New owner with some issues

[nurseholliday]

Hi guys, recently bought a 2008 VXR8 auto and I'm having a few issues that I wanted to field some opinion on. I've done a bit of research on here and on the facebook group but I wanted to confirm with other owners before I start throwing parts at it.

Issue 1:
Stability Control error, get the bonging sounds accompanied by ESP off on the bottom left of the dash screen, and the main dash screen displays Stability Control which doesn't clear until I click the left steering wheel button in. SC stays off and the SC button won't turn it back on. This usually happens when accelerating hard and over 50-ish mph. It doesn't throw up an accompanying ABS error but I haven't tested if ABS still works when this error presents itself. Issue clears after turning the car off and on.

I assume this is the Wheel Speed Sensor harness on the rear left, it was last replaced in 2020, about 10k miles ago.

Issue 2:
The wipers stop working, but if I hit the wiper arm they work again. This happened very shortly after fitting new wiper blades, which could be a coincidence. I did buy the Bosch twin set in the FAQ post, it looks like they don't fit perfectly in my opinion. Obviously I threw the old wipers away so I couldn't refit them to test if that was actually the problem.

Is this something other people have experienced? I have seen that others have experienced corroded contact ring in the wiper motor and dirty loom connector to the motor, does anyone have a link to a guide to access the wiper motor, I had a look but it seems like access to the motor isn't a quick job.

Issue 3:
Cruise control has stopped working. The push-in button on the stalk still turns cruise on and off, but the rotating switch won't activate cruise control. Turning the car on and off doesn't fix this issue.

Issue 4:
Auto selector sensor/switch has a fault. When I move the gear lever to the left to put the car into tiptronic mode (sorry I can't remember what it's called), it works for about 10 seconds, then "P" shows up where it would display which gear I'm in, then it electronically turns tiptronic mode off. The gear lever is still to the left as the car can't move the lever back mechanically, but pushing up or down does nothing. If I move it back to the right into Drive and then back to the left, sometimes it works again (still only for 10 seconds), and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes when I first shift to Drive, the display still shows "N" and I have to go back to Neutral and then back to Drive and it drives OK, and sometimes when I'm driving and come to a stop in traffic or at a traffic light, the car thinks it's actually in Reverse so it will turn the parking sensors on. Shifting to Neutral and then back to Drive will resolve this but there's obviously a sensor issue. I found some info on a kind of similar issue on Just Commodores with what I think is the same auto box and gear lever, but it was people with a 6cyl VF Commodore rather than a V8 VE. I tried the fix they suggested (moving the pin in the gear lever) but it made no difference.

To me it seems like I just need to replace the sensor or switch but I can't see where that is or find a part number so any help on that would be appreciated.

Issue 5:
Check Engine light shows up intermittently, I ran a bluetooth code reader on it with the Torque Pro app and it shows up as a P0101 MAF sensor issue but no more info.

I'm guessing I need to get a better code reader to read what the actual problem is?

Issue 6:
I've left this until last because I've read on here and on the FB group that these cars are susceptible to battery/voltage issues, but I wanted to detail all the faults first. While driving back from Sunderland to London, so I would think the battery should have been getting charged plenty over 5+ hours of driving. the Voltage gauge kept dropping down to 12V and then back up to over 14V. It fluctuated over the drive and I don't think that's normal.




I know it's difficult to internet diagnose things and with such a myriad of issues it might just make sense to take it to a specialist but I'm a bit worried different issues like this are just going to end up with throwing loads of parts at it and hours of fault finding.

My current plan:
Replace the WSS harness on the rear left
Find the part number for the auto selector switch and order a new one and fit
See if the wiper blades need some material removing so they fit better, if that doesn't fix it then check wiper motor harness connector, then remove wiper motor
Get check engine code read
Remove battery and charge on a CTEK overnight. I live in a flat so can't connect it to the car directly.
Worry about cruise control later


Keen to hear thoughts on my plan, any extra suggestions, any other experience that might help.

[SturdyHSV]

If there's any fluff about wheel speed sensors etc., then the cruise won't work. I suspect that's not a fault and just a symptom of your wheel speed sensor issue. Likewise this will turn off the ESP etc.

The wiper thing I've not heard of before, but I don't see how your new wipers could be related, the motor is just moving the arms, it doesn't know what you've attached to them and I doubt there is anything sophisticated going on electronically in terms of turning the wipers off if it "detects" something.

The gear selector thing sounds like a right pain, hope it is just a sensor fix

[nurseholliday]

SturdyHSV said:

The wiper thing I've not heard of before, but I don't see how your new wipers could be related, the motor is just moving the arms, it doesn't know what you've attached to them and I doubt there is anything sophisticated going on electronically in terms of turning the wipers off if it "detects" something.
)

I have a habit of overthinking things, and I was wondering if the blades weren't fitting correctly they might have moved the arms to a position where the linkage/motor were in a position which stopped it working properly. By hitting the arms I suspected I was moving them to their "normal" position. So a mechanical issue rather than a sophisticated electronic sensor.

Now I've written that out I'm thinking that it would have to be out by a hell of a lot to cause a problem for the motor to not have enough power to overcome it, so it can't be that, it's just got to be coincidence.

I think a workshop manual might help so I can see what I need to take apart to get to the motor.

[Jader1973]

Info on P010 here

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/mass-...

If you google that site and VE workshop manual you should find a link to a download.

[mfp4073]

I would check the batter and alternator output just in case they are throwing up random codes?
Worth a try just before you spend any cash.

[nurseholliday]

Jader1973 said:

Info on P010 here

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/mass-...

If you google that site and VE workshop manual you should find a link to a download.

Thanks, downloaded the workshop manual from JC.

[nurseholliday]

mfp4073 said:

I would check the batter and alternator output just in case they are throwing up random codes?
Worth a try just before you spend any cash.

I will do as that's an almost zero cost step I can perform first

[nurseholliday]

Deep in the Pontiac G8 forum and found some interesting info:

"Is your cruise control working? I ask becase I believe they both use the same 12 volt reference to function."

Looks like the cruise control and the manual shift mode issue could be related

[fred bloggs]

Yea, the inconsistent voltage is the cause of the faults. You either got a bad connection on the charging circuit, bad earth, or failing alternator.