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A few problems with my VS Calais

ICUBYE

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Hello hello,

I have a few problems with my 1996 Series 1 Calais 5.0litre V8 Auto.
ANy help will be greatly appreciated... :bang:

1. When i put my car in Reverse and put my foot down on the accelerater i have to be EXTREMELY careful not to give it too much throttle or else the car will stall and i blow a 20A "Engine Control Management" fuse in the engine bay. This happens everytime i get my car serviced or new wheels / brakes, i get a call saying umm your car wont start can you come down and get it started.

2. Im using alot more fuel now, i used to get 600 - 650kms per tank, now im down to 450 - 500kms. I have tried using standard unleaded, petrol with 10% ethenol, premium and premium with 10% ethenol. i seem to get just on or just over 500kms on the petrol with 10% ethenol, everything else in less than 500kms per tank.

3a. I have a contant sound of rushing air in the car, it sounds like it is coming from inside the air vents.

3b.When i turn off the climate control i can still feel heat or cool air coming from the vents at my feet and sometimes my face, like when i get my car serviced they turn the heat on full when changing the coolent, when i get back in the car i turn off the climate control but its still hot on my feet.

4. I pulled the diff outta my car myself and had it re-raced, at the same time i purchased some kingsprings for the rear and some gt gas shockers, i made sure these were the corrent ones for my car, now with the diff back in my car is sitting really high at the rear end, i can fit two fists in the gap. The rear camber was also out so i had to get a camber kit fitted, I was told by the guys that fitted the camber kit that the springs and shockers were correct for my car and they dont know what is causing it to be really high in the back end, so they swapped out my standard ride height kingsprings for a pair or lows they had laying around, this made a slight (1 or 2 cms) difference but not much.

5. Leaking boot. i have my boot stripped of all the lining because i cant find the bloody leak, i have pulled my rear seats out and put my head in the boot with a torch, while my girlfriend runs water from the hose all over the boot and the back window and i did not see a single leak, yet 2 or 3 days later after it had been raining my boot was full. (the tire well is totally submerged and the boot has around 2 - 3 cms to water. I wanna put a decent system in my car but i cant with the water issue in the boot.

I think this enough for now. Sorry to go on and on about these problems but i cant seem to fix them myself and from reading some of these posts, you all seem pretty knowledgable on these cars.

Thanking you in advance.
Trav...
 

holden007

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"2. Im using alot more fuel now, i used to get 600 - 650kms per tank, now im down to 450 - 500kms. I have tried using standard unleaded, petrol with 10% ethenol, premium and premium with 10% ethenol. i seem to get just on or just over 500kms on the petrol with 10% ethenol, everything else in less than 500kms per tank."

Interesting, are you doing long distance driving? My VR V6 does just over 600'ks on highway, 450k in city on a 63ltr tank.

Do a Diagnostics and see what error codes you get.
 

ICUBYE

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umm, i drive pretty much 50 - 100kms a day normally half of it is freeway driving. i have a 74 or 80 litre tank sometimes i put 73 litres in and other times i can put in 76 litres.

how do i run a diagnostic to get the codes?
 

Jamie_87

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mate ive got exactly the same boot leak problem, ive tried everything,when i rains i get the spare tyre well having a lil pond and the mat is drenched, i think mines coming from behind the left taillight as i did the torch check to to no avail, only other thing i think as well is the the valleys where the boot seals are get flooded and water leaks between the rubb and bootlid and into the boot, which will take time(like a few days rain).

As with ur other questions maybe the rushing air sound and bad fuel economy could both be linked to a vacuum leak, cheak that all air hoses and all vacuum hoses are good and fitted properly, even tho mines a v6 i had air rushing sound, which turned out to be intake hose not on properly which also resulted in poor fuel eco, once i fixed it was all good.

good luck with fixing ur probs, and post if u get ur boot leak fixed cos id be very intrigued to know where its coming from 100%. Hope this has been of some help to u.

rgrds jamie
 

holden007

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ICUBYE said:
umm, i drive pretty much 50 - 100kms a day normally half of it is freeway driving. i have a 74 or 80 litre tank sometimes i put 73 litres in and other times i can put in 76 litres.

how do i run a diagnostic to get the codes?


I know alot of people did it, but I'm not sure how to do the diagnostics. sorry:cry:
 

ICUBYE

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OK, read up on how to get the diag codes, i got a code 12 so all is good.

but when i had the 2 pins crossed and the ignition in the 2nd position a fan or something started in the car, not the big chop your fingers off if you stick them in it fan behind the radiator fan, but another fan or something that sounded like it was coming from inside or behind the engine. as soon as i removed the wire that was shorting the 2 pins it stopped.

I had my climate control turned off as well. So maybe it might be a fault there. ?????
 

sixshooter

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I can't help you with the reverse/fuse prob... but I may be able to help you with some of the others

2. Im using alot more fuel now, i used to get 600 - 650kms per tank, now im down to 450 - 500kms. I have tried using standard unleaded, petrol with 10% ethenol, premium and premium with 10% ethenol. i seem to get just on or just over 500kms on the petrol with 10% ethenol, everything else in less than 500kms per tank.

Try getting the fuel system checked out / injectors cleaned... if they aren't atomising the fuel efficiently then the car will be making slightly less power and you'll be using more right foot to compensate... hence increased fuel use.

3a. I have a contant sound of rushing air in the car, it sounds like it is coming from inside the air vents.

Most likely a problem with the vacuum lines of the climate control... vacuum leaks or faulty solenoid block will cause problems with vents closing and opening...start with checking the vacuum line off the manifold to the black ball under the front of the left hand guard and follow the lines into the interior...could be a hose has slipped off a connector... the soleniod switch block is under the radio and requires the centre console to be removed to get to it...these switches **** themselves occasionally...approx $100 new $30 sh...if you aren't getting a nice wooshing noise as you switch between vents this may be the problem...when the climate is turned off the vents are left in the open position by default.

3b.When i turn off the climate control i can still feel heat or cool air coming from the vents at my feet and sometimes my face, like when i get my car serviced they turn the heat on full when changing the coolent, when i get back in the car i turn off the climate control but its still hot on my feet.

Not sure about this I dont recall my Calais doing that... but check the temperature is low enough before switching off...the problem may be because of vents staying open by default and it may be leaving the temp setting retained...ie. heater tap open... the cheapest and best way of diagnosing things if you cant find the answers here is to head down to your friendly wreckers and see if they will let you swap parts over to diagnose the problem... I'd be looking at the electronic display control switch and solenoid valve if the vacuum lines are ok ! Else if you take it somewhere they'll charge like a wounded bull due to the time it takes to diagnose the problem and they'll most likely be doing the same thing... swapping parts over.

4. I pulled the diff outta my car myself and had it re-raced, at the same time i purchased some kingsprings for the rear and some gt gas shockers, i made sure these were the corrent ones for my car, now with the diff back in my car is sitting really high at the rear end, i can fit two fists in the gap. The rear camber was also out so i had to get a camber kit fitted, I was told by the guys that fitted the camber kit that the springs and shockers were correct for my car and they dont know what is causing it to be really high in the back end, so they swapped out my standard ride height kingsprings for a pair or lows they had laying around, this made a slight (1 or 2 cms) difference but not much.

Springs need to be broken in....fill the tank full of petrol...put some heavy gear in the boot and drive over a bumpy road...that should give them a workout and settle them in...if they are still sitting high then I think that the springs have been marked incorrectly.

5. Leaking boot. i have my boot stripped of all the lining because i cant find the bloody leak, i have pulled my rear seats out and put my head in the boot with a torch, while my girlfriend runs water from the hose all over the boot and the back window and i did not see a single leak, yet 2 or 3 days later after it had been raining my boot was full. (the tire well is totally submerged and the boot has around 2 - 3 cms to water. I wanna put a decent system in my car but i cant with the water issue in the boot.

Thats a hell of a leak !!!...Ok Pull the boot rubber off and see if any metal has rusted in the channel...and also pull the rubber off the rear windscreen and check for rust aswell...its easy to fit back on again and is mearly a cosmetic thing...start to lift the window rubber from the bottom....and fitting is reverse proceedure....mine was slightly lifting up and wasn't seated properly I found a minor surface rust spot on the bottom corner...but if left unchecked could have gotten worse and been a entry point of water into my boot....the best way to find boot leaks is to get inside the boot with a torch and get the car hosed from above...and hose around the quarter vent window... good luck !!!
 

WiLo

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the boot leak could also be coming from the rear 1/4 window, there is a guide on SC but basicly remove rear seat and parcel shelf, then the trim around the window undo the 5 or so screws, whilst somehow holding the window from the outside so it doesnt fall, get some windscreen sealent, make sure it is not silicon based, then run the sealant around the window, you can see where the fatory rubber seal runs and i just followed that, fit the window, leave it for a few days to dry etc. then it should be fine
 

sircruisealotVS

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for the boot leak, dont forget about the boot garnish (the piece that runs along the boot between the tail lights)...alot of the time thats what is causing the leak. after a while the seal perishes and the water is actually then channeled into the boot lid!
so the easiest fix for that is to run some sikaflex along where the seal was and reattach the boot garnish (re-tighten it after a week or so).
 

88GreenVN

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Check the tail light seals. New tail lights & seals in the VN fixed my water in the boot!
 
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