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Cooling System Kit

inSight

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So I'm planning on buying new parts for the engine cooling system. I was wondering what you guys think of these? Prices include postage.

NEW Radiator Holden Commodore VT VX V6 AT MT 97 02 | eBay $139.98

VT VX VY VZ Commodore Radiator Rubber Mount KIT V6 V8 | eBay $26.95

Holden Commodore VT VX V6 Gates Complete Radiator Cooling Hose KIT With Clamps | eBay $105

Holden Thermostat Housing Commodore VS VT VX VY Genuine | eBay $46

Radiator CAP Thermostat KIT Genuine Holden Commodore VN VR VS VT VX VY V6 OE GM | eBay $33.45

Commodore Water Pump VN VP VR VS VT VX VU VY 3 8 Litre V6 Gates Holden | eBay $36.95

Total: $388.33

Add to this radiator flush, distilled water and coolant which I will probably just get from Repco. Is this sufficient enough for a good service of the cooling system?

Also if I'm going to fit the water pump is it a good idea to buy a timing chain kit and install that with this stuff? Never had to do a timing chain before (have done a timing belt) so is this a difficult procedure to do?

Rollmaster LS1 Performance Timing Chain SET Double ROW VT VX VY VZ Commodore HSV | eBay $159.94

EDIT: Maybe a new belt and pulleys as well?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/COMMODORE-VX-VY-V6-V6-ECOTEC-00-04-GATES-MICRO-V-DRIVE-BELT-3pce-PULLEY-KIT-/251118148526?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a77cedbae&_uhb=1 $121.00
 

umair

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Sold my car :(
All of these are pretty important parts for the car so buy original genuine parts, do not cheap out.
 

Nut Kracker

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I don't know about the rest, but the Gates hoses are pretty good.
I've had them on my car for quite a while with absolutely no problems.
I got them from the same seller, (Grant Walker Parts) along with several other items from him. Very happy.
 

franklinfrog

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That's a decent cooling system overhaul, nice work. Cheap radiator caps can be problematic but it's worth trying them first in my opinion. I ran an ebay radiator in my VN for about 5 years, no issues. Go for it. Thermo housing I've never changed, but the new one is nice and shiny.

Don't bother with timing chains unless you have a problem with them, lot of work and can be challenging for a backyarder. Also, belt if it looks worn, pulleys only if they're making noise.
 

Cheap6

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Why? If the parts are functional there's no reason to replace them at random. Replacing the coolant is a service item, so that is justifiable. You might make the case for replacing the hoses and clamps at the same time. The type of coolant is specific to the Commodore V6. Using a generic coolant will not protect the water pump seals.

Definitely not with the timing chain. To replace it requires removing the timing case cover which in turn requires removing the sump, dropping the exhaust 'Y' pipe, the K-frame and steering rack to do so. It's not particularly difficult to do but is a lot of work for no benefit.
 

inSight

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I do have a reason for doing a large service on the car, these parts I listed are only part of the parts I will be replacing. I just wanted to know if it was enough, or good parts as I have no experience with Commodores.

My reason however is simple. I have owned 3 cars (This VX makes it my forth but I have it under my girlfriends name). EVERY car I have owned have not had a service history provided so, as you have suggested, I just left it until problems occurred and I have spent a crap load of money having to randomnly buy parts that just fail. It's annoying, it's a waste of my time, it's expensive and a few times I have missed out on work because the car was off the road. Many times I have had to pull apart areas of the car I had already worked on to get to the parts that are behind them. It would have been so much better to do this when I did those parts before hand.

For this Commodore I plan to buy a whole range of new parts and start a brand new service history that I can do as specified by time or distance traveled. That way I don't have to keep working on it every 2nd month when random parts start failing. This will provide a huge benefit to me in the long term as I won't have to constantly spend time under the hood due to not knowing when parts need replacing and waiting until something breaks which could do damage to other components. I also plan on buying a Nut and Bolt kit to replace the ones in the car as I've broken a few in my other cars due to corrosion.

I do hope this makes sense. I just want to do the work now, or soon, so I don't have to do it later. We also plan to use this car on long distance road trips and I don't want parts failing on the way. We do around 40,000-50,000km per year driving.

Also that does seem like a lot of work with the timing chain. Is the same process applied for the water pump (it was with the Kia Sportage we own)? If so than I might as well do the timing chain with it.
 

Cheap6

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No, the water pump is easy and doesn't require the timing case cover to be removed.

I get that you want to know with certainty how old some of the parts are. I always replace the timing belt on a car I don't know the service history of. It is a matter of judgement as to what else to do. It's not so much waiting until something breaks, just working out what is likely to do so soon and what is not. You usually get warning signs, like visual indication of a leak or splits (belt) or some noise, with the accessory drive belt, accessory drive pulleys, radiator and water pump. You could/can replace everything but then why not buy a brand new car instead?
 

inSight

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No, the water pump is easy and doesn't require the timing case cover to be removed.
Excellent. The water pump in my other cars ran off the timing belt. But never having to deal with a timing chain I thought I would ask.

I get that you want to know with certainty how old some of the parts are. I always replace the timing belt on a car I don't know the service history of. It is a matter of judgement as to what else to do. It's not so much waiting until something breaks, just working out what is likely to do so soon and what is not. You usually get warning signs, like visual indication of a leak or splits (belt) or some noise, with the accessory drive belt, accessory drive pulleys, radiator and water pump. You could/can replace everything but then why not buy a brand new car instead?
Yeah I know what you mean. But I would rather do these things via interval servicing instead of completely random servicing. It just makes it so much easier to work on the car in the long run. Plus I'm terrible at detecting wear and tear and given I travel a lot the mechanics generally can't give me a good indication of when something needs to be done.

Also it was going to be part of a hobby project when I buy my next (aka this) car to do this. So while it may not be completely necessary it's something I wanted to do. :D

As for buying a new car, I couldn't afford one. I got this Commodore for $5,300 and it's the most expensive car I have ever bought and we needed to take out a loan to get it. LOL.
 

inSight

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I'm in the process of buying some of these parts now and I was wondering if anyone has experience with buying radiators. These sellers are saying they have radiators for both Manual and Automatic. The radiator I have in my current VX is a manual only radiator. Do I have to specify that I have a manual as this seller doesn't mention anything. Or does the automatic radiator also fit in a manual and I just ignore the transmission connection parts?

NEW Radiator Holden Commodore VT VX V6 AT MT 97 02 | eBay

Also is it a good radiator? It's the only one that I could find with 3 years or 60,000km warranty. All the rest, even genuine radiators, only come with 2 years and around 25,000-50,000km warranty.

EDIT: Also I think my thermostat is buggered. What is a good thermostat brand? Tridon, Dayco, GM Genuine?
 
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