1986 Holden Commodore VL from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

No real serious engine problems except for:

Power transistor module in dizzy kicked the bucket on a hot day leaving me stranded in the Safeway carpark unable to start the car.

Crank angle sensor died right after a service at K-Mart tyre and battery, I was stupid to take my car there.

Replaced dizzy cap and ignition leads.

First muffler replaced.

New brake master cylinder.

Front and rear shocks replaced.

Front brake pads renewed.

Leaky boot.

Water fills up the tail lights causing them to short out occasionally.

Plastic interior parts and bumpers crack at the drop of a hat.

Rear brakes need attention.

A bit of rust here and there.

There is no doubt that the VL Commodore is a great car, the strength and unique smoothness of the motor was really what made the VL special.

But one has to take into consideration that VL's like mine are 15 years old. Although the motor itself has a good reputation and in many cases have been known to run well over 300,000 kms, many other engine sub systems like the distributor and braking systems usually become suspect after 200,000 kms.

But the only real design fault of the car was to have the radiator sitting below the block which directly leads to overheating when the radiator fluid levels are not checked.

For street performance (and great looks) you cannot surpass the VL, especially the turbo model. A mate of mine has spent over 30 grand on his Calais turbo and reckons he can get over 350 kw from the motor and run the quarter mile in ten seconds flat.

The cult that surrrounds the VL is something of a myth, one of the reasons why the VL was replaced by the gruff Buick V6 in the 88 VN model is because the motor was becoming too expensive for Holden to produce.

At the end of the day VL's are only really a cheap Commodore chassis with a killer Japanese motor under the bonnet.

Don't take this the wrong way, but how can you blame K-mart Tyre and Auto for your car packing up. By the sounds of it you have had heaps of problems anyway.

I have a VP BT1 and the car was dropping coolant after I turned it off and the coolant bottle was bubbling. I took it to Holden who had no idea what the problem was so I went to K-mart and it took 15 minutes to find that the radiator only was BLOCKED.

Trust me man, there are heaps of worse places than K-mart.

Hey, in no way am I blaming K mart for the crank angle sensor dying, I just found the overall service given there to be mediocre and half hearted. At that particular service the mechanic hooked up the ignition cables wrong and the engine wasn't firing in sequence! Also being an employee of K Mart myself I thought I deserved a bit more respect than what I was given.

Just think, you could have taken the car to Ultra Tune and had it really stuffed up!By the way Holden never manufactured the RB30E engine locally. It was manufactured by Nissan and imported to Australia.

The Buick V6 was secected for the VN Commodore because they considered it to have better torque characteristics and was more suited to the heavier body weight of the larger VN.

I did state that the motor was Japanese in the last paragraph. Holden did initially consider the RB30E engine for the VN, but the cost of importing the motor was too expensive.

My car has suffered more problems:

-1st gear in the transmission died, taking a gamble I replaced it with a cheap 2nd hand box for $300. And guess what that one was cactus too. I have to drive around in power mode up until around 100kmh because the whole car shudders while in overdrive. Good Fun especially on Freeway trips!

-While driving home one dark night the high beam fuse melted in the fuse box leaving me with only low beams.

-Headlights globes died too leaving me with one headlight.

-Brakes shuddered on application had to machine the front disks.

-Positive connection from the battery was shot had to be replaced.

-Replaced studs in the exhaust manifold.

-Replaced middle muffler AGAIN!

-New windscreen.

-Needs a new battery, wheel alignment and new front brake pads.

The list goes on!

Car begun to stall on and off while driving, most of the times while I was stationary at the lights. I took the car too the mechanics, but they could not diagnose the problem at all as it didn't occur during test drives. Since I purchased the VL in 2000 it has had SERIOUS problems all over, transmission dying, brakes, noisy hydraulic lifters, and now this problem that the mechanics can't even pinpoint! At this point sadly I've had enough of the VL, sick and tired of throwing money down the drain. I traded it in on a 1996 VS Exec Commodore, which hopefully will be more reliable in the long term.

You really traded a vl in for a vs commodore???

Are you mad? I got me self an 86 model commodore 340,000 on the clock,standed rb30e little bit of work done to it,like timeing set oil change that's about it.its able to pull 14sec 1/4 miles, and out run vs commodores with ease. your mad for getting rid of a vl commodore as I know they can do vt`s, if anyone doesn't think this is possable e-mail me tomby21@hotmail.com.

By the way my vl (6) scare`s v8`s.

I purchased a 1986 Vl commodore with 140,000 km on the clock, it had always been garaged, I to did have a few problems with the vl commodore, I will list them, with the common and most practical way to repair them.

1. gear box shuddered on freeway.

I had the gear box replaced about 6 month's ago, like one entry said before, it was infact 1st gear, I replaced it with a cheap one also, $320.00 from a local car wrecking yard. after installing it, it was OK for the first 2 mabey 3 days, then all of a sudden it would shake the whole car. well, upon full investigation, this is in-fact a common fault across the whole vl commodore range, and the nissan range isnt imune either (as they have the exact same gearbox and engine in them) on the right hand side of the bell houseing, there is a little sensor for the torque convertor, well, I disconected it, and to this day, there has been no gear box problems.

2. fuel pump fuse would blow.

Took it to a car mechanic who I will not name (dont trust mobile mechanic's), and he said new computer, the next 3 other mechanic's said the exact same. I looked at it, put some common sense into it, and sure enough, it was infact a relay (or contactor,call it what you will) that was causing the problems, replaced relay, and relay base, no problems to this day.

3. crank angle sensor was broken

if any one out their has the slightest bit of common sense and has a bit of electrical knowledge, if the crank angle sensor pack's it up, it's a simple process of replacing the resistor in the sensor. not hard to do, replace it with a 4.2k resistor, you can get them from any tandy shop.

4. battery terminal blew apart, (positive)

replace battery, simple as that. what happens with a battery, is that conventional electricity flow's from the + threw the circuit to the - that's electricity, but the electrons that make electicity go the other way, but only in the battery, unfortunately, what you are seeing is good old fashioned corosion, or electroplating, or what ever you wish to call it, you cant stop it, it's as simple as that, just put big battery terminals on, to slow it down a bit

5. brake master cylinder went.

Well, it's with age that one. nothing you can do about that, don't forget, they are 16 year's young now.

6. headlight's blow.

Most light's only have a limited light life, they arnt designed to work for ever, you should alway's keep a few spare.

7. tail light's leak.

Rip them off, put some clear silicon around the light where it meets the body, that will fix that problem, after it's dried, use a knife to slowly cut off any excess left.

8. exaust went,

they are only steel, you cant help it, once again, they rust.

plastic cracks, once again, dont forget, the car is 16 year's old, what do you expect, it to last for ever, you will be lucky if the thing is still togeter in 2 year's time,

Email me if you have vl commodore problems, I am a bank of knowledge about that. amonkeystolemynuts@hotmail.com.

Cheers.

My brother has a vl and the thing will drive great for a while then just stall, resart and run perfect for a while then stall, can anyone please help me by advising me where and how to find the problem.

Hi I have a VL commodore (rb30) witch has done 385,000km original motor

Ii have been having a few probs with it like excessive smoke out the exhaust (blue smoke) I change the oil and plugs it will run fine for about 2 weeks then will blow smoke again

And a loud sucking noise from the petrol tank I have been looking at some web sights

But I have not found any with my type of problems or how to fix so if you are quite handy with the vl modal could you please email me with your queries here are the problems.

Excessive (blue smoke when driving and reving)

Flat spots when takeing off and reving

Black spark plugs that bad it will not start until I clean them

And I would like to know how to mod the air flow system

If you could help please email me at muffman001@msn.com

Thanx you all for your help.

I have a VL Commodore which is running rough flat spot on acceleration and then missing, mechanic says it is the airflow meter. is there any way to fix the meter or does anyone know if there is something else that causes this problem I don't want to by a new meter then find that is not the problem.

Hey, I own a 1986 VL Commodore and it is wicked. It has one small problem; the battery is buggered, but I think that it just needs replacing. I wish to own a Series 1 Calais or just convert my own car.

Thanks james.

Hi everyone, if you have problems with your Commodore VT onwards stalling at light or around corners, or when it's hot, and you have to wait a while for it to start again. It's probably your crank angle sensor; next time it happens pour water on it, it's located at the front of the engine at the top just behind the belt, it'll set you back about 50 bucks to buy one, then you've gotta get it fitted.