Intermittent Electrical Faults - Lights Blowing - Ground Points on VY VZ series

As the Holdens age they may develop a number of weedy- intermittent (hard to find & isolate) electrical faults.

If you get Hard warning lights - like Alternator Lights, or Blown Fuses or instruments that are COMPLETELY DEAD
then you have a different problem that should be easy to find and fix..

Do you have any of the following symptoms?:

Head Light Globes Blowing (or light bulbs having very short lives)
Tail Lights Blowing (or having short lives)
Lights that seem to flicker like the Headlights / Spotlights / Instrument Backlighting).
Rear Bulb Blown warnings on Berlina / Calais but the lights are working OK
Instrument panel gauges not reading accurately.
Instruments that may go off suddenly
Audio Systems that behave strangely
Intermittent electrical faults that are Hot - Cold - or Vibration Sensitive
Unusual ABS Alarms
Car just "dies" then a couple of minutes later everything works OK

Well if the car is more than about 5 years old then there
is a very good chance you have a faulty GROUND CONNECTION...

The good news is that these can be easy to find and fix.

On the VZ (V6 & V8) Series if you follow the main earth lead from the Battery
you will find it has connections to a number of key GROUND Points inside the Engine Bay
(Earlier models like VR VS VT & VY follow a similar pattern).

Negative BATTERY TERMINAL (GP1) <<<< Has to be kept clean all the time!)
The main Earth Return from Main Wiring Harness (GP2 also known as connection X157) located Engine inner Fender (hidden by the BATTERY)
Near the ABS (Drivers Side Front Fender & Inner Front Fender Engine Bay) (GP2 & GP3)
Near Main Engine Mount (Front Drivers Side) (Rear Passenger Side) (GP5 & GP6)
On the V8's - Main Engine Block (Usually on the Front) (GP4 on the V8's - GP19A/19B on the V6's)
Rear of Engine Block on Passenger Side (GP6 on the V8's -GP20A / 20B on the V6's)
Engine Front & Drivers Side (Cylinder Head) - ECM - GP17 & GP17 on the V6's)

There is also a STRAP on the Passenger Side (Inner Fender) GP9 & GP 10 - Instrument Harness

There are other ground points for other assemblies:

On the Steering Column
In the transmission tunnel (Multiple connections)
Near the power antennas
Heated Rear Windows
Power Windows
Sunroofs
Door Jams
Boot Lid
Trailer Harness etc

Any one or more of these that are loose or corroding can produce any or all of the SYMPTOMS above.

The fix is to clean the terminal posts & connectors re-seat then and
then cover them with a light coating of electrical grease.

These ground points need to be checked every 4 years or so...

Guys,

If you have a high mileage Alternator (>150,000 km) its a good idea to get it checked.

To see the faults it appears more often with a cold start and pulling a full electrical load.
eg:
Heater on + FULL FAN
Rear Demister
High Beam + Spot Lights
Stereo On


I had all this in a VZ Calais that started to act very strangely (after 7 years) and was producing a lot of really intermittent faults:

Radio would go off / on all by itself.
Climate Control would do the same.
Occasionally I would lose the whole instrument panel ( all the gauges would drop to zero + lost the back-lighting)
Sometimes I would get an ABS Alarm (but it would not pull an engine management code).

These symptoms could last anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more...

Once the car warmed up you may see the problem, but generally that was with harsh braking / hard acceleration...

My Mum's 06 VZ exec blows a headlight globe about every 6 months, I think it's usually the drivers side. What you're saying is it could be any of those earth points, that's going to be some tedious work there.

Thanks for the info, I might start in the engine bay.

good post mate. gives everyone An idea as to why. my ve stereo played up randomly a few times about 7-8 months ago. would just shut off and come on when it felt like it. I might go and find some earths around it and see how they are. cheers

Guys,

It's a good idea to have a good look at your Alternator too (particularly if the vehicle has travelled > 120,000 km) and the Alternator
has not been changed. On the VZ series the Alternator (regulator function) is controlled by the Engine Management System.
I suspect as the Alternator wears out the brushes the Regulator / Engine Management System gets into a knot

I found I was getting lots of very strange (and very intermittent) electrical faults between 120,000 and 150,000 kms (ie 6-7 years).

After I cleaned the earth terminals / removed the Alternator & re-installed the same unit) problems went away for a time (then came back).
it took me a long time to work through all the issues and it was only after I fitted a brand new Alternator did I get stable / reliable operation..

The unit I have fitted now is the 140Amp Mitsubishi Unit with an overrun clutch...(Believe this is what they used on LS2's)
It works a treat on the VZ - LS1 !!!! {Not sure what they fitted to the VE's}

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcsquirt

As the Holdens age they may develop a number of weedy- intermittent (hard to find & isolate) electrical faults.

If you get Hard warning lights - like Alternator Lights, or Blown Fuses or instruments that are COMPLETELY DEAD
then you have a different problem that should be easy to find and fix..

Do you have any of the following symptoms?:

Head Light Globes Blowing (or light bulbs having very short lives)
Tail Lights Blowing (or having short lives)
Lights that seem to flicker like the Headlights / Spotlights / Instrument Backlighting).
Rear Bulb Blown warnings on Berlina / Calais but the lights are working OK
Instrument panel gauges not reading accurately.
Instruments that may go off suddenly
Audio Systems that behave strangely
Intermittent electrical faults that are Hot - Cold - or Vibration Sensitive
Unusual ABS Alarms
Car just "dies" then a couple of minutes later everything works OK

Well if the car is more than about 5 years old then there
is a very good chance you have a faulty GROUND CONNECTION...

The good news is that these can be easy to find and fix.

On the VZ (V6 & V8) Series if you follow the main earth lead from the Battery
you will find it has connections to a number of key GROUND Points inside the Engine Bay
(Earlier models like VR VS VT & VY follow a similar pattern).

Negative BATTERY TERMINAL (GP1) <<<< Has to be kept clean all the time!)
The main Earth Return from Main Wiring Harness (GP2 also known as connection X157) located Engine inner Fender (hidden by the BATTERY)
Near the ABS (Drivers Side Front Fender & Inner Front Fender Engine Bay) (GP2 & GP3)
Near Main Engine Mount (Front Drivers Side) (Rear Passenger Side) (GP5 & GP6)
On the V8's - Main Engine Block (Usually on the Front) (GP4 on the V8's - GP19A/19B on the V6's)
Rear of Engine Block on Passenger Side (GP6 on the V8's -GP20A / 20B on the V6's)
Engine Front & Drivers Side (Cylinder Head) - ECM - GP17 & GP17 on the V6's)

There is also a STRAP on the Passenger Side (Inner Fender) GP9 & GP 10 - Instrument Harness

There are other ground points for other assemblies:

On the Steering Column
In the transmission tunnel (Multiple connections)
Near the power antennas
Heated Rear Windows
Power Windows
Sunroofs
Door Jams
Boot Lid
Trailer Harness etc

Any one or more of these that are loose or corroding can produce any or all of the SYMPTOMS above.

The fix is to clean the terminal posts & connectors re-seat then and
then cover them with a light coating of electrical grease.

These ground points need to be checked every 4 years or so...

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Thanks mcsquirt your post helped me get mobile again today. The alternator on my old VZ was putting out 17.5 volts when I measured across the battery. Same symptoms dash, abs radio all playing up with no residual codes.
Cheers
daza