Thread: 'sigh' underwhelmed by MY12 TDV8

Hi Camo

I haven't driven a 4.4 tdv8 but have heard that they are no much diff in
performance than the 3.6.

The tdv8 is spectacularly better than the td6 and the 6 speed ZF likewise makes the 5 speed GM transmission seem prehistoric - it holds down hills just like a manual all by itself etc etc. I drive the td6 one day and the tdv8 the next over the roads we travel from home to appointments so have a real good feel for each truck's characteristics. The drive involves mountain tracks in low range through to rural roads at very high speeds through to motorways.

I won't nominate the higher speeds we do as the 'do-gooders' can't seem to help themselves and go on with their rants about responsibility etc etc.

The suspension and handling is markedly improved from the td6 to the tdv8 as well. Also NVH levels (believe it or not) have been further improved.

We paid $75k with 12 months rego, 5 brand new tyres ($2500 worth) full factory extended warranty and the truck only has 60k on the odo - all still like brand new. It was only driven from an upmarket suburb in Sydney to the workplace and garaged at both ends.

It is badged as "vogue SE" but from what I can work out is what was sold as the tdv8 luxury model from 2007. Don't know the model specs as I still have to get a copy of the sales brochure of the time but the previous buyer paid $25k extra to get the full seating heating/cooling package and rear ICE. That may have been the diff between the vogue and the vogue SE (vogue luxury).

When I priced insurance, AAMI specify a market value of $130k but I suspect that that is done by them to discourage write-offs and to bump up their premiums. Carsales.com value that model as $68k-$75k based on 80k -130k kms.

Nice! you got an awesome deal

Gotta post up some pics

Camo

Originally Posted by Camo

....
Gotta post up some pics........

OK - pics - but I may need some help - in the past I was able to paste in pics direct to a post but now I can only work out have to paste in a link to pics - is there something I am missing or do I have to be a "subscriber" to allow me to paste in pics?

Ive only ever used photobucket. Works fine for me.

Camo

Originally Posted by Camo

Ive only ever used photobucket. Works fine for me.

Camo

OK I give up - what is "photobucket"?

The new V8's are great, but what about maintainence down the track ? One advantage of the Td6 is you don't have to seperate the body from the chassis like the TdV6 variants for major work or engine replacement. ( don't know about the V8's ). This design philosophy bends the maintainence back to the stealers. Also electronics are not as reliable as they would have us believe, eg. the crank angle sensor is faulty your stuck even though mechanically there is nothing wrong
As electronics get smarter the diagnostics get a lot dearer, I would hate to think it would cost to replace the terrain suspension computer and sensor set up in later cars ?
The big question for older vehicles will be when they finally put a compulsory replacement age on airbags. The age has been increasing, but when you have to replace 6+ airbags. The prices are outrageous with some approaching $3k + ea. Hence a big jump in insurance premiums for new and second hand cars recently.

Don't get me wrong I'd love a later model, but the cost of maintainence without a warranty will have me keeping to the old models for the forseeable future !

Originally Posted by Laurie

The new V8's are great, but what about maintainence down the track ? One advantage of the Td6 is you don't have to seperate the body from the chassis like the TdV6 variants for major work or engine replacement. ( don't know about the V8's ). This design philosophy bends the maintainence back to the stealers. Also electronics are not as reliable as they would have us believe, eg. the crank angle sensor is faulty your stuck even though mechanically there is nothing wrong
As electronics get smarter the diagnostics get a lot dearer, I would hate to think it would cost to replace the terrain suspension computer and sensor set up in later cars ?
The big question for older vehicles will be when they finally put a compulsory replacement age on airbags. The age has been increasing, but when you have to replace 6+ airbags. The prices are outrageous with some approaching $3k + Hence a big jump in insurance premiums for new and second hand cars recently.

The reality based on experience is a little different.

I have had far more trouble diagnosing the EMS in my 1994 RRC than any ECU in my '05 L322 td6. The ECUs today are so much more powerful and smarter than the older ones.

My Hawkeye purchased for $700 or so does every diagnostic function of every L322 from '02 - '12.

ECU - I've never had any ECU failing in service in any of my trucks - most issues appear to be with mechanical components connected to ECUs and the ECU correctly diagnoses what mechanical component has failed.

I've had/have 1988 RRC, 1989 RRC, 1994 RRC, 1996 P38A, 1999 td5 D2, 2005 L322 td6 and 2007 L322 tdv8.

Insurance? - I just insured my '07 L322 tdv8 for comprehensive market value for less than $600 pa.

My only experience with an ECU failure is on my son's 2003 Astra - Opel mounts the EMS ECU on a heat sink bolted to the engine head and they are known to heat induced failures. We simply replaced it with another from a wreck and drove off. We carried out the diagnosis with a bluetooth dongle purchased off eBay for $30 which connects to his smartphone. It reads and resets all EMS error codes. It does the same on my L322 EMS ECU.

My horror story was with a Td5 ECU when it left me with a suddenly dead motor in traffic coming up out of Kangeroo Valley, I nearly had the rear tyre for a head rest ! On the side of the road for 2 hrs, it initally felt like the fuel cutoff had activated. Engine wasn't hot so I checked all fuel lines, filter, pump and relays and couldn't find anything. After the engine had cooled it started first pop and off it went. No faults displayed and the car was good for a few weeks and then it would just cut out I was able to restart on go so back to have faults read nothing !! This happened over a few months again so finally after exhausting all other ideas eg. PCV valve etc I sent the ECU away. When they rang they said they had found one of the rubber mounting grommets had fallen off the mainboard, and so a combination of heat and vehicle angle would get the board close enough to the ECU body it would arc out !!
They fixed it gratis, and I paid the freight so good that way, but it has left me very wary of total engine control systems. My story is very similar to a Doctors L322 Td6 which he refused to take back after it stopped again after LR fixed it !

Laurie