Engine Problems and DTC's: VE SV6 LLT

[tinyfro]

Hi all,

I bought a 2009 (MY10) VE SV6 with an LLT engine around 6 months ago, it has around 175000km. Have had a few problems with it and just wondering if anyone has any ideas.

P0304 (Cylinder 4 - Misfire):
Originally only happened once when I took off and went up to around 5k-6k rpm. CEL came on with an alarm, engine got really low on power, noisy and shaky at idle, code cleared itself after 10 minutes. This issue has become worse since then, if I put around 30% throttle the engine will shudder and backfire, if I hold the accelerator for too long while this happens, I assume the misfire count reaches its threshold and P0304 comes up again, with the same symptoms as I described above (I've since bought a scan tool and can clear the code myself and continue driving, but it continues to happen and it makes it difficult to drive). I have replaced all of the spark plugs and swapped the cylinder 4 coil around with one from another cylinder, no change. I thought it could be a fuel issue but haven't looked into it enough yet. Or could be a carbon buildup problem? Or possibly related to the other issues below?

P0008 (Engine Position System Performance - Bank 1):
This one just came up randomly one day a couple of months ago, and now it reoccurs seemingly at random times. There doesn't seem to be any drop in engine performance when it happens, but the engine in general has not felt 100% in my opinion. I've read that this can indicate a timing chain problem, and the previous owner did tell me that his mechanic told him it may need a timing chain replacement in the future.

P0009 (Engine Position System Performance - Bank 2):
Same as above, but this one has only happened once since I have owned the car, which I find a bit strange...

I suppose I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience with these specific issues in the way that they are occurring for me? Curious if they might all be related to each other or if the misfire is just a separate problem.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

[J_D 2.0]

Hi all,

I bought a 2009 (MY10) VE SV6 with an LLT engine around 6 months ago, it has around 175000km. Have had a few problems with it and just wondering if anyone has any ideas.

P0304 (Cylinder 4 - Misfire):
Originally only happened once when I took off and went up to around 5k-6k rpm. CEL came on with an alarm, engine got really low on power, noisy and shaky at idle, code cleared itself after 10 minutes. This issue has become worse since then, if I put around 30% throttle the engine will shudder and backfire, if I hold the accelerator for too long while this happens, I assume the misfire count reaches its threshold and P0304 comes up again, with the same symptoms as I described above (I've since bought a scan tool and can clear the code myself and continue driving, but it continues to happen and it makes it difficult to drive). I have replaced all of the spark plugs and swapped the cylinder 4 coil around with one from another cylinder, no change. I thought it could be a fuel issue but haven't looked into it enough yet. Or could be a carbon buildup problem? Or possibly related to the other issues below?

P0008 (Engine Position System Performance - Bank 1):
This one just came up randomly one day a couple of months ago, and now it reoccurs seemingly at random times. There doesn't seem to be any drop in engine performance when it happens, but the engine in general has not felt 100% in my opinion. I've read that this can indicate a timing chain problem, and the previous owner did tell me that his mechanic told him it may need a timing chain replacement in the future.

P0009 (Engine Position System Performance - Bank 2):
Same as above, but this one has only happened once since I have owned the car, which I find a bit strange...

I suppose I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience with these specific issues in the way that they are occurring for me? Curious if they might all be related to each other or if the misfire is just a separate problem.

Appreciate any thoughts.

You will need to do the timing chains. There are three of them in the Alloytec engine so most likely bank one chain is more stretched than the bank two chain? Chain layout is below.

 

[krusing]

Yes for the P0008 & P0009,
Timing Chains, common as Mags on Monaro's !

Bank 2 [Passengers Side] Chain was stretched that much as it was "almost 1/2 a tooth out"

I did mine, has not faulted since,
actually get up and boogies/goes/runs really well, and that in an 2006 Adventra.
I have a Thread on it as it was lockdown Adventra Project.

P0304 could be part of the chain issue
But check the Plug, Coil, Injector Plug, Physical Injector
All the ground connections on Bank 1 (Drivers Side)

 

[tinyfro]

Thanks for your perspectives.

Definitely had my suspicions about the timing chains so it’s good to have some confirmation.

In other news, I hadn’t driven the car for 1 week and just got back into it today; the symptoms for the cylinder 4 misfire have almost completely disappeared. Can’t think of a logical reason for that and somehow I feel like it’ll be short lived, but I’m not complaining… it’s the first time I’ve actually enjoyed driving the car in months.