1997 VS ute

[Rocking_along]

Hey guys, new to this fourm from NewZealand.. Just brought myself a 1997 VS ute 3.8L Ecotec v6
Done 212,000ks and still going strong!

Been kept clean and original, still got the factory black colour which I love, a few scratches have showen after a nice clean but nothing too bad.
Awesome to drive, handles very nice with coils and discs all round (unlike other utes) and definitely has the power when you need it, love it and feels good to own a HOLDEN

Feel free to comment, cheers!

- Jake

 

[Rocking_along]

I did look through the fourm and people reckon the temp guage for these things should be sitting at half way mark?

Thought mine was creeping up a bit high:

This is the point where the fans turn on and the guage drops, is this normal?

 

[ShawtyNate]

Whoa. If my gauge went up that quick. I would be shitting myself. My fans kick in just under quarter?

BTW. Upload some more photos.

 

[Andreas]

Nice ute.

G'Mate welcome to just commodores.

I have a 2000 series 3 S Ute with 216000 on the clock.
My temp gauge normal driving does not move further than quarter on the temp gauge, city driving will creep to another quarter increment then the fan cuts in.
Given the age of the vehicle I would change all your vehicles, oil, coolant, and service the auto if not a manual. I'm assuming you have not gone down this path yet.

Use the advance search option top right hand side if you have any queries regarding your ute. There is heaps of members in Just Commodores that have lots of experience and know how.
Good to see a VS Ute in NZ, nice wheels.

Cheers.
Andreas.

 

[Rocking_along]

Yep had new oil, and its had a new transmission in it, could just be the radiator?

Got more photos taken:

Got the tonneau cover on:

Gonna give everything a good tidy and fix minor things.. will update as I go

 

[ShawtyNate]

At least it's nice and clean. You should do the thermo fan mod.

 

[tim005]

Hey mate.
Love the ute, same colour as mine!
It looks nice and clean, but could definitely do with a slap with the lowering stick!
As for the temp gauge, my vs did the same thing when I bought it. I ended up replacing the radiator, water pump and giving it all a flush. It still occasionally creeps high but the fans kick in to cool it back down. The only time the temp gauge went right to the top was when it had an airlock!
Have a look at my thread for some vs ute inspiration if you like mate!

 

[Rocking_along]

Oh yeah sweet as guys.

Thanks Tim, not really fussed about lowering it at this stage, its good to have something which can go over speed bumps and up driveways (compared to my previous ute which was my 1st ever ride, I dropped that a good 6 inches from factory height so the axle pretty much was on the chassis, thing was slammed but couldnt get over anything)

Ill have a read through your build, might give me some ideas and stuff.



Dad parked his VE and VR out on the lawn so I joined in with my VS.. there are also two more Holdens in the family that arnt in the photo!

 

[<RaBBiT>]

Very clean mate , my Calais sits just under half not too fussed , tho I only did coolant and thermostat change so far

 

[Rocking_along]

Oh yeah cool, might have to look into doing something similar,



Gave my engine cover a slap of Satin Black today: