VX Commodore Crank no start

[brendanssound]

Promised myself i wouldn't do this but I am coming to wits end with this car. Don't know a great
deal about the workings of a Commodore motor (Iv always had fords.. ha.. i can feel the hate brewing
already) anyway..

Got a 2002.. i think..pretty sure. VX Commodore V6 and let it be heard here, now and never again..
The car was pretty great. Very reliable, goes good, and sadly i even gave the occasional falcon a
good look at the rear of it as i drove on by (In a safe and controlled environment of course.. )

Had been cruising back from driving my partner to work one day, taking it easy.. no work for me that
day so no rush. Came to a set of lights.. Light turned green.. went to accelerate.. Nothing happened.

Car suddenly jumped back to life (and by that i mean it never stalled or anything.. it just started
responding to my acceleration.) All the way to the next set of lights. At the lights i got a feeling of
near stall then good again. Light turned green.. went to go... did it again. This time it never came back.. Then it stalled.

I got pushed off to the side of the road. Where i was able to start the car again but it idled like a
bucket of crap. Although at that point it did at least idle. If i stepped on the accelerator whatsoever it just
instantly stalled.

Got it towed home, called a mechanic friend who said Crank angle sensor.. So i removed the harmonic balancer,
installed a new crank angle sensor, and have pretty much been fighting ever since (the past few weeks) to
get the harmonic balancer back on where it belongs. (Yes i know.. key way has to line up etc). Had it reinstalled
a few times but it still wouldn't start so i re-did it encase it was slightly out.

i have also checked fuel pump is working (dropped the tank.. can confirm the pump fires up), checked spark...There is
spark, Checked codes.. there is no codes. Unless a scanner tool can pick up other codes?

Yesterday i got it to the point where i am positive its on (yes i checked the key is still in place) and the engine
was at TDC. I even switched out the battery with a small truck battery that i know is good. You can tell it wants
to fire.. At one point i think it did for a split second. But no joy..

May or may not be related to my issue but i also have had the issue This guy has But mine was more like This

Although i had always put that down to previous owner living near the coastline - And had replaced water pump and radiator just
in case. It also had regular oil changes with nothing irregular standing out there. Always used 50/50 water & coolant mix. 2 of the
pulleys had slightly noisy bearings, the right rear brake light blew once or twice, and the car used a good $70 in fuel up over 3-4 days
(Up and down the M1 most of its life) but nothing stood out to me as a problem. We're the 2nd owners of the car.

Partner has got a new car and i will probably return to my fairlane soon.. But i kind of wanna see if i can get this to go again before
rego runs out.. maybe ill keep it on the road a bit while the fairlane gets sorted.

Any ideas?

 

[devilly]

sounds to me like a blocked fuel filter or the iac.
i would also suggest to do the spark plug out test see if you have a good strong blue spark.

 

[brendanssound]

sounds to me like a blocked fuel filter or the iac.
i would also suggest to do the spark plug out test see if you have a good strong blue spark.

A late reply, but a reply no less.

Had no time lately to do anything more with this until today. And you'll be pleased to hear you
pretty much hit the nail on the head. Even though i had dropped the fuel tank and heard the pump
making noises..

Even though i had pulled the filter off on the side of the road when it broke down in the first place..

Today i thought i would just test for sure there is fuel at the rail.. pulled the connector off (with a pen lid...
thanks to whoever posted that idea here. ) and found no fuel at the rail. Traced it back to where i thought
maybe the line got pinched.. nope.

Went back to the filter.. and this time i actually tried having someone crank it while i watch for fuel... no fuel.

Pulled the filter off completely.. tried again.. no fuel.

A short trip to the wreckers, and $45 bucks later.. The commodore lives.

Many many weeks...months even. Of frustration, kicking and cursing and smacking away at the harmonic balancer..
And it was just a fuel pump. -_-

Just gotta figure out how you put the bracket for the pump on properly, and lift that heavy ass tank up into
the car and I'm back in business.. horrah!

 

[devilly]

well done you can do it next time you fuel up put that injector cleaner in keeps everything going great.

 

[brendanssound]

well i may have spoken a little too soon. It's alive and moving.. fuel tank mounted. But it does have a sort of knocking/rattling noise.. a lot like it had when
it first broke down except now it can idle, move, and does not stall when i accelerate. Noise seems to be coming from somewhere from right side of the engine
mid-way down.. I know that's very vague but that's the best i can do.. I'm deaf in one ear so direction of sound is difficult for me to pin-point.

I don't think its rod knock, But its definitely concerning.
There is clean oil there.. I'm actually wondering if the crankshaft pulley is not in properly..The 'key' back there is controlling oil flow isn't it?
If that was not turning the engines not getting oil right?

It also has no power steering. Fluid is there. And i did jack it up and do the lock to lock "bleeding" but no different. I highly doubt a power
steering pump and fuel pump died simultaneously right?

 

[Turtl3]

Did the belt go back on in the correct orientation?

 

[brendanssound]

Yep, Checked online to be sure

 

[Turtl3]

Best bet might be to upload a video of the sound mate...will make it alot easier for everybody to put their 2c in

 

[brendanssound]

yeah might be right. Lets see how the weather goes tomorrow

 

[brendanssound]

Well it's fairly damp outside but i managed to get a short clip down of the noise.

[video]https://youtu.be/vE2q8oX1xJE[/video]