Hey guys, Just got an old family VL for my birthday, can't complain with the price but it has a fair few problems with it. I'm hoping to use this car just while I move through TAFE, but I've got a few questions about fixing some of the smaller VL specific stuff that I can hopefully do myself, as I'm obviously pretty low on money and I don't want to put heaps into the car. Please excuse my noobiness, I've already searched the answers to a few of my questions. For starters, going into summer this one is top priority. The air con switch (Fan 2 3 4 one) is busted. If you wiggle it around for ages you can sometimes get the air con on and then it's fine, until you hit a slight bump in the road and it's gone again. Is it fair to say that just picking up that whole air con panel thing from U Pull It or ebay or something would be my best bet for fixing this, and is it difficult to replace? The other thing is, when it does come on, it doesn't seem to matter where the switch is, it's always coming on at full power. Not really an issue tbh but any ideas on this, will it go away if I replace the switches unit? Also, when the air con does come on, there's quite a noticeable leak of what I think is cold water which seeps into the passenger footwell. I read somewhere there's some sort of air con related hose in that area, would it be safe to say this is leaking and is it easily replaced? I haven't tried the heater yet but I'm told by the previous owner that if I do so, coolant or something will leak into the cabin. Is it even worth trying to fix that? Sorry about how vague that is haha, cause of the air con switch thing I can't turn it on and check this to give better detail. Front passenger window is extremely hard to wind down, the further down it goes the more difficult until you practically need two hands and a foot to get it completely down, what might be the cause of this? How do I remove the door card and is it just a matter of WD40ing something? When completing a left turn, the indicator stalk clicks back into the off position. However, this doesn't happen when turning right. Obviously this is a very minor issue but if it's a common or easily fixed problem I wouldn't mind knowing how. Finally, absolutely no horn at all. I had a look in case it was just a simple fuse, that doesn't seem to be the case, any ideas here? I think that's all for the basic stuff that I'm not just going straight to a mechanic for just yet or that I haven't found some form of guide for. Anything you can give me will be much appreciated, just trying to make this car a bit nicer to own. Also, while I'm here, does anyone have any recommended brands or places to go to for an alarm/immobiliser/central locking combo? Nothing overly expensive or fancy, just something decent enough to deter would be thieves :P Thanks guys!

Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Hey guys Howdy Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey For starters, going into summer this one is top priority. The air con switch (Fan 2 3 4 one) is busted. Seems to be fairly common, I imagine you could recondition the switch somehow, but definitely just grab another - even though it may be busted as well. I haven't looked at it to see if you can fix the switch up, but I imagine it's doable. There's a screw at the top left of the aircon control panel. Undo that and it pulls out - however, all the lines at the back of it are a pain in the ass, they have to be matched up to the back of the switch, so label them if you take them off. (numbers are written on the back of the vac switch as well) Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Also, when the air con does come on, there's quite a noticeable leak of what I think is cold water which seeps into the passenger footwell. Could be condensation, could be a leak, may need a new drier assembly, I'm not too good with aircon stuff, but it could be worth having a dig around under the dash, especially to find out where the leak is with your heater pipes. Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Front passenger window is extremely hard to wind down, the further down it goes the more difficult until you practically need two hands and a foot to get it completely down Does it grab anywhere in particular? Door trims, two screws in the door handles, window winders have a circlip behind them, door lock/ door handle surrounds pop off with a flat blade screwdriver and same with the mirror plastic. To get the trim off, put a flat blade (wider the better) in between the skin and the door and lever it up, you'll pop one section out, then you just have to work around the entire skin - then it comes straight off. Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey When completing a left turn, the indicator stalk clicks back into the off position. However, this doesn't happen when turning right. Aftermarket steering wheel I'm guessing, pretty common and not much you can do about it. Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Finally, absolutely no horn at all. I had a look in case it was just a simple fuse, that doesn't seem to be the case, any ideas here? Once again, probably an aftermarket steering wheel thing, take the horn button out and have a play around with the wires, earth it directly onto the column and see if you can get it to trigger that way. Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Also, while I'm here, does anyone have any recommended brands or places to go to for an alarm/immobiliser/central locking combo? Good move, Local car audio shops are pretty good to talk to about this, auto electricians will probably charge more but may do a better job. As far as brands go I'm not too sure, I've got a viper alarm in mine, but most insurance places ask for 2-3 point immobilisers etc. Worth looking into and asking lots of places questions. That's a start Chris

Maybe have a read of THIS (http://calaisturbo.com.au/showthread.php?t=93829) thread for the indicator problem (some guys had the same prob). I got mine to work on my aftermarket wheel by aligning it so it was dead straight with the wheels, then tightening that central bolt pretty hard. hope that makes sense, just dont go crazy on that bolt as getting steering wheels off is hard enough already.

Aircon could be the drain as said. Under the passenger dash, remove the lower panel and pull the carpet back a bit where it ends, you'll see a rubber hose coming down from the evaporator which is clipped onto a metal tube that runs out through the firewall. Get some pipe cleaner, remove the rubber hose and check it, and push the pipe cleaner down the metal tube to dislodge any crap that may be blocking it. I recently had the aircon done on my Calais, works a treat, but on hotter days I do get a small amount of water dripping onto the floor. I went back and was told it's condensation on the evaporator and not much can be done about it, it's just something that happens with that system. I can live with it. Fan switch is common, mine's not that good. Should be able to replace it without any great dramas, or just get a whole control assembly, but make sure the sliders are in good nick, they tend to wear and will give you headaches when trying to select where you want the air to go. Window sounds like something is catching. You'll have to remove the door trim so you can see what's going on inside the door and go from there. On the indicator switch are 2 springs for auto cancelling the blinker when you turn a corner. One could be broken as I've had once before, or the other thing I've seen is the steering wheel may not be centred, so it cancels one way but doesn't come round far enough the other. Horn could be wiring, or the horn itself could be stuffed. Mine's on it's last legs and sounds crap, going to look at a VT on horn assembly to replace it. Sounds like the heater core is gone. Not too easy to replace I believe. Might want to find a way to bypass it so if you ever forget and do put the heater on, you won't get coolant in the cabin, which is what it will be leaking in there. Good luck sorting things out, sounds like it shouldn't be too hard or expensive to sort most of it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Waughy On the indicator switch are 2 springs for auto cancelling the blinker when you turn a corner. One could be broken as I've had once before, or the other thing I've seen is the steering wheel may not be centred, so it cancels one way but doesn't come round far enough the other. Horn could be wiring, or the horn itself could be stuffed. Mine's on it's last legs and sounds crap, going to look at a VT on horn assembly to replace it. Sounds like the heater core is gone. Not too easy to replace I believe. Might want to find a way to bypass it so if you ever forget and do put the heater on, you won't get coolant in the cabin, which is what it will be leaking in there. Good luck sorting things out, sounds like it shouldn't be too hard or expensive to sort most of it. Quote: Originally Posted by Bax Aftermarket steering wheel I'm guessing, pretty common and not much you can do about it. Once again, probably an aftermarket steering wheel thing, take the horn button out and have a play around with the wires, earth it directly onto the column and see if you can get it to trigger that way. Stock steering wheel, never been removed. Previous owner was in the family, has had it since early 90's and the horn only stopped working a few years ago. , I'll check the drain under the passenger carpet, and see if I can find anything wrong in the passenger door. It's not catching in any specific place but the further down the window gets, it gets increasingly difficult to wind. Right at the top it's not far off from normal. I'll also check out the passenger window, see how that's all working. For the indicator stalk, I checked the link thread but I didn't see any reference to the indicator, and as I say, the wheel is stock. As for the heater core, I checked with the previous owner this morning and yes it is the heater core, and they've already bypassed it. That being the case, I'm probably just going to leave that one alone. If the horn itself is stuffed, is it a difficult job to replace? I'll check it out, see what I can see re: wiring. And yeah, what I've listed is just kinda the stuff I'm hoping I can deal with myself for cheap, or that isn't pretty much straightforward to fix (eg replacing a busted indicator on the front) Thanks guys Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

In the thread that is linked to, the pic of the wheel off shows the indicator assembly, the 2 springs I referred to are on the orange part, one above the steering spline and one below. Horn itself is under the front bumper and is p!ss easy to replace. Check the wire to it as well, it may have fallen off, mine has a couple of times, I need to put a new terminal on the wire.

horn issue could very well be the boss kit. i had some ebay **** on mine and it would go off wen i indicate left and wen i turned aswell.. then it just wouldnt go off.. have a look on the boss kit and make sure that the circles in the orange plate line up. if not then buy a new boss kit.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Stock steering wheel, never been removed. No Boss Kit.

Quote: Originally Posted by Waughy In the thread that is linked to, the pic of the wheel off shows the indicator assembly, the 2 springs I referred to are on the orange part, one above the steering spline and one below. Horn itself is under the front bumper and is p!ss easy to replace. Check the wire to it as well, it may have fallen off, mine has a couple of times, I need to put a new terminal on the wire. Oh okay! I'll give them both a look when it's not raining and let you know how I go. By the way, took some photo's. You can see a few things need fixing, including removing previous owner's butterfly stickers haha. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Hey mate, i have some very common problems as you, i am pretty hands on and have done a lot of it myself ill tell u the fixes i know will work Indicators: When u pull off the steering wheel like in the link someone added, when u geti t all off there is 2 clips in there, one of will just be missing, mines the same, i grabbed em off rarespares, cost me $6, more then worth it its called indicator return spings, i got them infront of me Aircon: Im having the same problem, maybe try to pick one up cheap but i aint really too worried, but i live in a cold area so gunna be a bitch in the mornings with frost and fog, i know a guy wrecking a vl if you know someone too u could prob just take it straight outa that if theres work Horn: The horns have to be earthed properly, its hard to explain but in the one i got (momo) there is metal running outside it, the bit where u hook the line for the horn onto and then the metal is pushed out at one part and that bit has to touch metal to be earth or it wont work (sorry i dunno how to explain it any better) have a look and you should sus it out Windows: im having the same problem again with the rear windows, i changed door locks and have had a look in the doors, there is a big mechanism for the window winders and it was all rusty, but my front ones work fine, im gunna pull the door trims off the back and use heaps of inox on them to hopefully get rid of some rust and free them up, i think its just rusty and touching or old and worn making it hard, hopefully wd40 will free it up pulling the doortrim off is fairly straight forward, just search these forums on how to get the window winders off, using the cloth is the best way, u just get a flat head screw driving and pop everything else off and unscrew the arm rest and u should be sweat need anything else to know just ask me, im probably going through alot of the same things Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jakey Also, when the air con does come on, there's quite a noticeable leak of what I think is cold water which seeps into the passenger footwell. I read somewhere there's some sort of air con related hose in that area, would it be safe to say this is leaking and is it easily replaced? That happend in my VL had , had no clue what was going on and everytime i drove around the water would be near boiling point...full steam coming of the carpet and everything..i guess cause its right on top of the extractors... As other people said just take all the bottom pannels out...and ull see a big black box, then a tube running from that going thru the firewall...i just gave mine a sqeeze from as far as i could and all black junk came out...then no more leaks Nick Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

If the water leaking is warm/hot, then the drain is blocked. If it's stone cold, like mine, then it's condensation, and not a lot you can do about it apparently. Thermostat on my setup is set properly too, about 4 degrees.

Hey Jakey that's an interesting looking Executive...what model is this? Is it like an Executive/Vacationer - because of the striping, Electronic Injection badge on rear boot mould etc...?

Quote: Originally Posted by fleas Hey Jakey that's an interesting looking Executive...what model is this? Is it like an Executive/Vacationer - because of the striping, Electronic Injection badge on rear boot mould etc...? I'm not really sure. I've often wondered that myself, because I've not really seen any VL's like it. I was hoping you guys might know haha. It's been in the family for 8-9 years, during which time it's just gotten steadily worse in condition unfortunately. Now it's in my hands I've been doing as much as I can to make it presentable but as of this afternoon, it's no longer running, as I discovered when I needed to reverse it because tree sap was dripping on it and I didn't want it to damage the paint. Had to push it instead I'm blaming battery I think, but there's a vid here if you know differently: http://users.on.net/~adamantinus/public/vl_issue.mp4 Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Few more issues I've noticed, back seat bottom part seperates from top part when you sit on it by maybe like 3-4cm. You can see through to the foam, looks really bad. When you're not sitting on it, it's fine. I've searched how to remove the seat, suggests there's clips somewhere but I can't find any. Rear left seatbelt won't retract, coming out feels really stiff, and stinks for some reason, my guess is because water is getting in there somewhere. How do I go about replacing it/checking that out? Front passenger door doesn't stay open, it just swings back shut no matter what. I noticed this was really really annoying when trying to remove the door card (I couldn't figure out how to separate it at the top!) I know I'm asking a lot of pretty nooby questions but I'm obviously horrible at using the search feature :P

Nah....you're right mate....don't worry about it. Umm about the rear seat belt...I concur with ya....the water coming in through the boot has probably rusted the return's internals, VLS are well known for allowing water in through the boot seal. Best bet would be to replace it; from memory I think there's a couple of bolts you have to undo, one underneath the rear seat base and another inside the boot. You might have to take the parcel shelf out as well...I'm not too sure. Just use something to hold the door while u attempt taking the skin off.