000rpm.
Could those .3 coils be causing the issue, should I replace the sparks or is this a fuel injector issue, anybody come across this before?
How I was testing the coils – probe on first pin, second probe on the metal outer casing. Testing resistance on 200 Ohms. (Am I doing this right? I couldn’t find any documentation on testing these types of coils)
The only time I had " Check Powertrain" I had it diagnosed at the friendly Auto Electrician and it turned out to be a faulty oil pressure switch.
Are you low on oil ?
No, the oil is fine. Just had it serviced and changed not too long ago.
I had the same symptoms on my old car, it was a coil causing misfire and the computer would shutdown the cylinder and cause the shuddering at idle. Worse nightmare in traffic up a hill, it kept reoccurring and thats why I got my vz! goodluck
Hey there , i got some similar issues with my 2005 vz sv6 ,I only had check powertrain message issue when a 02 sensor had given out but that was picked up on a scantool, I'm getting issues now that are leading me to beleive my coils are breaking down as the car has just hit 105 000 km and it's lost power and is misfiring and shuttering going up hills plus weird sound coming from the exhaust under load every now and then also it's drinking heaps of fuel now... I have replaced one coil and it feels a bit better but I think the other 5 need to be replaced asap and my problem mite be sorted , spark plugs changed at 80 000 -90 000 kms so don't think it's them. So maybe check your 02 sensors cause mine went out of know where and destroyed all my cats costing me around $1000 to fix...
P-plater
I've always assumed that the coils on a vz fail slowly. Anyway, coils arnt very expensive and at that many kms they usually start to give a rough idle. So it may be worth it anyway.
Where did everyone get the idea that coils are $1000 bucks? I found a set of new ones off eBay for $200. Not hard to fit either.
Originally Posted by Little Red VZ Go-Kart
1. Why would you want to floor it, or move it to the red line? Especially with the lack of airbags and ABS features!? What do you hope to achieve by that??Originally Posted by HoldenV8
give everything a spray with wd40 wheels brakes that should fix the squeaks
Iv searched eBay and cheapest was $260-$300 for a set or I can get them for $84 each from a shop , the $1000 I was referring to was for new cats I had to replace
Oh im glad someone cleared up the cost on coils - i was thinking this may be an option to try for me, didnt think they were so much till i read this post last night and freaked. Phew!
Exhaust Guru
$1000 for cats.......hmmmm....wish I could get $1000 for 2 cats.
best i can find on ebay is $340 _$348, what description did you enter for the coils?
what we have here,is a failure too communicate!!
I payed $700 for 2 100 CPI stainless steel high flow cats and the rest of the money was for labour and got the other 2 cats gutted out becoz they were fried too ... Thought that was actually pretty cheap considering they had to cut and weld .... And the coils I seen on eBay are $348 for the set , price must of changed .
P-plater
p
I payed $320 for my twin 100 cell. And I'm not sure about installation because I got extractors and a detachable tip put on at the same time which cost $500, rip job. I payed because he didn't like the job.Originally Posted by Deepo1985:2016901
Originally Posted by Little Red VZ Go-Kart
1. Why would you want to floor it, or move it to the red line? Especially with the lack of airbags and ABS features!? What do you hope to achieve by that??Originally Posted by HoldenV8
give everything a spray with wd40 wheels brakes that should fix the squeaks
Exhaust Guru
Ummm....The VZ only has 2 cats.
Nope .... There was 3 different exhaust systems on the vz ... And mine has the second type which has 4 cats ... 2 ugly big 5 inch triangular shape ones after the factory headers then another 2 when the pipe starts going flat under the car , exhaust shop even confirmed it had 4 when they looked at it ... Another reason y there's 4 o2 sensors aswell
P-plater
100% sure? I've never hears of a vz with 4 cats. The 4 o2 sensors were to detect if the cats were working properly, they weren't designed with 4 cats in mind. And there is no need for that many cats.
Originally Posted by Little Red VZ Go-Kart
1. Why would you want to floor it, or move it to the red line? Especially with the lack of airbags and ABS features!? What do you hope to achieve by that??Originally Posted by HoldenV8
give everything a spray with wd40 wheels brakes that should fix the squeaks
Next time I'm under my car I'll take a pic and I'll upload it , I don't have the original front ones anymore but the rear 2 are still there as empty shells .... I also remember reading somewhere on the net that some had 4 cats then they changed to 2 cats and some ppl said the back 2 were not cats and some said they were , I had proof they were when I had mine replaced becoz all were blocked up and the exhaust shop showed me how bad they were and the back 2 had the same honey comb stuff on the inside, and also the whole system changed 3 times for euro emissions bullish*t or something and the last system stayed which is y they dropped the 190 badge coz the car wasn't 190kw anymore .... I'm only going on what iv actually seen and not read or been told ...
Exhaust Guru
Ummm nope, the big triangular cats up near the manifolds are the only ones. The two under the car look like cats, but are in fact, just resonators.
The exhaust shop bullshitted you, they may have shown you cats off something else, but I can guarantee the two under the car are resonators with fluted tubing through them and a Helmholtz tuner.
The systems were different between 170kW and 190kW engines to meet Euro 4 standards, you are right, but to do that, they employed 4 sensors, the two under the car are to read how efficiently the cats are working and to make adjustments, Holden never fitted 4 cats.
$115 each x6 plus labour by Elite Automotive Seven Hills... absolute ass raping! Once the manifold is off, very easy to change. I just got 6 new coils on eBay for $360. Saving a shitload!
P-plater
360 is more than 200
Originally Posted by Little Red VZ Go-Kart
1. Why would you want to floor it, or move it to the red line? Especially with the lack of airbags and ABS features!? What do you hope to achieve by that??Originally Posted by HoldenV8
give everything a spray with wd40 wheels brakes that should fix the squeaks
Where the hell is that workshop , I live in seven hills and only good mechanic around here is Tnk autos in toongabbie , $115 per coil is a rip off ... I got mine from lidcombe for $84 each ... Fitting them is easy , well mine r with the manifold insulators .... And going back to the cats , I was there when they cut the triangular cats off and seen the other 2 and they had honey comb centers like cats which they just bashed it all out making them hollow now ... If they r just resonators as you say then I'm not sure if my exhaust got louder and deeper from the new 100 CPI hi-flows they put up front or from the other 2 being empty now ...
can anyone give me some tips on here iv read all the above and still with the same problem , got a new ecu programed it , changed both bank 1 and bank 2 o2 sensors and im still stuck with this power train problem flashing on my dash its driving me crazy iv spent over $1500 and still im stuck with this problem it runs smother then it used to now that i changed all the above has a small engine mis but check power train is still there. why cant this problem be solved iv taken it to many auto sparkyz and everyone tells u somthing diffrent.. this shit is driving me insane
VZ "check power train"
Hi
I am a chick who dosnt want to be ripped off by a mechanic, I have a 2006 VZ and twice now with air con on and accelerating away from an intersection, I have lost power and the car started shuddering and "check power train" alarm has flashed at me, after turning car off and restarting it seemed fine? My car has nearly done 200,000 kms, just had a service. So from the above threads, Do you think my coils are going? if yes do I need to get it fixed ASAP and where do I take it to get fixed? Im in North East of Adelaide, can anyone help me with some advice?
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