HO LD E N SERV ICE TE CHLINE _____ __ ______ ___ ______ ___ ______ __ _______ __ ______________ _ N O V EMB E R 2000
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ALL DEALER LETTER SUM MARY – 2000
This list of All Dealer Letters issued since the las t Techline issue, is provided, to ensure Dealership Service
personnel are aware of recent letters issued.
DL No. Date Mo del Title
59/00 21/09/00 VX Sedan Rear Licence Plate Attachment
60/00 21/09/00 TS Amendment to DL 54/00 (T S Astra – Quarantine)
61/00 02/10/00 ALL Holden Warranty Support Program
62/00 03/10/00 ALL Dist. OF TIS 2000 Version 14B
63/00 10/10/00 VT/WH SPAP Process – Battery Replacement Information Clarification
64/00 10/00 VX Handbook C oupon Perforations
Some Monthly Hints!
DID you see the Issue 9, Page 10 item on radiator cap cleaning? Why did they put it out again, you
ask? The “stuff ” that gets under the seals is normal coo ling system particles and ‘pellet’ residue that floats
to the top when the engine is stopped and cools down. It leaves a “beachmark” on the cap parts where it
sits in the small air space under the cap. THEN – when the engine starts and the cooling system starts
flowing, these particles get washed into the seal areas and eventually enough of them create a very small
air gap for pressure and coolant leakage. Remember, loss of pressure gives a lower boiling point and the
possibility of m ore c oolant loss. SO – if you def ine a cap is dropping press ure – clean it as ment ioned in the
Techline and then re-test it!
“NFF” – Have you heard it lately? “No Fault Found” – No-one likes it or wants it – but unfortunately “it
happens”! One of the theories for NFF’s occurring is that after someone uses a diagnostic chart several
times, a certain f am iliarity with the procedure c reates a false sense of ‘comf ort’. Without conscious thought ,
short cuts are taken. Steps are overlooked, and a perfectly good component ends up at Repac, then the
supplier, and comes back as NFF. People are left with investigating why, a lot of testing tak es place on car
and on test benches, or som etimes it is j ust charged-back t o the Dealership? A lot of concern f or everyone!
What do we do? Follow the diagnosis procedure! Explicitly. Every step. Every time. No short cuts. No
assumptions. OK, you say – I did the whole procedure and the problem is still there! W ell, the wrong thing
to do is to st art replacing thing s! That’s called shot-gunn ing – f or obvious reasons! The rig ht thing to do is to
call the toll-free number provided by the part supplier – if the part you are diagnosing is included in your
Service Manager’s SPAP Binder. Otherwise, you can ca ll TAS – g et your Nom inated TAS Contact to initiate
the call, and relate what you have done and find out what they can provide to assist you. They may have
similar cases of the same problem – but in any case, they will offer assistance immediately, or go
elsewhere in Holdens, or GM worldwide, to get you assistance. Don’t let an NFF spoil your day!
Cool or Crackle? W e have just had some calls about Vectra sedan radio interference - from Queensland
and Victoria (we do have sunny days in Victoria!). It just happens that all the sedans and hatches at the
dealership had less interference than the customer sedan! After exhaustive analysis, diagnosis, and
comparisons of thes e car s, we were looking f or t he “dif fere nce” between these vehicles and the owner car?
The only thing we can f ind in each of the cases is - the owner’s cars have window tinting! W hile we cannot
say emphatically that this is the cause, we are certainly investigating this as a possible cause! We found
that hatches with tinted windows (they have external antennae!) also seem that little bit better than
complaint sedans with t inting . Don’t forg et that if t he ref lective fo il or particulate matter used in some forms
of window tinting, may act ually shield radio signals. The y may also be shielding Satellite Navigation signals
(there’s more than just the Holden syst em available!) and phone signals! The problem has already occurred
in some vehicles in the USA with Sat. Nav. systems and the signal receivers have had to be relocated at
customers expense to correct the problem - the Sat. Nav. system gets increasingly inaccurate and
eventually has to be reset. We will let you know what our investigations show!
Boot Hard To Open (VT) ? Som e custom ers complain t he boot will not open by the: a/. Key remot e button
– it needs a 0.5 (half) second + push – recently revised to 0.3 second to help customers; b/. Glove box
button – it needs a good, full push – so it is not accidentally activated by hand or glove box contents (de-
activates when the vehicle is locked).
HOLDEN SERVICE TECHLINE ___________________________________________________________DECEMBER 1, 2000
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ALL DEALER LETTER SUMMARY – 2000
This list of All Dealer Letters issued since the last Techline issue, is provided, to ensure Dealership Service
personnel are aware of recent letters issued.
DL No. Date Model Title
65/00 09/11/00 VT/VX/WH V8 LSD Chatter Noise
66/00 30/10/00 ALL Distribution of TIS 2000, Version 15B
67/00 03/11/00 VT/VX/WH Gen III P/Steering Pump Pulley Removal and Installation
68/00 23/11/00 ALL New Vehicle Preparation For Delivery
69/00 15/11/00 WH,VS/T/X SRTA Program Guidelines – For Under 5000km Vehicles
70/00 17/11/00 VT/X,WH V6 LSD ”Chatter” Noise – Labour Time Revision
71/00 14/11/00 ALL Use of Non-Authorised Additives & Related Products
72/00 17/11/00 VS,VT Safety Related Recall 00-H-02
73/00 21/11/00 ALL Holden C.S.I.P. – Additives, Related Products & Scheduled Servicing
74/00 22/11/00 VS,VT HSV Related Information for Recall 00-H-02
75/00 28/11/00 ALL Distribution of Technical Information for Remainder of Year 2000 (SIP, etc).
76/00 29/11/00 WH,VT,VX Fuel Pump & Low Beam H/Lamp Relay Failures
77/00 29/11/00 ALL Holden Customer Satisfaction Incentive Program
78/00 30/11/00 VS 00-H-02 Clarification of vehicles affected
Some Monthly Hints!
DID you see last month’s item on TS Headlamp Condensation? – the basic cause to m ost headlam p condensation
is bonnet-to-headlam p clearance! W ell - it seem s some people try to dry them out with heat guns, etc, thinking that it
won’t com e back – sor ry – it will com e back bec ause the caus e is not addres sed! Replace the of fending headlam p and
do the adj ustm ent procedur e in the Tec hline! O h, and please don’t try to “heat dry” any lam ps to “fix ” the condensation
–you could damage them internally – and that’s not warranty!
Climate Control Facia - Loss of Illumination – when one or more of the illumination globes ‘blow’ in the climate
control (ECC) panel, some technicians are replacing the whole unit, when they only need to replace the globes! The
globes (4 x clear for the buttons, 2 x green for the LCD display) are shown in HSPO PartFinder CD. For replacem ent
procedure refer to the Techline in this issue.
Incorrect drivebelt routing Gen3. - W hen reins talling the m ain dr ivebelt to a Gen 3, m ake s ure that you only use
the routing as shown in the SIP CD. W e have heard of cases where technicians have used the routing as shown in
Partfinder which unfortunately is incorrect. If this routing is used there will be insufficient belt to pulley coverage. The
Partfinder sketch is in process of being revised.
Have You Called TAS Lately? – they have some interesting tips on their “Bulletin Board”:
Tech 2 – Software Updates – Rem em ber to continually update your Tec h 2 sof tware as new versions of T IS 2000 are
released!
SB with C14NZ Engine, Tech 2 Communication – Previously, there were some communication difficulties with early
’96 SB, C14NZ cars. Refer to the Techline in this issue for more detail!
“Inexplicable” O
²
Sensor Problems? – Don’t forget that Or iginal Equipment (OE) exhaust systems ar e designed for
the application and also the service and diagnosis procedures we publish – after-market exhaust systems are not! If
you are tr ying to do diagnos is on a vehic le with an after- market exhaus t system (or Non-O E s ystem) – you may have to
get the owner to put the vehicle back to standard before you can assess any complaint, as there are differences that
will not suit the published information.
Rattle Noises From Gear/Lever Sloppy Gear Shift – on Manual SB’s? – W e have had a few PIR’s about this and
the ‘fix’ has been to torque the gearshift housing bolts that were found loose (on the trans.). This is currently under
investigation.
Seat back retainin g clips break – WH, VX, VT – pleas e m ak e sure you report any breakages via PIR! Mak e sure you
use the correct (SIP CD) procedure to remove front seat back retaining clips – or you could break them!
Check Belt clearances at Pre-Delivery – we have had a couple of PIR’s m entioning lack of clearance to pipes, etc,
found at pre-delivery. If you are involved in Pre-deliveries please check clearances to all other components!
Are you using latest Tech 2 softw are? – m any calls to TAS highlight the f act that tec hnicians ar e not using the latest
software version in Tech 2. Please ensure y ou download the latest software from TIS when it is issued.