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08 VE Calais - check engine, cruise & ESP issues

W4CKY

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Hey all,

Been having a few issues with my 08 VE Calais, so thought I'd make an account and see if anyone with a bit more wisdom might be able to help.

About three weeks ago the cruise control began randomly deactivating whilst at highway speeds (tested it a little, could only ever get it to happen when travelling at >80kph) and wouldn't allow me to reactivate it without turning the car off and leaving it for an hour or so. When this happened, the car would pull a little as if someone had pressed the brake.

In addition, half of the time this was happening - I would get an alarm that the ESP was off and pressing the button to reactivate it would do nothing. I made plans to get this seen to after the holiday break, as these things didn't seem to be anything more than an annoyance.

Yesterday however, I went to start the car and was greeted with a new alarm, telling me to 'Check Engine'. I gave it a moment and took off gently to see how it handled, and found that it was running VERY rough and had trouble accelerating past about 2000rpm. I don't know if this newest issue is related to the above, but if anyone has had anything similar happen - what was the cause and how did you fix it?

Thanks.
 

greenacc

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Could be an ignition problem like faulty coils or a wheel speed sensor.
ESP deactivates if the engine has a misfire. Get the car scanned for fault codes so you know where to start looking.
 

W4CKY

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So as an update, I had the codes checked to discover the fault was a stretched timing chain. Had that sorted and the car now seems to be running significantly smoother.

However, the issues with the cruise control and ESP seem to be persisting. Now, after having driven the car home from Holden with zero problems, I had an 'ESP Off' warning appear on the highway. This time however, this warning doesn't go away after turning the car off and leaving it for a while. Been there every time for startup to shut down for the couple of days.

The cruise control's behaviour has also changed, to the point now that it will intermittently deactivate itself but I am now able to almost immediately reactivate it. This issue seems to disappear the longer I have the car running - I had a 3 hour trip up to Albury and it happened four times in the first 45 minutes, then not again for the rest of the trip.

A couple of additional things have popped up as well - the beep noise when the car was put into reverse as disappeared, and the reversing sensors do not appear. Also, the centre display seems to be dimmed somewhat.

I was wondering if these issues could be a potential battery issue or if there's a computer problem somewhere?
 

MYVESSV8

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battery maybe, rear wiring loom for speed sensor, or left rear wheel sensor
 

greenacc

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Do your reverse sensors still work and beep when you approach obstacles ?
 

W4CKY

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Do your reverse sensors still work and beep when you approach obstacles ?

They were working this morning, just without the display, but I've just come back from being out and they've also stopped entirely.
 

greenacc

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I'd be getting the car up on ramps and giving it a once over if it was mine. Check if battery terminals are clean and tight, check all the wiring you can see or feel for rub marks or damage in the boot and under bonnet and under car to all wheels. Hope you find a clump of mud or a coat hanger or something tangled up somewhere creating havoc...
So you got new timing chains at Holden?
 

blackve76

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Brake switch problem? Mine played up with cruise and esp ****.
 

Fu Manchu

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Ours was doing this years ago. Holden did a software update (relating to battery failures) which fixed all the ESP warnings.
 
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