Vantage 4.3 coupé manual - buyer's checklist
Discussion
Can anyone direct me to a buyer's checklist on PH for the above please, or let me know the most expensive faults to check for and how to spot them?
I'm aware of clutches wearing out at not particularly high mileage, body corrosion, subframe corrosion and taillight failure. I suspect there are more.
I'm prepared for ownership to be an expensive ride, but want to be clear about the risks before diving in.
I'm aware of clutches wearing out at not particularly high mileage, body corrosion, subframe corrosion and taillight failure. I suspect there are more.
I'm prepared for ownership to be an expensive ride, but want to be clear about the risks before diving in.
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guides/...
Rear subframe
Clutch
Suspension (a 4.3 will be on the awful Dynamics shocks - only average when brand new and probably way past their best by now)
Brakes
Headlamp and tail light moisture
Headlamp crazing
Seized nuts and bolts almost anywhere, but particularly on suspension arms where it usually means a replacement arm
Paintwork bubbling, usually around the door handles, or bottom edges of the doors
Corroded mirror arms
Tired / ineffective aircon (usually the condenser, and/or pipes)
Corroded gearbox oil cooler pipes
Door modules
Basically, the chassis, body, engine and most of the drivetrain is solid if looked after. Everything else bolted to it or in it can suffer.
To be fair, I don t hear many stories about knackered interiors - they seem durable. Electrical issues are relatively rare and usually caused by a failing battery.
Rear subframe
Clutch
Suspension (a 4.3 will be on the awful Dynamics shocks - only average when brand new and probably way past their best by now)
Brakes
Headlamp and tail light moisture
Headlamp crazing
Seized nuts and bolts almost anywhere, but particularly on suspension arms where it usually means a replacement arm
Paintwork bubbling, usually around the door handles, or bottom edges of the doors
Corroded mirror arms
Tired / ineffective aircon (usually the condenser, and/or pipes)
Corroded gearbox oil cooler pipes
Door modules
Basically, the chassis, body, engine and most of the drivetrain is solid if looked after. Everything else bolted to it or in it can suffer.
To be fair, I don t hear many stories about knackered interiors - they seem durable. Electrical issues are relatively rare and usually caused by a failing battery.
If you are looking for a 'keeper', would a 4.7 be a better choice (September 2008 onwards)?
Some significant changes were introduced then for the Vantage.
Bilstein dampers were a great improvement. Some 4.3 owners have had those fitted, which is not a cheap job.
You have mentioned most of the expensive maintenance aspects. Do you know about the twin plate clutch as a replacement when a clutch change becomes necessary?
The timing cover oil leak is sometimes mentioned. Another quite labour intensive job.
Am sure that you know, find a car in the best condition you can.
Thanks chaps.
Most of the car's issues seem fairly straightforward to check for, apart from the clutch. I read somewhere that it naturally has a high biting point (true?), which on other cars would be a sign of clutch wear. Interestingly, of the 20 or so sub-50k miles 4.3s I've seen listed over the past month, only two state that they've had a new clutch, suggesting the rest will all need one soonish.
Is the rot-prone rear subframe visible enough from beneath, or is it hidden by undertrays?
Most of the car's issues seem fairly straightforward to check for, apart from the clutch. I read somewhere that it naturally has a high biting point (true?), which on other cars would be a sign of clutch wear. Interestingly, of the 20 or so sub-50k miles 4.3s I've seen listed over the past month, only two state that they've had a new clutch, suggesting the rest will all need one soonish.
Is the rot-prone rear subframe visible enough from beneath, or is it hidden by undertrays?
Phil Bell said:
Thanks chaps.
Most of the car's issues seem fairly straightforward to check for, apart from the clutch. I read somewhere that it naturally has a high biting point (true?), which on other cars would be a sign of clutch wear. Interestingly, of the 20 or so sub-50k miles 4.3s I've seen listed over the past month, only two state that they've had a new clutch, suggesting the rest will all need one soonish.
Is the rot-prone rear subframe visible enough from beneath, or is it hidden by undertrays?
Biting point on my original 58k mile old clutch was high - and did not change when replaced with a brand new twin-plate. I don’t think the biting point is a useful guide.Most of the car's issues seem fairly straightforward to check for, apart from the clutch. I read somewhere that it naturally has a high biting point (true?), which on other cars would be a sign of clutch wear. Interestingly, of the 20 or so sub-50k miles 4.3s I've seen listed over the past month, only two state that they've had a new clutch, suggesting the rest will all need one soonish.
Is the rot-prone rear subframe visible enough from beneath, or is it hidden by undertrays?
Most things to look for are covered in the lists above.
Other quirks include a knocking feeling in the steering wheel over bumps which can turn out to be a loose airbag, luckily an easy and very cheap diy fix where you add plastic collars to the mounting screws.
Also a jerky braking feeling when using cruise control is nothing to worry about and is sorted by diy recalibration (coasting from 70 down to under 30 in 6th)
Early 4.3 V8s have a lethal design flaw.
This has been discussed on here before. Mine was one affected, other people had the same problem.
Short version - fuel tank ventilation system can dump fuel into inlet manifold. This causes the engine ECU to shut down the engine. So you are piloting a brick.
How to replicate:
Drive car until nicely warmed up.
Fill fuel tank.
Make spirited progress around corners. A long sweeping set of turns is not what you want, snappy corners and left then right is ideal. You want to get the fuel sloshing around***
Engine cuts out.
At this point pray that the engine will restart if you dip the clutch and twist the key...
Remedial work is to replace the fuel tank with a later model year part. That involves dropping the rear subframe, disconnecting torque tube, remove gearbox, drop out fuel tank. Replace tank and process in reverse order.
You may need new catalytic convertors as well as the raw fuel will kill them.
Happy driving!
This has been discussed on here before. Mine was one affected, other people had the same problem.
Short version - fuel tank ventilation system can dump fuel into inlet manifold. This causes the engine ECU to shut down the engine. So you are piloting a brick.
How to replicate:
Drive car until nicely warmed up.
Fill fuel tank.
Make spirited progress around corners. A long sweeping set of turns is not what you want, snappy corners and left then right is ideal. You want to get the fuel sloshing around***
Engine cuts out.
At this point pray that the engine will restart if you dip the clutch and twist the key...
- *if you do this and the engine cuts out and you crash, don't blame me.
Remedial work is to replace the fuel tank with a later model year part. That involves dropping the rear subframe, disconnecting torque tube, remove gearbox, drop out fuel tank. Replace tank and process in reverse order.
You may need new catalytic convertors as well as the raw fuel will kill them.
Happy driving!
JohnG1 said:
Early 4.3 V8s have a lethal design flaw.
Yes, the original shape "tucked under" bodywork sill covers which it shares with the 4.7l V8 Non-S models up to MY12 - forum outburst of "purity" bla bla.
Seriously, though, I would just like to add that engine cutouts of 4.7l V8 (mostly manual) cars sadly have been reported every now and then over many years. The technical reason for this has never been fully revealed, but it has been narrowed down to dropping engine revolutions when depressing the clutch pedal to change into "Neutral" may play an important part here. I wouldn´t totally rule out tank issues insofar, either.
But all this is rather rare.
Emilio Largo said:
Seriously, though, I would just like to add that engine cutouts of 4.7l V8 (mostly manual) cars sadly have been reported every now and then over many years. The technical reason for this has never been fully revealed, but it has been narrowed down to dropping engine revolutions when depressing the clutch pedal to change into "Neutral" may play an important part here. I wouldn´t totally rule out tank issues insofar, either.
But all this is rather rare.
I’ve experienced this a few times in the past 8 months in my MY16 V8 4.7 non-S, with VAP twin plate clutch & lightened flywheel (fitted by DAE) … I’m not certain, but I seem to recall having read how that particular combination can make it (more of) an issue. It’s definitely linked to depressing the clutch pedal (for me at least) and on each occasion, it was warmer weather - not scorchio, but definitely high teens and up.But all this is rather rare.
Wafu7 said:
I ve experienced this a few times in the past 8 months in my MY16 V8 4.7 non-S, with VAP twin plate clutch & lightened flywheel (fitted by DAE) I m not certain, but I seem to recall having read how that particular combination can make it (more of) an issue. It s definitely linked to depressing the clutch pedal (for me at least) and on each occasion, it was warmer weather - not scorchio, but definitely high teens and up.
You sure you didn’t just stall it? With the twin plate there is no jerk or judder or anything when you stall. Engine just cuts. It could lead a sane person to think that the engine just cuts out. JohnG1 said:
Early 4.3 V8s have a lethal design flaw.
This has been discussed on here before. Mine was one affected, other people had the same problem.
Short version - fuel tank ventilation system can dump fuel into inlet manifold. This causes the engine ECU to shut down the engine. So you are piloting a brick.
How to replicate:
Drive car until nicely warmed up.
Fill fuel tank.
Make spirited progress around corners. A long sweeping set of turns is not what you want, snappy corners and left then right is ideal. You want to get the fuel sloshing around***
Engine cuts out.
At this point pray that the engine will restart if you dip the clutch and twist the key...
Remedial work is to replace the fuel tank with a later model year part. That involves dropping the rear subframe, disconnecting torque tube, remove gearbox, drop out fuel tank. Replace tank and process in reverse order.
You may need new catalytic convertors as well as the raw fuel will kill them.
Happy driving!
I’ve never had this in my 4.3 in 10 years which has included track days and its fair share of snappy driving. This has been discussed on here before. Mine was one affected, other people had the same problem.
Short version - fuel tank ventilation system can dump fuel into inlet manifold. This causes the engine ECU to shut down the engine. So you are piloting a brick.
How to replicate:
Drive car until nicely warmed up.
Fill fuel tank.
Make spirited progress around corners. A long sweeping set of turns is not what you want, snappy corners and left then right is ideal. You want to get the fuel sloshing around***
Engine cuts out.
At this point pray that the engine will restart if you dip the clutch and twist the key...
- *if you do this and the engine cuts out and you crash, don't blame me.
Remedial work is to replace the fuel tank with a later model year part. That involves dropping the rear subframe, disconnecting torque tube, remove gearbox, drop out fuel tank. Replace tank and process in reverse order.
You may need new catalytic convertors as well as the raw fuel will kill them.
Happy driving!
This is the first time I’ve heard of it.
Davil said:
You sure you didn t just stall it? With the twin plate there is no jerk or judder or anything when you stall. Engine just cuts. It could lead a sane person to think that the engine just cuts out.
Nope. It’s been as I’ve approached a roundabout; I’ve depressed the clutch as I’ve approached the give way line, selected a lower gear so I was ready to pull away if the traffic allowed … and the engine’s cut out. On one occasion I had enough momentum and room to bump start the engine. On the others, I had to come to a stop & restart with the key.Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff