Holden 308 engine.

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Originally Posted by Xavie

Yeah, I was wondering how would it be cheap to run but then I did the figures... So, parts are generally very cheap, V8 on gas running 13-16 litres per 100 will put me at about 10 bucks per 100 as opposed to say an excel for example running at 7.5 litres of unleaded coming to the same price but for a much less comfortable car and not very safe.

Also the reason V8 over V6 was in my experience V8's just seem to last better. I don't care for power and don't want it because I need my license haha. But coming up mount victoria it will be nice :)

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You are banking on the LPG price staying low relative to Petrol though.

Dad had a VN V6 which he traded at 350000km (bought it with 30k km on it). In that time, apart from servicing and pads/rotors/tyres, it needed:
1x harmonic balancer
1x crank sensor
1x fuel pump
2x batteries
cracks on exhaust welded
new struts/shocks

The auto was quite worn by that shage and the shifting was pretty clunky. Engine was a bit tired but still ran OK. It didn't need a replacement plugpack which many of the V6s need.

The later Ecotec engines seemed to not be as reliable due to the leaner programming (or so I have heard).

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

The auto was quite worn by that shage and the shifting was pretty clunky.

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Ahh the good old VN auto:D. Personally I really like the TH700 autobox, it's got a good low stall and a mega low first gear (ideal for an off road 4wd perhaps:angel:).

By 300k they tend to crap out. My mates one is running an almost pure mix of Nulon G60 and it needs to be shifted manually, flares to hell 2-3:D.

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Originally Posted by B92 8NW

Ahh the good old VN auto:D. Personally I really like the TH700 autobox, it's got a good low stall and a mega low first gear (ideal for an off road 4wd perhaps:angel:).

By 300k they tend to crap out. My mates one is running an almost pure mix of Nulon G60 and it needs to be shifted manually, flares to hell 2-3:D.

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Except for the fact they snap mainshafts, screw clutch packs................and don;t get me started on when you actually abuse them:D

Plenty of arfermarket bits for them though and yea 3:1 first gear is:cool:

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Originally Posted by rovercare

Except for the fact they snap mainshafts, screw clutch packs................and don;t get me started on when you actually abuse them:D

Plenty of arfermarket bits for them though and yea 3:1 first gear is:cool:

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...perfect for smoking takeoffs at the lights:wasntme:.

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Originally Posted by B92 8NW

...perfect for smoking takeoffs at the lights:wasntme:.

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Fisrt gear, is only there to make it easier to grab second under brakes:firedevil::burnrubber:

to be honest i prefer the turbo 400 from the auto's .... never buggered one and have wasted a lot of tyres with them when i was younger :twisted::twisted:.

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Originally Posted by Fusion

to be honest i prefer the turbo 400 from the auto's .... never buggered one and have wasted a lot of tyres with them when i was younger :twisted::twisted:.

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Yep, but that's comparable to a 4L80, not 4L60

I fried my 4L60 in 1200klms, from putting my Jag together, only a stinky stock Gen3 with Cam and valve springs:D

I have the 308 bored out to a 332 in the boat.

Rock solid, and she goes like nothing else...

It is a bit tricky to start sometimes, but that might have something to do with the 4 barrel Webber carby sitting on top.... :angel:

Okay. Had a second look at the car today. I took note of the temp gauge whilst driving. The temp gauge was sitting almost at the "H" and I don't think I have ever seen a car go above the middle section... sooo normal or not?

It did not go to the red. It was a 35 degree day outside. It never went down to the middle and always operated in that range above the half and up to "H". Type of driving done was motorway and stop start probably over about 20kms. LPG and Petrol are flawless in operation and car feels better on lpg. Only noise was from tyres and rear muffler needs to be fixed as it was lose.

When opening the hood after it had run it was seriously freaking hot. Like you'd need to leave it for 7 or 8 minutes minutes at least with the hood up before you even decided to stand in front of it and look.

I realise it is an 8 cylinder and would operate hotter (I would of thought) but is all this the norm?

Thanks for any help.

I'm a little confused, you say its a 97, is it a late VS or an early VT? On the earlier ones (VN-VS) the gauge was not as stabilised as most other cars and tended to move around quite a lot depending on the weather, load, hills etc. If its a VT they were "normal" by that point and it shouldn't move off halfway.

I've not had as much experience with the V8 engines, but I think they have a plastic engine driven fan with viscous coupling. If I'm wrong and its like a V6, the fuse and jesus relay for the cooling fan might not be working, which would allow it to run hot. The fuse is under the bonnet, drivers side in a plastic casing.

If it was 35 outside, were you running the AC? I have found the AC on VN-VSs can push the temperature up a fair bit, check that the electric fan comes on with AC. At some point they ditched big single cooling fan for two smaller ones that could operate independantly.

It's hard to say but I'd err on the side of caution and say its not normal.