Hi guys, I am new to this forum and new to v8s. I recently bought a 2012 manual VE ss wagon after much searching but seem to have some problems with it. I test drove it twice and was all good, the seller let me know the clutch was on the way out so probably something to get done in the next year or so. Otherwise body is very straight and car looks good. About 4 or 5 days after taking delivery I start hearing a tapping noise, left front of the engine bay, kinda metallic, so took it into the local mechanics who thought it was the tensioner pulleys off the water pump making noise, so got them replaced and still had the noise, turns out was a bad left cat converter they failed to mentionn when they had a look. They quoted me $900 just to replace the dodgy cat which I find insane. Should I just search for a stock ve cat and get an exhaust shop to fit until I buy a full kit? Also would a stock vf system fit on a VE? Apologies for the long post. Thanks
HI there, thanks for the reply. Car is a 2012 series 2 manual wagon, done 105,000kms, always serviced. I think the only thing it may need in the near future is a clutch once it goes. Anyway I had a day off today so did some looking and found a 2nd hand cat converter and took it down to the local midas to get fitted as the muffler shop in werribee didn't have time today. They told me it wouldn't fit as it was slightly different. Is there a difference between series 1 and series 2 cats? They e fed up putting the old cat back on so back to square 1, not sure what to do now
pity you can't work on it yourself Id do the clutch now and put the old one back in when it goes and get rid of it at least the clutch will be nice for the next 50k's , I like to spend all the money on a car when I first get while I still like it, I'm an end user of cars as I buy 10 year old cars and get 5 or 6 years out of them, I have put up with crap clutches for 2 years finely done the clutch then sold the car 6 months later. pay the money and let the mechanic the new cat in never touch it again otherwise put a complete new system with 2 new cats on it and be done with it if thats what you want to do. You like the car you just got it put the best parts on it you can afford drive it for years.
Hi mate, thanks for the reply. Yep I think better I just spend the money now and not worry about it it later. Now I have a spare cat that apparently won't fit on my car, should I take it to an exhaust shop to look at or is there a difference between s1 and s2 cats?
No difference as far as I know. Also, are you sure the ticking isn’t the purge solenoid which sits top left on the motor. Remove the plastic cover. A round canister. Hang on, series 2 you have so would be the LLT motor with the purge solenoid top right which makes the tick. Having issues with the cats, what tests were done to diagnose this? Thermal tests, vacuum tests, diagnostic data?
OK, I think I will take it back on to a muffler shop to fit, maybe midas couldn't get it right for some reason. Would you be able to show me where the purge solenoid is located exactly? The noise with the cats is the inside has broken apart and is rattling, more noticeable after engine heats up and definitely coming from the left hand side exhaust. We've done a vacuum test and could not find any leaks
I've had a cat in an older car (with only a single upstream O2 sensor) melt the honeycomb due to unburnt fuel entering the exhaust because of a failed spark plug. The honeycomb broke apart when it cooled after switching the engine offf. On next start, it sounded like a train on bumpy tracks when running and was down on power. So, i took the cat out and had a look. Loose melted honeycomb was stuck at the intake so used a chissle to clean up the cat entry area. Reinstalled the cat and as it turned out, not much had melted so the small amount of honecomb lost didn't impact anything noticably. Car ran OK for the next 10 years. Admittedly, with both an upstream and downstream O2 sensor for the cat, a small loss of honeycomb may have a greater impact than in my situation. It may be worth a try if you have car ramps and axle stands and able to safely do basic spanner work.
So just FYI, found out a VE cat converter with a flex head does not fit on the series 2 ss. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime before I bite the bullet and get a full system? I don't have ramps and wouldn't want to do that kind of work on jack stands. And it's weird, I need the one part of a commodore that seems to be out of stock these days lol
