Please help guys, powertrain warning light drives me mad!!!

[mattyr82]

Try an up to date Auto sparkie....Lot of mechs out there dont have the tools or know how..Got some problem VZ in the shop now thats costing a lot of time that cant be recovered. Even the Holden dealers send out the problem cars, we have to know everything and then get hammerd by the customers because we dont know our job. I think some ppl need to see the other side of the fence....

yeh i second that, sparkies are great, they identifie most problems straight away, because lets face it thats they're specialty, and they have all the diagnostic tools and no how to use them properly. a mechanic usually says youv got an elec fault, then go thru process of elimination to find it, whereas a sparky hooks up his digital fark knuckle and pinpoints it. saves time and money in my experience.

 

[mattyr82]

:banstick::banstick::banstick: I have had it with this problem..... Took the car in back to Holden to get the software upgraded, it went alright for 35kms trip to work in the morning. Guess what on my way home this arvo, it came back on again. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep :bomb::bomb::bomb:
Yes mate, I have tried disconnecting both the battery and the ECU fuse with no luck. Both dealerships might've had it reseted through their TECH2 scan tool though.

I am going to demand a refund from them because the problem wasn't fixed also worth mentioning that they billed me for this software upgrade but I refused to pay as their diagnostic is obviously INCORRECT and the problem wasnt fixed the first time around. So people if you take your car to a Holden dealership to get it repaired and if the problem still exist, get it up them, dont let them trying to pull their BS out of their a**e and expect you to keep paying more and more for their incompetence.

Im not sure of the sensor wiring rubbing against exhaust mate but if this was the case wouldn't you think they would've picked this up? :banstick:
Plugs were done in the last 120000kms service last December and there is no hesitation whatsoever from the engine, everything with the car / engine is normal so this is a tough one fellas.....
As soon as I have got my money refunded its time to find a "real mechanic" and let them find out whats wrong with it. Stay away from Holden Service I'd say, bunch of uselesss and pathetic people!

Its a shame that Holden built great cars but their aftersales support is crap!

that sux mate, is it still showing the code for o2 sensor fault?

 

[Commy SV6]

Try an up to date Auto sparkie....Lot of mechs out there dont have the tools or know how..Got some problem VZ in the shop now thats costing a lot of time that cant be recovered. Even the Holden dealers send out the problem cars, we have to know everything and then get hammerd by the customers because we dont know our job. I think some ppl need to see the other side of the fence....

I know the feeling of being on the other side of the fence as I work as parts interpreter in a major forklift company. What I dont understand is that both delaerships has had my car for a total of 5 times and so far Im getting no result. I cant keep taking the car back to them (time consuming) + they want me to keep paying for the labour which isn't fair as they were the ones who diagnosed it, assured me the repair was going fix the problem but no, the light kept coming back on. Why should I keep paying for their incompetence?

 

[Commy SV6]

that sux mate, is it still showing the code for o2 sensor fault?

Will be taking the car to an auto sparky & mechanical workshop this morning so we will see how we go. Hopefully will come to the end of it. Will keep updating his thread until the problem is solved!

 

[fixedit]

i had same prob with "check powertrain", i changed all 4 o2 sensors and it went away, i hindsight i would have only lashed out the cash for the front 2, 1st, as they are the main culprits i have read.
all gaskets are metal now as in the ve's, they are better and hardier, i am doubtful that they would have broken or if they did left a broken gasket on there.
did ur mechanic only change 1 o2 sensor? i would have thought that changing the pair would be the go.
apparently coils are a problematic item for these cars also. i am changing mine soon i think.

You may be overlooking some of the details in my post. 1. Engine light only came on after I changed spark plugs. 2. Engine light stopped coming on after I fixed the breaks in the gasket. Also, I suspect if you drive too long with a faulty air/fuel mix ratio caused by a break in the gasket, it could have an affect on the O2 sensors.

 

[Commy SV6]

Will be taking the car to an auto sparky & mechanical workshop this morning so we will see how we go. Hopefully will come to the end of it. Will keep updating his thread until the problem is solved!

This 3rd party workshop reckons there may be a vacuum leak. It looks like ''fixedit'' may be right.
This is on for young and old guys, got the Service Department Ops Manager involved, sent him an email on the weekend spat the dummy about this.
When I informed him that a 3rd party workshop has inspected the car and it may be the broken intake manifold gaskets, his reply was "we have highly skilled and highly trained Holden experts, some has been working for Holden for over 20 years etc" and my response was why wasnt this picked up by your so called Holden experts? Why wasnt the 120000kms log book service done properly by your so called Holden experts? Dumba**e!!!!
Got to take my car back in there on Thursday if they dont fix it and still giving me the run around alas talking BS, I will take this matter further and will not back down.

 

[ozteel]

hey buddy had same thing and like others have said my manifold gasket needed replacing but also my thermostat was sticking just be persistent holden are the most painful ***** going round

 

[VzVzVz]

Not sure if this would be the fix, but the oil pressure sensor will usualy go at around 150000kms. Maybe yours has failed early. This is an expensive part and only change it if you are sure of this.

The Holden dealer should be able to look up the fault code with the diagnostic tool, but again, money.

 

[Shorty33]

"Phantom messages" seem to be a common problem on the VZ V6, at least when they're a few years old. Mine had the larger problem of not starting, so the messages were something to ponder while I waited for a mechanic to arrive. The second mechanic to look at my problem said that it is common in VZ's; and that it requires two "Computers" to be reprogrammed, or possibly replaced (megabucks). A frien with the same symptoms has his VZ booked in for "reprogramming" in 10 days (local dealer is "busy"), and I'm waiting to see how he goes before I spend money on mine.

 

[Commy SV6]

Latest update on this thread:

Dealership had my car for another 2 full days and reckon its the ECU but is unsure. They're going to check my ECU by swapping it to another VZ SV6's ECU but told me that I will have to wait as they couldnt find similar model car in their used car yard. Told them I aint happy and demanded a refund and they finally refunded my money -> another lesson for you guys out there, if any dealerships stuff you around, dont be afraid to demand your money back!

Took the car to an independent garage as per my previous post above, they done the checks and said that my cat converters are stuffed due to E10 fuel Ive been using in the last 2 years. They were really confident that by replacing the cats this powertrain light will go away so got them both replaced. The light stayed off for approx. 60 kms and it came back on again -.-''
I went back there to get the codes scanned and got these 2 codes: PO0420 and PO2098.
PO0420 -> catalyst operating efficiency below threshold - bank 1
PO2098 -> post catalyst fuel trim too lean - bank 2

2 possibilities for these 2 fault codes:
1. aftermarket cat converters fitted aint compatible / not good enough
2. new post cat o2 sensors buggered again due to bad cat converters problems in the first place ( dealership replaced both bank 1 and bank 2 post-cat sensors ) -> I am hoping this is the case and by putting new o2 sensors hopefully this will be the end of it all.
Will let everyone knows next week!

Anyone out there having problems with having aftermarket cat converters fitted to their car? Im not talking about performance / sport converters just standard non-genuine converters. Please advise guys!