Is my VZ 2004 a lemon. Please help

[G1vway]

I have owned this cae for a good 2 years now and over this time it has been giving me some grief. It is an auto and is fully standard and in really good condition and serviced regulary.
Is done 112,000 ks and i understand it is the first of the 3.6 Alloy tec so its kinda the guinipig.

About 8 months ago I had the computer replaced as it stuffed out. ($2,500 later).
About 5 months ago my wife rings me at work stressing that the temp alarm was ringing and the guage was on the red. We got it home fine once it had cooled down and we got this looked at and there was no indication why this did it. Thermostat was working, electric fans kicking in etc. The coolant needed toping up by about 800mls. The temp has been good since however it uses about 200mls of water every few months. Is this common.

Twice now my car has idled really ruff on start up then stalled with in 5 seconds. It then wont statr and stinks of raw fuel. Got it started by cleaning plugs and holding the throttle to the floor. Is this a known problem and does any one know of any solutions?

Any help is much appreciated

Regan

 

[VZ_commo91]

Replace your radiator cap, Should fix the heating problem.
However the rough idle I'm not too sure about.

 

[Big Red VF-SII Go-kart]

To refer to a VZ as a "lemon" is drawing a long and undeserved bow. The distance of 112,000km is irrelevant (having said that, the type of driving you do can have an impact). For the engine to reach that high temperature, a problem with the thermostat or radiator cap is indicated. Small top-ups of coolant around 6 monthly intervals are often done as part of routine servicing; any large coolant loss merits more thorough checking than a tap on the radiator cap and "she'll be right".

Dirty or fouled injector(s) can cause rough idling and stalling. So, too, can a fuel pump on the way out (or providing marginal serviceability due to age). The fuel pump will whiney; get somebody to hang around low near the fuel tank as the engine is started and idled for any audible feedback from the pump. At around 100,000km injectors are removed and properly cleaned as part of that km-logged servicing (mine is scheduled for 110,000km, though I regularly use injector cleaner every 5,000km). Plugs should last 110,000km with good driving (freeway, typically). A techie should be given the opportunity to thoroughly go over the car to empirically evaluate and isolate problem areas.

 

[G1vway]

Thanks guys for your imput. Ill start with what you guys have stated and go from there.