Do you own a VT or VX series Holden? Do you have a thirst for information? If
the answer is "yes" then take a look at the 'hidden' displays in the factory
trip computer...
Depending on the spec of your VT/VX Holden, a single window or triple window
trip computer will be installed. The basic single window computer offers an
odometer, trip meter, distance to empty, service reminder and an overspeed
alert. Upmarket three window models add average road speed, average fuel
consumption, fuel used, instantaneous fuel consumption and trip time.
The Holden owner's handbook instructs those who are "technically minded" how
to customise the trip computer display to your personal preferences. However,
beyond this are some 'hidden' displays that are not printed in the
handbook or even in Holden's service manuals...
Let's take a look at how to find these hidden goodies!
To gain access to the hidden displays you need to hold down the trip
computer's Mode and Up buttons while the ignition is switched off. Then simply
start the car and release the buttons and you've found 'em!
There are several displays that can be scrolled through by repeatedly
pressing the Mode button.
The hidden display for coolant temperature is particularly useful. Ever
wondered what the
actual coolant temp is when the needle moves off zero
or is halfway? Simply start the car from cold and watch the relationship
between the coolant needle and the numerical display. The engine should warm up
to around 90 degrees Celsius.
When the letter F appears with a number alongside you know you're looking at
the precise number of litres of fuel remaining in the tank. There is also
another F display with a l/hr appendage - this is the instantaneous fuel
consumption. At idle, fuel consumption should be in the vicinity of 1.5 litres
per hour.
The display seen here is for battery voltage. There should be around 14-volts
being shown with the engine running. The display that follows should show
5.0-volts; we believe this is related to the instrument cluster.
The 'all on' display is useful for general faultfinding. This function sends
the speedo needle to 100 km/h, the tacho needle to 3000 rpm, illuminates all of
the warning lights and display segments and sounds the overspeed buzzer. What
good is this, you ask? Well - as an example - it would let you determine whether
you have a blown oil pressure bulb.
There are also some less useful displays that are accessible, such as
numerical road speed, numerical engine revs (which is difficult to read due a
very fast update rate, as seen here) and a VIN display.
Unfortunately, there remain a few displays that we haven't been able to
decipher. One shows the letters PN followed by a number, while another shows the
letter t followed by 00. There is also a display that contains the letters vP
followed by a constantly changing number; we have no idea what that means.
Finally, the display that reads P OFF presumably isn't telling you 'where to
go', but indicates that the "police mode" is not activated. We're told only a
TEC2 tool can access this mode and its function is unknown.
So there you go Holden VT/VX owners - your trip computer display is home to
an array of displays you never knew you had. Now get out into the garage and try
them for yourself!
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