A few VZ questions.

[Low06VZ]

Hey All,

I've just purchased a 2006 VZ Wagon (Friday night actually). Now i have just a few questions about it.

1. What grade of oil does it run & how many litres?
2. What should the coolant level be when you remove the cap?
3. How the hell do ya change the spark plugs?
4. Can you buy new steering wheel buttons as mine are broken?
5. Any ideas as to why my fuel cap brrr's unless i leave it loose.

I'm not trying to sound stupid, I normally service my own vehicles, but this alloytec is all new to me (my last holden was the VS i traded in).

Cheers Dougie

[rambunctious]

1. I use Valvoline Engine Armour 10w-30. About 5 litres with filter I think. I know I didn't use all of a 6 litre bottle.
2. As long as I see coolant on the yellow dipstick attached to the cap I am happy.
3. You need to remove the plenum (alloy thing where the air goes into the engine) and you will need a new gasket set for it.
When you have it off make sure nothing (old gasket, tools etc) drops inside there, put rag in the inlets and vacuum around them before removing the rags. Check around for gasket prices, they vary considerably. Repco claimed $160 retail but would sell for $125, Zupps Holden $56 retail, Autobarn $57.
4. Holden dealer or wreckers, no idea.
5. If you are referring to an air sound it's nothing to worry about, just air going into the tank because of the removal of fuel during running.

If you are changing oil, the filter is the alloy housing up high on the passenger side of the engine, often very tight because it is alloy to alloy even though it has an o ring seal.

[CRUSTIN]

Another option is magnetec 10w-40,better for over 100,000km. And if your going to have to reseal your intake manifold you might as well get a MACE manifold spacer, it costs $160 and comes with gasket goo, it basically stops heat from conducting from your lower manifold to the upper, keeping a cooler air charge. Ive got one and you can feel the difference, without the spacer you cant hold your hand on the manifold, but with the spacer its only warm.

[Luke52]

Erm, the VZ Alloytec engines take 6.5 litres of oil...So if you're not using all of a 6 litre bottle and then some, you either don't have a VZ, or you're starving your engine...

And yes, a 10w30/40/50 will be fine. I run Penrite HPR10.
Coolant level should be above the top arrow when cold, and between the top and bottom arrows when warm.
As above, coils and plenum need to be removed/lifted to change plugs.
Either an online shop like Holmart/Ebay etc. or Holden dealer/wrecker for buttons

[Torquative]

agree'd ... I NEVER get away with just a 5 litre bottle of oil on any of the 4 VZ's I touch.

With the coolant also crack open the radiator pressure cap at the top of the motor and check that, as its a weird cooling system and as we learnt just because theres full coolant on the yellow stick thing in the reservoir doesnt mean theres coolant in the engine itself!

this year alone on 1 car I had it where the radiator pressure cap broke (typical alloytec fault) and the plunger dropped, so the coolant was draining straight back into the reservoir opposed to back into the engine and out an overflow. Couldnt work out why the car was constantly running hot because the yellow stick always had full. Then we checked that and wallah! It drank 6 litres of coolant through that fill point... not bad for something that was "full"

The other was also overheating ... andthe yellow stick showed full. I had an air lock in the actual radiator when I jacked the rear up to service the diff. Same as before, it drank about 4 litres of coolant once I popped the bleed screw open and expelled excess air... yet the stick showed as being full the whole time. If theres no coolant in that pipe where the pressure cap is then it needs topping up at that point ;P

[rambunctious]

Erm, the VZ Alloytec engines take 6.5 litres of oil...So if you're not using all of a 6 litre bottle and then some, you either don't have a VZ, or you're starving your engine...

And yes, a 10w30/40/50 will be fine. I run Penrite HPR10.
Coolant level should be above the top arrow when cold, and between the top and bottom arrows when warm.
As above, coils and plenum need to be removed/lifted to change plugs.
Either an online shop like Holmart/Ebay etc. or Holden dealer/wrecker for buttons

Yes, you're right, I only did the first service on mine (Feb 06 VZ)last week and I just checked the dipstick and found the oil level just above the bottom of the "full" section so I have taken your advice and topped it up to the top of "full"

[Whitesack07]

I bought my ute in feb an have only just took it to a holden dealer to get it checked out, should have done it sooner, found heaps of error codes an i need a new fuel pump, regret not doing it sooner but its fixed now, running so much better since ive taken it too holden, maybe its a idea? ive got castrol gtx 10w30 to run through it when i service it when the weather isnt raining here, holden told me that i should use that grade for only being 42k on the clock, just look after it an you will be right

[Brenah]

I run Castrol Edge with Titanium 5W-30 for the last 2 months. Nice and smooth. Normally run Edge but it now has Titanium in it.
And you wont get away with 5Ltr's always need another 1.7 or more. So oil should be 6.7Ltr. Thats with a cartridge change also which you will notice from your VR is very easy to change on the VZ.

1 other thing if this VZ is a new car to you. Get a new radiator cap

[RiCeY]

Hey All,

I've just purchased a 2006 VZ Wagon (Friday night actually). Now i have just a few questions about it.

1. What grade of oil does it run & how many litres? 10/30 and around 6.5-7.0 depening on how long you let it drain for.
2. What should the coolant level be when you remove the cap? The coolant cap on the engine, it should be almost to the top
3. How the hell do ya change the spark plugs? You have to remove all but 2 of the manifold bolts (dont remove the front right and rearmost left bolt or the manifold will seperate and possibly tear the gasket. No new gaskets are needed if you do it this way) You dont remove the manifold, just raise it enough to access the coilpacks and plugs.
4. Can you buy new steering wheel buttons as mine are broken? Yes, removal of airbag is required to fit them.
5. Any ideas as to why my fuel cap brrr's unless i leave it loose. Do you mean clicks? Turn till it clicks a few times then you know its properly seated.

I'm not trying to sound stupid, I normally service my own vehicles, but this alloytec is all new to me (my last holden was the VS i traded in).

Cheers Dougie

Need anything else just ask.

[Low06VZ]

Thanks guys for the advice. For the oil i'll probably stick with Castrol Magnatec as i've previously used it in all my cars, plus the VZ has done 185,000km.
I'll have to look into what kinda plugs to fit for the dual fuel, then i'll get them sorted. Sounds like i'd better check the coolant level, last time i removed the black coolant cap i didn't see anything in there (the temp guage does run a whisker over the first mark).
I'm not worried about ripping the airbags off, done it before on other cars.

One other question, is there much involved in changing the front springs on them? Can't wait to get it back down to earth and rolling on 20"s again. Bloody roadworthy's lol.

[MY VZ]

i hope not my vz came with the fe2 suspension and with low profile tyres its a little hard so i wouldnt mind going softer if i could

[RiCeY]

Front springs are easy just need spring compressors.

[Luke52]

Thanks guys for the advice. For the oil i'll probably stick with Castrol Magnatec as i've previously used it in all my cars, plus the VZ has done 185,000km.

Personal opinion/experience, my VZ didn't like Magnatec. I used it once, and haven't touched it since. I ran Magnatec when I first got it and did my first service (155-160,000) then changed to Mobil Super 2000 10w-40. Used that until a few months ago, then changed to Penrite HPR10, which I think I'll stick with.
I found the engine sounded unusually noisy with the Magnatec in it, and it just seems to run quieter on the Mobil/Penrite.

However that's just my opinion based on my experience.

[CRUSTIN]

The penrite 10w50 is too thick, that's why its quieter. You could put in 20w50 and it would be really quiet, but it may actually do damage by being too thick. The oil won't flow through orifices properly and will starve certain parts of oil.

[Luke52]

Penrite book recommends the HPR5 or 10. I don't think it's too thick by any means, it's still a 10w.

[Low06VZ]

Oh ok, well i guess it'll be a little bit of trial and error on the oil then. I plan on servicing the car every 7,500km.
I fixed the miss fire under load when on gas atleast, there was a rubber elbow connected to the throttle body, it had a pin hole in it.

[RiCeY]

Penrite book recommends the HPR5 or 10. I don't think it's too thick by any means, it's still a 10w.

10/50 is a lot thicker than 10/30.

10 represents viscosity when cold, 50 when hot.

[CRUSTIN]

Penrite book recommends the HPR5 or 10. I don't think it's too thick by any means, it's still a 10w.

With every engine the oil needs to be thinner when hot. The viscosity modifiers have different grades of effectiveness which result in different rates of viscosity breakdown. 10w50 won't get as thin as 10w30 when at full temp, the result is oil too thick when hot.