Ask The Guide

Boy, the world is your oyster, Elizabeth. There are literally dozens of options when it comes to a compact SUV. If you’re otherwise happy with the Hyundai, then maybe look at the Hyundai Kona. It’s available as a turbo all-wheel-drive or as a non-turbo front-drive car (not to mention the Kona Electric, an all-electric version) and will come with Hyundai’s great factory warranty and reliability that you’ve already experienced with the Tucson. The other option would the equivalent from Hyundai’s sister company, Kia. The Kia Sportage an also be had as a turbo-diesel, although for normal suburban driving, a petrol is probably your best bet.

Then, you have all the various offerings from the Japanese makers as well as left-field entrants from MG, Fiat, Mini and more. But you need to be careful, because there isn’t always a whole lot of difference between the width of a compact SUV and a mid-sizer. Sure, there’s generally more space inside the bigger car, but it’s often the result of extra length and height rather than width. For instance, your Tucson (assuming it’s the current model) has a width of 1850mm while the Kona is just 50mm (about two inches) narrower. That may not be enough of a difference and you may need to go down two sizes to, say, a Hyundai Venue which is smaller and narrower again with a width of 1770mm.

The ZD30 will probably not be remembered as one of Nissan’s greatest engines. In good condition and running properly, they’re not a bad unit, but they have managed to develop a reputation for – as you’ve identified – giving problems long before they should.

Any off-roader’s engine is liable to overheat, especially when you’re working it hard in the bush with minimal air-flow through the radiator. Many Patrol owners have identified this and fitted larger, aftermarket radiators to fix the issue. A bigger worry is the engine’s propensity to explode – usually – number three of four piston with catastrophic results.

The trade has a few theories including a build-up of oil and soot (which forms black gunk) that partially blocks the inlet tract that causes uneven mixtures across all four cylinders. At that point, you could have hot-spots occurring that can potentially melt pistons. Another theory holds that the same black gunk was messing with the engine’s sensors and allowing them to send false information back to the computer, again leading to incorrect air-fuel mixtures.

Boost spikes were another problem, apparently caused by the engine’s slow response to commands from the computer. In extreme cases, turbo-boost could increase violently and damage pistons. Even then, it wasn’t that simple, because Nissan itself seems to have misunderstood the engine, originally specifying an oil capacity of too little, leading to oil starvation and engine damage. The company quickly added a couple of litres to the specification (for a total of 8.3 litres) and instructed its dealers to shorten and recalibrate dipsticks when the cars came in for servicing.

For all that, the ZD30 has gathered its admirers who value its performance and reduced fuel consumption over some other turbo-diesel Patrol engines. For our money though, if you can afford it, the bigger, less stressed TD42 turbo-diesel is the pick of the Patrol engines from this era. The catch there is that the TD42 was only available with a five-speed manual while the ZD30 could be had with an optional four-speed automatic.

I’ll take a stab in the dark here and suggest that your van is a turbo-diesel (there was a petrol version offered as well, but the diesel was much more popular). If that’s the case, you could be dealing with a turbocharger that’s showing wear. Specifically, this is likely to be in the turbo’s bearing which will become noisy (and potentially emit a whistling noise) as the bearing starts to degrade. Turbochargers often spin at speeds of up to 250,000rpm, so the bearing really has its work cut out.

The clue to all this is that the vehicle starts whistling when you press the throttle; that is, when you place a load on the engine and ask the turbocharger to start providing boost. That’s when the worn bearing becomes loaded (and noisy). But you could also be looking at something much simpler such as an exhaust that has collapsed internally and is offering a whistling soundtrack, or even a loose piece of intake plumbing that is also allowing the air passing over it to whistle. Perhaps there’s something in the gearbox that is making a high-pitched noise as well. You really need to have the vehicle looked at by somebody who knows their HiAces and take it from there.
 

Let’s start with the basics here, Bryan, before lashing out on mechanics. Are the tyre pressures where they should be? A tyre can be pretty under-inflated before that’s actually obvious to the eye, but a tyre with an incorrect pressure can be harder to turn. Next, what about the wheel alignment settings? Has the car bounced off a kerb lately? Has there been any incident that could have wrenched the front end out of alignment? When was the last time the wheel alignment was checked?

For all of that, however, I’m tempted to suspect that there’s something wrong with the valving in the power-steering rack. I’d be having the rack checked for any foreign matter inside that could be blocking the valves or in some other way preventing the rack from guiding the wheels smoothly in both directions. A dodgy steering system is an obvious safety issue, so don’t mess about having it checked.

The problem you refer to affected the very first Jazz models sold here up to 2008. Any car made after that date should not exhibit the same problem as Honda made running changes to fix it back in the day.

The problem was actually traced back to the wrong transmission fluid being used in the CVT unit. These modern transmission are very particular about what fluid they use, especially with regard to the complex brew of additives that make up the fluid.

Over time, the fluid in the affected Jazzes would start to break down as the additives became depleted, at which point, it wasn’t doing the complete job necessary. Specifically, the depleted additive package suddenly allowed the starter-motor clutch to remain engaged. Essentially, you had the transmission trying to drive the car and the starter clutch dragging at it, effectively trying to slow it down. Which is when the car would start to shudder.

The solution was to switch to a new, reformulated transmission fluid which was added to the drained CVT, the car driven for a certain distance, the new fluid dumped and refilled and then the ECU reset to recalibrate the transmission. Problem sorted.

A ticking noise from the engine of a modern car is often the first signs of a build-up of sludge inside the engine. The hydraulic lash adjusters (which control the amount of clearance in the valve-train) operate on the same oil that lubricates the entire engine. If sludge has begun to build up in the engine, these lash adjusters are often the first components to be damaged.

What causes this build-up? Most commonly, the cause is poor servicing over the years. If a previous owner has stretched the oil-change intervals beyond the factory recommendation, the oil becomes contaminated and dirty and that leads directly to sludge. Does your car have a written record of its past maintenance? If not, I’d be very suspicious of its service history.

You may be lucky, however, and simply have a single lash adjuster that has failed for no good reason. If that’s the case, it can be replaced (I’d replace all 16 of them while I was at it). Perhaps in the first instance, the wise move would be to have somebody who knows these engines have a listen to see if the cause is something else. Modern aluminium engines can often be a bit noisy, and your problem could be related to an injector or fuel pump or perhaps something even deeper inside the engine.

Conventional wisdom has always been to check tyre pressures when the tyres are cold. That’s because the pressure will increase with heat (as the air in the tyre expands). Since the most common problem is tyre under-inflation, measuring the pressures at their lowest (when cold) will help prevent you driving on an under-inflated tyre. By checking the pressures when the tyre is hot, you might be lulled into a false sense of security by a pressure that seems normal, but might be too low when you start the car again tomorrow morning (when the tyres are cold again).

I’d like to know the VACC’s logic in offering this piece of advice but, for the meantime, I’d continue to check tyre pressure when the tyres are cold.

Given that it’s just a small piece of stamped aluminium, a car’s compliance plate is a big deal as it confirms that the vehicle to which it’s attached meets all relevant rules and regulations to be used on the street. The laws vary from State to State, but in WA right now, it seems that replacing a damaged compliance plate with a new one is not permitted. Instead, what you may have to do is to apply for an exemption to have a compliance plate fitted to that particular vehicle.

According to the WA authorities (who I contacted about this) “If a vehicle’s original compliance plate is destroyed or lost, it cannot be replaced, however the vehicle owner can apply…for an exemption from having to fit a compliance plate”. There’s a process to be followed including having the car inspected and, if the vehicle is deemed to qualify for the exemption, a note will be made on its registration record to reflect the fact that it doesn’t require a physical compliance plate. This inspection will confirm that the vehicle is legal and hasn’t been stolen or written-off.

My concern is that it’s something you’re going to have to explain to a buyer when you sell the car on. Even though a car with this exemption is perfectly legal and shouldn’t present any insurance hassles, some buyers might be leery of a car without a compliance plate. For that reason, I’d be doing everything I could to preserve the original compliance plate. Unless there was a fire that melted it, even a bent and buckled compliance plate may be able to be straightened and left attached to the car. That would certainly be my preference.

The jerk when you select reverse sometimes is definitely worth having diagnosed properly as it shouldn’t be that way. Scanning the car (which I’ll presume the dealership did to arrive at its answer) doesn’t always show up all faults, so just because the computer says there’s nothing wrong, doesn’t mean there isn’t. There are plenty of reasons for a car to jerk into a particular gear, but the good news is that the Astra uses a conventional, torque-converter automatic, not one of the vastly more troublesome double-clutch units.

Your second problem, however, may not be a problem at all. In fact, the gearbox in the Astra is smart enough to know that you’re coasting down a hill and will actually shift down a gear or two to take the strain off the brakes while still maintaining your speed. As it shifts down gears, the engine revs will rise; that’s absolutely normal and part of the way the car is designed to operate.

Either the Santa Fe or its close cousin, the Kia Sorento are good choices for a seven-seat SUV. In fact, they’ve risen to the top of the heap when it comes to a seven-seater within your budget. Both offered petrol engines, but in this type of vehicle, the turbo-diesels probably did a better job.

Unfortunately, the top end of your budget rules out all but the tattiest current-shape Kias and Hyundais. If you can stretch to maybe $3000 or $4000 more, you’ll get into good-condition examples of the current version of either and, thanks to the great factory warranties offered by the South Korean brands, you might even find one with some factory cover left to run.

If $20,000 is your absolute limit, that’s not the end of the world, as it will still get you into a very useable vehicle with lots of life left in it. Make sure you check the service record and only buy a car with a documented history of preventative maintenance.