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Lukeys

Original Poster:

7 posts

28 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Good morning all,

As per my previous post I'm now an proud owner of an 05 VXR! It's everything I've dreamed of owning a vehicle such as this!

It was previously owned by a couple of posters on this forum after searching, but will need a bit of guidance. The car did a 175 mile trip home with no issues apart from brake judder. The chap I bought it off was only doing roughly 1000 miles a year so not sure whether the discs have been warped or just gathered some dirt and corrosion for sitting around for a while.

But after taking it for a quick spin after arriving home just after pulling off in first gear the car would stutter a bit like there was no fuel being sent, but the traction control turned off with a check engine popping up. After switching off and on again it disappeared. The owner gave me a set of spark plugs with the motor so not sure if he wanted to change them but didn't get round to it.

I am very happy with the car and I don't think I'll ever plan on selling it as it has all the upgrades needed bar the supercharger biggrin

I am based around London, so if anyone could give some suggestions for reliable garages that may have worked on these cars would be appreciated!

Thank you!

mfp4073

2,030 posts

191 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Hi Lukeys,

The brake judder issue isn’t unusual. My car suffered from this many years ago. The fix was to replace the standard discs and upgrade the brake pads.
The standard pads would leave a residue on the disc which creates a hot spot and build up of pad material on the disc causing the judder.
If you have AP brakes you will have an expensive problem if you need to replace them. Either way sometimes a disc can be refinished ( skimmed) then fit new quality new performance pads ( Pedders ceramic pads will cure the problem )
The engine problem I’m not sure, but it makes sense to replace the plugs and leads as you already have them. If there’s nothing else evident like a vacuum leak it’s probably best to book the car in for a check over before you spend a fortune on parts trying to guess the problem.
Best of luck
John.

Len Clifton

534 posts

7 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Brake judder is most likely lack of use as crap builds up on the discs. Give it some exercise and you should find it improves. Or you can get them skimmed if not.

These are sensitive to low battery voltage so get it checked and replaced as necessary. The judder might be an abs fault, which is linked to the traction control, but difficult to say without reading fault codes. Battery first though.

I take mine to Top Cats racing in Aylesbury https://topcatsracing.com/ . They know what they are doing. Or LS performance parts in Winchester. https://lsperformanceparts.com/



Edited by Len Clifton on Tuesday 5th August 15:06

QuackHandle

113 posts

148 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Congratulations on your new purchase!

In terms of specialists, these are the names that most will recommend:

South East: Neil @ NWJ - https://www.nwjautocare.co.uk/contact.html
South West: Carl @ LS Performance Parts - https://lsperformanceparts.com/
North West: Warren @ TopCats - https://topcatsracing.com/contact/
North West: Dave @ Walkinshaw - https://www.walkinshawperformance.co.uk/locations/...

Failing that, it's a long drive up North to either MWP in Chester or AAS in Newcastle.

If the stuttering caused an EML, and the Traction Control to disengage, it's most probably an ABS sensor which is pretty common on these cars. (usually the rear)

Good luck

Edited by QuackHandle on Thursday 21st August 12:25

Lukeys

Original Poster:

7 posts

28 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Thank you all for the sound advice

Windy Miller

255 posts

235 months

Tuesday 5th August
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Welcome Lukeys - Enjoy the car and the forum!

It always tickles me when folk down London area refer to "Way up North (West)" being somewhere near Oxford, or at an extreme push, Chester! laugh

Coming from Orkney, with probably (that's a Carlsberg probably....), the UKs most Northerly Monaro and Hellcat, even going to the South of Scotland is just a quick nip down the road, and unlike for most folk in England going any distance, also involves a 1 and a half hour ferry trip. Back in the days when I would come down to Monkfish Performance, it was a day's run down and a days run back up again. About 675 miles each way! driving Really going south was going all the way down to Essex to see the in-laws.

Anyway, enjoy the car, and catch you about here!

bigwheel

1,634 posts

231 months

Tuesday 5th August
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No need to skim or replace the original discs.
I cooked my CV8 oem brakes during a Knockhill track day when the car was still young. The hot resin came out of the pads and deposited on the discs. This causes the wobbly pedal feel in your leg. At that time, wobbly/juddering brake pedal was a very frequent topic on the forum.
Phonecall with Monkfish, who explained "Performance Friction" brand of pads will clean up the discs and give good service. Worked for me. (Direct from Banbury HQ)
I've no experience with the latest ceramic pads which may also clean up your discs.
Generally speaking, discs do not warp. It's the surface that can cause problems.

Edited by bigwheel on Tuesday 5th August 20:09

Lukeys

Original Poster:

7 posts

28 months

Thursday 7th August
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Okay, so after running for a few days the car decided not to start at all, not turning over or anything.

I put the key in and out the ignition which then turnt over but only briefly. Came back to it a short while after and started just fine. A couple days later same problem started when parked up along with safety mode, but yet again started again after a couple tries.

On searching about its a possible that the throttle body may be on the way out, although putting in an OBD scanner doesn't throw up any codes.

Am I right in saying that a throttle body from any LS2/3 should work just fine?

Thanks

mfp4073

2,030 posts

191 months

Thursday 7th August
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Hi Lurkeys,

Here’s my limited thoughts ( I’m no mechanic )
The fact that the car won’t crank is your first clue…the throttle body wouldn’t stop the engine turning over.
Listen out for the fuel pump when you first turn the key, if you can’t hear anything I would hazard a guess that you have a problem with the factory immobiliser of an aftermarket one if fitted.
The other quick checks to carry out would be looking for a bad earth/ relay or loose battery cable, and check the actual starter motor wiring for corrosion.
The problem does sound like an electrical issue to me.
I seem to remember that the ls2 throttle body did cause issues back in the day, but Im not sure if you can swap them over with the LS3 version, somehow I doubt it.

Len Clifton

534 posts

7 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
No point firing the parts cannon at it. Get the fault codes read then go from there. Could be any manner of things, including starter motor, bad earth, or most likely a knackered battery. For example, mine threw up the same throttle body fault for ages. Turns out the negative battery terminal had stretched and wasn’t making a good connection. I replaced it and put on a new battery and it’s not had a problem since.

Edited by Len Clifton on Thursday 7th August 11:21

Lukeys

Original Poster:

7 posts

28 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
I thought it may be the immobiliser as there is an aftermarket one installed, just weird as it cuts out just after stopping/starting, but the fact its not idling rough is a good sign. Will get it looked at by a mechanic. Can I also ask where I can source pulleys and tensioners for the aux belt? They are definitely on the way out along with the belt itself. Walkinshaw is on leave until 18th Aug.

mfp4073

2,030 posts

191 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
Lukeys said:
I thought it may be the immobiliser as there is an aftermarket one installed, just weird as it cuts out just after stopping/starting, but the fact its not idling rough is a good sign. Will get it looked at by a mechanic. Can I also ask where I can source pulleys and tensioners for the aux belt? They are definitely on the way out along with the belt itself. Walkinshaw is on leave until 18th Aug.
Try RockAuto in the US, they are reasonable with prices and with Fedex delivery the import duty is paid.

mfp4073

2,030 posts

191 months

Thursday 7th August
quotequote all
I have just checked my receipts from last year,

My air con belt ( Gates 40430 ) £12.78
AC tensioner ( Gates 38196 ) £47.30
AC Idler pulley (Gates 36220 )£16.27

Aux drive tensioner pulley ( Gates 38008 ) £7.16
Aux drive Idler pulley ( Gates 38041 ) £34.54

Basically I replaced 4x pulleys together with the two tensioners, although if your tensioner springs are good you can just replace the pulleys. Don’t forget to check the belts for cracks, my AC belt was quite bad.

All these parts were from AAS in Newcastle. They were not in stock so I had to wait a week.

FuManchu5ltr

13 posts

1 month

Saturday 23rd August
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The shuddering brakes can be from simple suspension components being worn. The tie rod ends having a worn ball joint. Cheap easy fix. Then the rack ends can be worn and cause a similar thing. On the Commodore power steering racks, there is also an internal section that can have incorrect preload and cause a tiny bit of internal movement that transfers right through to the brakes. You can potentially say all is perfect and miss this one thing. An overhaul of the rack is the only solution in that case.


Lukeys

Original Poster:

7 posts

28 months

Monday 25th August
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Thought I'd update in case anyone may run into same issue. So after a few journeys covering a couple hundred miles, I left it parked up for a few days and few miles down the road the car would shut off and start again with the same issues as mentioned but couldn't drive it a couple of feet without it cutting out.

I got the AA out for a recovery and he put in a scanner which showed 17 codes! I wont mention them all but they're generally to do with throttle body, MAF, lambda sensors. He cleared the codes and got me home with a noticeable difference in the way that it runs alot better.

I took a look at the throttle body and it was very clean but the wiring loom was caked in a lot of grease. I've got it booked in at a mechanic soon where they can work out the issue, but as its a daily how bad would it be to keep using the car until then? I'm aware the issue may come up again.