VT Commodore V6 issues

[Bundyk]

G'day all,

Now, I know this is a Pajero forum, but I'm hoping someone might be able to give me a bit of guidance WRT my Commodore and the issue I'm having with it

The car is hard to start in the morning. By that I mean it takes an extended amount of time to fire. 10-15 seconds of cranking is not uncommon. The hard to start issue will also arise if the car has been sitting for a while. Anything less than an hour and it will fire right up. If this was all that was wrong, then I could live with it, however there is more.

Idling can sometimes be an issue. I can be sitting at a red light, engine ticking over as it should, then all of a sudden it will all but stall. The revs will drop right down for a split second, then it will rcover and return to a normal idle. This could happen once or a few times sitting at idle. Worst is 6 or 7 times at 1 red light.

Next, it will develop a miss. Sometimes i could accellerate away from a standstill and the car will be fine, you wouldnt think anything was wrong. Other times the miss is that bad you dont think you will get anywhere. Once up to speed its then fine.

The car will also develop a miss while driving. I can be driving along happily, then all of a sudden it will have a miss, probably best described as a harsh hesitation or a sudden jerk.

The real confusing part is the hard to start issue is the only constatnt. I can go for days or even weeks without an issue (although the issues are becoming more frequent), then it will begin. I can have one or all of the mentioned issues at once, and having one doesnt always mean i will have another.

I have changed the plugs and leads, and I have swapped the air flow meter out for another with no change.

Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong with it?

I can access parts, but I dont want to swap everything out one by one to eventually find the problem, I'd rather go in with with some good advice and try changing some key suspects.

Thanks all.

[Mussy]

G'day Bundy,

My old VT V6 behaved the same way, turned out to be the crank angle sensor. I also remember it being a pain in the to replace.

[Pauly Faulkner]

+1 change the crank angle sensor. These are quite cheap to replace as the part is such a common failure with them. Symptoms inc hard to start or not start at all, intermittent stall issues, random lack of power and/or hesitation.

The job is relatively quite simple to do in theory but can be an utter pain to remove the harmonic balancer.

[kerway]

And I also would say crank angle sensor. My VT was doing exactly what you describe. The last straw was it dieing halfway through a dual lane roundabout while overtaking a bus and the motor just died. No power steering no nothing.
I dont remember it being a pain in the arse to change because I just dropped it at my local trusted mechanic ( ie not dealer) and said fix it.
Just checked his receipt. $55 for the c.a.s plus 3 hrs labour including doing a major service.
Change it or get it changed. It'll solve the problem
cheers
kerway

[Bundyk]

Thanks for the input everyone, it seems pretty unanimous. I spoke to a mechanic mate of mine today as well, and he said the same thing.

Car is booked in for Friday 24th.

[m1s3ry]

A crank angle sensor problem should turn on your check engine light, with a code like "46 - No reference signal while cranking."

Get your mechanic to plug in his scan tool first and see what codes are stored.

I'd be checking out your coil pack/DFI module as they will cause the same intermittent problems.

[Muzza]

Can be crank angle, and most likely will be , however the other fine piece of equipment that dies on VT's is the transponder in the key, try a different key if possible,

[Bundyk]

Can be crank angle, and most likely will be , however the other fine piece of equipment that dies on VT's is the transponder in the key, try a different key if possible,

Thanks Muzza. The car only came with 1 key, so I would have to get another one cut and programmed, but it will be worth a try. I'll get the CAS done first though.

[Terryo]

When I was reading your symptoms it was exactly how my daughter described what was happening with her Ford Festiva. Turned out to be a coil pack,replaced them and no more problems since.
Terry

[kerway]

Any update on your VT Bundy?
Just curious what they found
kerway

[Bundyk]

Kerway, sorry mate. Yeah, I had the crank angle sensor replaced last Friday and so far so good. The only thing it hasnt fixed is the hard to start issue, but I have found a way around that. If i turn the key to on, then back to acc. then start, it starts straight up every time. Aside from that, Ive had no other issues to date. Fingers crossed.

[kerway]

Thats good.
Glad it all worked out. Everyone keeps telling me to sell our VT as we have 3 cars and are empty nesters. The children keep saying we dont need that many cars and it's getting old. Funny how when they need to borrow a car when of their cars are off the road that the VT becomes a great drive. Mind you, it's 14 years old and only has 140k km on it so it is pretty good.

[Bundyk]

Ok, another update. So far, not so good. Got half way to work this morning and the car started to miss and carry on again, so it looks like it wasn't the crank angle sensor after all. I like Terry's suggestion of coils as well, but I might see if I can get a diagnostic machine on it to see if there are any codes or anything. I don't wan to spend a fortune on it, it didn't cost much to buy.

I'll keep you all updated.

[kerway]

Hey Bundy,
Did you get your Commodore sorted? Just curious how you went getting the coils changed.
kerway

[Bundyk]

Hey mate, no I havent got the old girl sorted yet. The symptoms have changed a little since my last update, so I am going to take it to get a diagnostic tool put on it, I'll just have to wait until the auto elec comes back from Christmas break. I'll keep you posted. (It seems to be pointing to a fuel delivery issue)