One year on

[VX-157]

I am a owner of a VX, plated 157/174 :cool:. I bought this obsession a year ago and I have enjoyed every single driving moment. I thought I might share what my experience has been like.

Bought the car in Queensland and drive home to Canberra over a period of 3 days. (appox 1100km) Most enjoyable. Though this did highlight some issues, namely power window, blower unit and oil consumption.

I had the power window fixed by using a product produce by Ford motors, apparently some of their models had similar problems, the product looks like honey. This lubricant has fixed the window problem….for now, my mechanic says he will apply the goo every 6 months. At 5$ a window I find it to be a easy and cheap solution.

The blower motor would only work on high or not at all, resistor would either let no power or all power though. Solution was to replace the resistor with a Holden vx commodore resistor. With some clever wiring the blower works fine now. The only problem now is that the blower is a little rattly but I can live with that.

Timing belt was done about 6 months ago. The only problem the mechanic had was when he went to replace the valve shims, he ordered the wrong size but that was fixed very quickly, gotto love Holden specialists that can look at a motor and glance determine what is needed.

I upgraded the standard stereo with a JVC dvd/cd player.

Since owning my VX the TOD illumination on the dash never lit up, turns out the pervious owner pull out the plug from the back of the dash…..wtf! anyways it works like a charm.

Recently I was up in them hills and I lost power to my front diff whilst in 4x4 mode, turns out my front diff vacuum hose was crushed (no idea how it happen) after the car spent 5 minutes on the host I was out 100$ for the guys time, I guess it could have been worse.

The only problem I have at the moment is that I now have a squeak coming from the front end :confused:. I think I may have a issue with a part not been rigorously greased…not sure on this one. Sometimes its there other times it is not. It is more pronounced on the dirt and hard right hand turns. ( I have tried to only turn left but I always end up where I started from hehe)

My plans for the future is to raise the vx by 2 inches or so, every thing else I am very happy with.


thougth i would share :p

[Ben KVX]

I had an annoying front end squeek, looked all over for it. It turned out to be the hood latch, I wrapped a little duct tape around the "U" on under side of hood and turned the bumpstops out a little and the noise has been gone ever since. I saw this on a thread here and thought 'no way' yes way, it was. Hope this helps, I hate squeeks and rattles.

[pbkid]

wow, hetzer, first off welcome to the site!!

glad that you enjoy you VX...

your in a great place to ask questions, almost anything you can come up with, its been done before....so ill let the other guys tell ya how to fix your problem ;)

[VX-157]

I had an annoying front end squeek, looked all over for it. It turned out to be the hood latch, I wrapped a little duct tape around the "U" on under side of hood and turned the bumpstops out a little and the noise has been gone ever since. I saw this on a thread here and thought 'no way' yes way, it was. Hope this helps, I hate squeeks and rattles.

Thanks for that tip, i have just adjusted the rubber stops and wrapped the "U" with some tape, went for a quick hoon and it has seemed to stop the squeek, tomorrow the drive to work will tell me if its worked or not. ;)


PBKID, hi and and thanks for the welcome, i have lurking on the list for about a year and have posted here and there. most of the little problems i have had with my VX has been solved by this forum. two thumbs up and free beer to all who can make it to my house :_beer:

[vt_maverick]

Got pics? As another FoxFire owner I'd be interested to see a 175 model...

[nfpgasmask]

Yes! Great to have another Aussie on here! I'm working on bringing over a 1976 Falcon Coupe right now so I need as many mates down under as I can find! :p

Welcome, and yes, post pics!

Bart

[workmeistr]

Wow,
Your Foxfire looks quite a bit brighter than the USD versions.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/medium/me.jpg

As a fan of British vehicles, I would love to see someone take the RHD wing mirror on the left fender and reverse engineer one for LHD/right fender. I think that would be to mod of the decade and would make enthusiasts' VX's standout.

Any overseas members willing to loan a wing mirror? Anyone here smarter than me with more capabilities than I to produce a 'mirror' image of the RHD wing mirror for LHD use? I got all the ideas and none of the capabilities, but I can dream.

Welcome, Hetzer, and don't be a stranger, Bren.

[nfpgasmask]

Wow,
Your Foxfire looks quite a bit brighter than the USD versions.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/medium/me.jpg

I don't actually think that is technically a "Foxfire". Being a JDM model, I think there is another color name for this as it is more of a candy apple red than the deep maroon of the US market Foxfires. Somewhere out there is a JDM brochure with the colors in it.

Bart

[vt_maverick]

I have the color palette book and it looks the color one down from the upper right corner. Now if only I could read Japanese...

Not keen on the mirror, but I'd love to have the JDM steering wheel...

Even better would be to have this: 2009 VehiCROSS (http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/isuzu/isuzu-vehicross.htm)

[nfpgasmask]

Not keen on the mirror, but I'd love to have the JDM steering wheel...

Speaking of fender mods, depending on how good I get with body work this summer, I been thinking about patching the hole where the side markers go so I can get rid of the side markers entirely.

:) Bart

[kodiak]

It sounds like you actually have one of the very rare 175 limited edition VXs. There’s a Japanese web site that would be very interested in having you register your baby. Check out this link.

http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~v.175-59/175ltdeditions0-20.htm

Oops, This one to. :)

http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~v.175-59/175ltd-editions.htm

[VX-157]

hi all, that photo was taken with my 2 mega pixel phone camera, and the car is covered in a fine film of dust. so not sure if its changing the color of the red.

Thinking on it i only assumed it was the firefox red. perhaps if i listed the vin number and the paint part number we could work out what colour i have :o

Re the fender mirror, i hate the bloody thing, if i had the time i would remove it :grinr: i have lost count of how many people have come up and say something along the lines of "that's a silly place for a snorkle" :mad: but its great for seeing rocks or the curb line.

Kodiak, thank you for that web link, i will indeed have a look, perhaps if its considered a rare vx i may have to stop playing in the bush with the beast:rolleyes:

NFPGASMASK, if there is anything i can do let me know, there is a Holden wrecker down the road. i would be happy to hunt parts down.

i will post more pics to my ablum today, sorry but i am having troubles linking photos. i will strive to work that out by the end of the day ;)

Cheers

[nfpgasmask]

NFPGASMASK, if there is anything i can do let me know, there is a Holden wrecker down the road. i would be happy to hunt parts down.


Hey, thanks mate! As for parts, maybe you could ring your local wrecker and see if they have any XA/XB/XC coupes that have decent A-pillars that can be cut out. I will also need some rectangle XC head lights eventually, but right now, I am really on the hunt for some cut out A pillars from a coupe that is rust free up top. Of course, I will cover all costs and shipping! Just PM me if you can locate anything!

Thanks again,

Bart

[VX-157]

Hey, thanks mate! As for parts, maybe you could ring your local wrecker and see if they have any XA/XB/XC coupes that have decent A-pillars that can be cut out. I will also need some rectangle XC head lights eventually, but right now, I am really on the hunt for some cut out A pillars from a coupe that is rust free up top. Of course, I will cover all costs and shipping! Just PM me if you can locate anything!
Thanks again,
Bart

Sent a PM mate.

on a side note, i had a look at my paint code, its 756 with a trim code of 106. your right guys its not a fire fox red. i guess i need to find someone who can read japanese......

[deermagnet]

You can find your paint color on my Isuzu option codes page.
All your US LHD VX option codes can be found here, and possibly all the JDM RHD VX codes also-
http://www.wtv-zone.com/markg/codes.html (http://www.wtv-zone.com/markg/codes.html)

I put this page together last year with 1100 Isuzu option codes. I have by far the largest 'Zu code page on the internet. The next biggest list has less than half as many codes as I have. However, my list is absolutely not complete or up-to-date.

Mark Griffin

[VX-157]

You can find your paint color on my Isuzu option codes page.
All your US LHD VX option codes can be found here, and possibly all the JDM RHD VX codes also-
http://www.wtv-zone.com/markg/codes.html (http://www.wtv-zone.com/markg/codes.html)

I put this page together last year with 1100 Isuzu option codes. I have by far the largest 'Zu code page on the internet. The next biggest list has less than half as many codes as I have. However, my list is absolutely not complete or up-to-date.

Mark Griffin


HI mate, i just had a look, that is a extensive list!:eek: my paint code is there (756)......and the winning colour is........Radiant Red....damn...sounds less well blokey than firefox red.

cheers

[CoastieCosta567]

just wondering, what so special about the 175 s/d VX's? Is there anything diffrent on them other then the little red plate? Also, just cuz i'm wondering right now, How many total VX's where made in the whole world? Cuz can't be more then 5k right, cuz that one VX video says cast dye was only ment to make only 5k VX's, Right? or am I wrong?

[VX-157]

just wondering, what so special about the 175 s/d VX's? Is there anything diffrent on them other then the little red plate? Also, just cuz i'm wondering right now, How many total VX's where made in the whole world? Cuz can't be more then 5k right, cuz that one VX video says cast dye was only ment to make only 5k VX's, Right? or am I wrong?

Hi Coastie, as far as i can tell the only difference is:

Front and rear seats are leather and colour matched to the exterior paint. the seats (recaro) are embroidered with Vehicross just below the head rest. The lugs that hold the spare wheel cover is colour matched. The door panels are coloured matched. When I say coloured match, the interior is like a red/orange colour.

I should post a photo of my interior for you

One thing that is annoying me is that roof racks were not a standard item. I am having a lot of troubles here in Oz finding a set that fits.

oh and on number production, i cannot help you there, i thought it was around 14000 produced. i to am curious about this.

[pbkid]

Hi Coastie, as far as i can tell the only difference is:

Front and rear seats are leather and colour matched to the exterior paint. the seats (recaro) are embroidered with Vehicross just below the head rest. The lugs that hold the spare wheel cover is colour matched. The door panels are coloured matched. When I say coloured match, the interior is like a red/orange colour.

I should post a photo of my interior for you

One thing that is annoying me is that roof racks were not a standard item. I am having a lot of troubles here in Oz finding a set that fits.

oh and on number production, i cannot help you there, i thought it was around 14000 produced. i to am curious about this.

that was quite a few versions in the US...mine has red/orange and black interior..