A Few Questions... VS Series II

[inais]

hi all, i got my stereo in safe n sound with no hassels at all ( there was a deal on for free installation with the player i bought, so i took that)

anyways, my thread isnt about that this time. I have a few questions, still being new to the commodore scene.

1) Fuel Consumption - i get around about 350km/s off a full tank of optimax/vortex/or the bp fuel. thats around town. is that normal?

2) Brake Lights - my brake lights only seem to work when the pedal is pressed hard. Im a light braker usually if i see a red light coming up, ill start braking around 20 - 30 metres before hand, or back off.
is there a way to fix this without an eleco? just getting a bit worried i might get hit up the bum.

3) Overheating. - Now this is a tricky one, when my old man gave me the car, he todl me it will need a new 2-speed fan, so be carefull driving around town. I went to get a new fan and the guys said, if the fan works, you dont need one (it only works sometimes, with the air con on). apparantly from what the guys were saying is that its normal for the vs fan not to turn on until about 3/4 of the way on the guage. they also went on about a 106o thermo for a bit as a cheap experiment. but that whole thing loses me.
So my question is what do i do?

4) Wobble - i get this wobble in the steering sometimes when i break, it will pull hard to the left or right, and when i unbrake, the steering will straighten back up.
Ive rotated the tires, and that helped a bit, but is there anything else?


thats all for now, but im sure i will have more questions at a later date.
thanks for your time

Tim

 

[Patrio7]

350 for town sounds give or take right, a service including a fuel filter might help there, how's the transmission feel? loose or taught?

the brake switch is adjustable, located somewhere along the pedal shaft, it might be sticking or needs to be backed off a little a spritz of wd40 maybe?

Commodores will not turn on their fans unless (i) the temp is above 3/4 or (ii) the AC is on this seems normal to me in honesty.

the brake rotors may be either slightly collapsed or worn, also for the pulling to one side, the brakes might be biting unevenly, how new are they?

 

[hako]

1) Normal fuel economy...maybe a tad low but nothing to worry about.
2) Look up under the brake pedal and you'll see the switch - it can be adjusted.
3) without the air on the fan will not come on till 3/4. If you are worried you can fit a new coolant temp sensor which tells the ECU when to turn the fan on....these are not a lot of dollars - your sensor may be failing but not necessarily so.
4) probably either a worn tierod end or a steering rack end. Check your front tyres for uneven wear and/or jack up the front and see if there is any sideways play with the wheel - there should be nil.

I'd get number 4 fixed first.

Good Luck.

 

[inais]

wow guys, that was quick. and you's really know your stuff...

the transmission is a bit clunky when first going into gear, but while running seems smooth enough.
I dont know when the last service was, but the sticker on the windscreen said 210,000 and its now at 290,000. (ex fleet car)

there is also an exhaust leak near the muffler somewhere, and sometimes when i pull up i can smell fuel. is/ or would that have anything to do with fuel consumption, and is that where the fuel is coming from.

thanks

 

[inais]

* when you say under brake pedal, is it under the foot pedal or further up the shaft?

cant seem to find anythin

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Numbers 1-3 like they said, number 4, check the radius rod bushes. The rods go from the lower control arm to the front of the K frame. The are shaped like a wide Z. Easy way to check is to have someone creep forward slowly in the car and brake, you will see the wheel move quite a bit back and forth if the bushes are worn. This will change the alignment geometry when you brake causing it to pull to one side and also cause the wheel to wobble. If the wobble is there everytime you brake it probably will be warped rotors.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

* when you say under brake pedal, is it under the foot pedal or further up the shaft?

cant seem to find anythin

Further up the shaft.

 

[Swordsy]

My VS used to get steering wheel wobble under brakes, changed my front brake rotors and it went away.

Your car should be using about 10 liters per 100Km around town and about 8L/100Km on the freeway.

 

[dufus]

My VS used to get steering wheel wobble under brakes, changed my front brake rotors and it went away.

Your car should be using about 10 liters per 100Km around town and about 8L/100Km on the freeway.

10L/100km around town is fairly low for a VS

 

[jet_pilot]

with the brake wobble you might not need new rotor's try taking them off and putting them on upside down to what they where i had the same problem with the vp a mate had same thing with his vs he wasnt happy after he got new rotor's and i didnt have to spend anything