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tim_tim
P Plater
12 Posts
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 Posted - 13 Dec 2006 : 6:09:35 PM
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Hey guys just joined the site. names tim. I have 90 model vn light blue exec wagon with spoiler, full sports exhaust and extractors, calais grill, darkened and tinted headlights, but sitting on standard vt 15's with vt hubbies LOL!
anyways my wagon has developed a little knock when it is idling- is it anything to be concerned about?
its done about 180,000 ks.
thanks
tim.
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mouce
National Driver
1525 Posts
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Posted - 13 Dec 2006 : 8:42:40 PM
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Welcome to the club, sounds like a nice little wagon you've got there, and don't worry about the rims, I'm still skidding around on the factory standard 14" steelies. 
As for your question, it depends on where the knock is coming from as to weather you should be concerned about it or not.
If it's at the back of the engine, then I'd suggest that you get the drive-plate looked at (auto) or the flywheel in the manual. Sometimes these can develop cracks in it.
If the knock is at the front of the engine, have a look at the harmonic balancer (largest pulley on the front of the engine, down the bottom), it's not uncommon for the rubber to crack and disintergrate. When it really lets go, your car can and will sound like a Sherman tank.
Give it a bit of a service (check plugs/leads, and clean out the throttle body and IACV), see if that helps anything.
Also, let us know where abouts it sounds like it's coming from.
Unless of course you're talking about the 'knocking' that is the precursor to 'pinging', in which case, you'll need to find out what's gone on with the timing. |
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell - Peter Brock (1945-2006) |
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tim_tim
P Plater
12 Posts
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Posted - 13 Dec 2006 : 9:07:50 PM
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it sounds like its on the drivers side. It is an auto too. I have not noticed effecting the power of the car, i usually head out with my local car club and it never has a problem with keeping up with the traffic. They are a rough idling engine. Could an engine mount be broken i wonder?
Im a trainee and so funds can be scarce - but if you have any other ideas on how i could **** all over most naturally aspirated v6's that would be great. last weekend i kept nose to nose with a vt, how do i clean out the throttle body and how do i know if its opening up 100%
thanks heaps mouce
where the auto's faster then the manual vn cause i have dragged a few and they dont keep up?
have a good one tim. |
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mouce
National Driver
1525 Posts
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Posted - 14 Dec 2006 : 10:27:11 AM
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http://www.vncommodore.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=394
that should help you with the cleaning
As for the auto being faster than the manual? That's junk. The only reason that it seems like that is because all you need to do in an auto is grab "D" (d is for drag right?) and mash the throttle. In a manual, you need to worry about shift points. If you come across someone in a VN manual who knows how to shift, they will end up about half a car length in front of you to 80kph, and about that to 100kph as well.
Trust me, I've proven it enough times with my car, the manual will trounce the auto if the driver knows how to shift.
As for gaining a few extra ponies for cheap...get a cold air intake (VS supercharged CAI from holden is about $70), takes bugger all to fit. And a good quality panel filter (washable one from K&N or UniFilter). That'll help, but first up check the t/b out and make sure it's all clean and opening to 100%.
Being a 1990 engine, you'd have the S2 engine (I'm pretty sure), so it might be worth removing the bell-mouth in the inlet manifold. If you start at the t/b, and have a look at the big metal elbow, where that joins to the top of the engine (with the big 3800 on it), there's a big thick slab of plastic. Yank that out and replace it with a standard gasket, then reset your ecu
http://www.vncommodore.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=413
Idle may be a little rougher, but you've effectively moved the peak of the torque curve DOWN in the rev range and flattened it out a bit, so you can use more torque for longer. Now if you know anything about modding engines you'll know that torque is what gets you off the line and keeps you accelerating, the more torque you've got the easier it is to accelerate. Power is just what defines how quickly you can get to your top speed.
The reason the bell-mouth is there is because Holden realised that the S1 VN V6 engine was out performing the VNSS to most street legal speeds, and clearly this wasn't a good thing as it was badly affecting sales of it's new 'hero-car'. So instead of squeezing a little more out of the V8, they dumbed down the V6 a tad. Not very nice of them really was it? They also had to work out a way of shifting the torque curve a bit higher up in the rev range as the S1 is notorious for generating massive amounts of wheel spin because of it's torque curve. I was in 4th doing 80kph (in the wet) and went to gently accelerate to 100kph, I actually ended up slowing down because of the wheel spin. |
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell - Peter Brock (1945-2006) |
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tim_tim
P Plater
12 Posts
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Posted - 14 Dec 2006 : 3:06:39 PM
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no not a very nice thing to do i dont think seeming it has alot of potential. i will take your word for the manual being faster then the auto, but in sayng that, i can get alot more out of my engine when i manually shift the auto too.
For instance, before i got my exhaust, i could rev it safely whilst draging to about 5300 rpm before the limiter would kick in. After the exhaust and extractors were set in place i found that i could now rev to 5700 before i hit the limiter. Alot more throttle response and i darent be enthusiastic in the wet with it.
i dont know i am skepticle with it all really, but anyways.
thanks for the do it yourself page on cleaning the throttle body and the bell housing. |
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mouce
National Driver
1525 Posts
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Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 10:20:43 AM
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Potential? There are guys over in the states running these engines with 1100bhp. We here in Australia have a LONG way to go before we get there. Imagine that, an 800kw VN. That'd be fun!
While it is possible to manually shift your auto, don't do it. It REALLY doesn't like it. If you want to do that get a shift kit in it, stage two at least for manual shifting (even then only part time). Manually shifting an auto is a really quick way to need a rebuild. I know of more than one person who manually shifted their auto to death. One couldn't even start his car because of how stuffed it was (still dunno what caused THAT to happen). |
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell - Peter Brock (1945-2006) |
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tim_tim
P Plater
12 Posts
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Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 1:46:10 PM
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well its gettign a stage two shift kit after christmas when some funds return. I dont shift manually that often- but the tranmission hasn't seemed to suffer from it.
that being said a manual is for shifting lol. One day... hahahah.
n the next year or so i will be able to afford a new car but im torn between investing in a new loan - or doing up what i already own. not sure whether the cars of today have the personlaity of the old.
what is your take on this? even though i know you have a vn?
has this thought ever crossed your mind?
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VNSVLE
Forum Moderator
1316 Posts
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Posted - 16 Dec 2006 : 2:11:03 PM
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| Just wondering if you had found the cause of the know in your engine. If not one suggestion i do have is that it could be a big end bearing on it's way out. To test this theory whilst your car is running lift the bonnet and very carefully remove the sparkplug leads one by one( only having one off at anytime) and see if the knock goes away. If it does than that may mean that the big end bearing on that cylinder is on it's way out. If not another theory could be the camshaft. I have heard that they sometimes have a tendency to crack and sometimes break around the 200000km mark. I have heard that they will start to make a bit of a knocking noise just before they let go. Just some food for thought anyway. Goodluck |
What's the difference between understeer and oversteer?
Understeer is when the driver is scared.
Oversteer is when the passenger is scared. |
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mouce
National Driver
1525 Posts
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Posted - 19 Dec 2006 : 7:08:23 PM
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Best to not remove the leads while the engine is running, switch it off before you yank the lead, otherwise you might (read: probably will) receive quite a few nasty shocks. As someone who has been on the nasty end of the ignition lead, it hurts.
As for doing up the car vs selling it. Depends. If you sell the VN you'd be getting up to $2000 and that's if your lucky, most are now selling (privately) for about $1500 or less. Which means you're essentially starting from scratch. Personally, if there's no rust, I'd be doing a rebuild of the engine/tranny, throwing a new suspension at it, and some wide rubber. Then look at a few engine mods if you want it, but most of the time the VN V6 is enough to loose your licence ;) If you work out how much that will cost, vs the cost of a new car (which would be more or less stock and in an 'unknown' mechanical condition, you might find (like I did when I did the sums a few months back) that keeping the VN is the way to go. |
Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell - Peter Brock (1945-2006) |
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