Ask The Guide

It’s serious inasmuch as it’s pointing to a problem with the car’s anti-lock brakes which are a critical safety system on any car. It could be caused by a faulty ABS module (which is the component that physically modulates the brake pressure to avoid the wheels locking up). But it could also be the fault of a sensor somewhere on the car. You may even find something as random as low battery voltage can trigger this sort of alert.

It could even be a simple leak in the system that has allowed the brake fluid to fall below the minimum level. So start with that and check the contents of the brake master cylinder under the bonnet. If that’s okay, a brake specialist is probably your best bet.

It sounds like the new head gasket isn’t working properly and the car is still overheating. Or, the root problem wasn’t the head gasket in the first place, or that the mechanic missed something crucial that allowed the new head gasket to fail almost straight away.

Was the cylinder head checked for straightness? Was the cylinder block checked for cracks? A warped cylinder head or cracked block or bore can give symptoms just like a failed head gasket, but replacing the gasket won’t fix them. I think you need to have a deep and meaningful conversation with your mechanic and work out a plan to either dig further into the engine or replace it with a second-hand unit that’s been tested. The latter is probably the smarter, cheaper way to go. Either way, though, you risk spending more on the car than it’s actually worth. Maybe it’s time for something newer, more efficient and safer, not to mention more reliable.

Electronically fuel-injected engines don’t have a choke like old cars did, so the cold start process is handled by the computer. It detects the temperature of the engine (and ambient air) and then alters the fuel and air mixture going into the engine to give it the right ratio to fire up the engine. Cold starts generally require more fuel and less air than when the engine is at operating temperature.

The computer does all this via sensors so, if one sensor is not playing the game, the computer can’t alter the mixture and the car can be very difficult - if not impossible - to start. A good workshop should be able to sort this pretty quickly as the Magna’s engine is not an overly complex one and is a well-known quantity.

Simply assuming the problem is a dud sensor is a great way to replace a bunch of things that weren’t causing the problem. This needs to be diagnosed and the first step there is to have the car electronically scanned to see what faults the computer already knows about. From there, you can make a much more informed plan of attack.

That said, you may well be right and the problem is a crank-angle sensor or something to do with the throttle position sensor. But, equally, the problem could be with the car’s wiring (getting hot when the power is turned on) or the fuel pump, so making a guess and replacing that component is a great way to waste time and money. A scan is quick and cheap and the smart way to go on any electronically fuel-injected vehicle.

There are several things that could be causing a loss of power on really hot days, but a prime suspect would be an engine that is getting too hot. When that happens, the car will often go into limp-home mode which is usually signalled by a loss of power and a check-engine light illuminating (the precise symptoms you’re seeing).

The air conditioner consumes quite a bit of engine power when its working, and this extra load might be the tipping point for the car starting to overheat. When you switch it off, the engine can relax a little and the temperature falls. So the advice would be to have the car’s cooling system checked. It could be low on coolant or have a faulty pump, hose or thermostat. While you’re at it, have the car electronically scanned to see if any fault codes have been recorded, as this will also help your mechanic diagnose the issue.

If the car drives forward then it’s possibly not the age-old problem of low or dirty transmission fluid that’s causing the problem. Even so, it may not be a catastrophic failure of the transmission and could, in fact, be as simple as a poorly adjusted gear selector cable or linkage. The sensors that operate the rear camera and reversing lights are not necessarily the same ones that actually select each gear, so the fact that they operate does not mean the transmission is physically selecting Reverse gear.

Have the vehicle looked at by a transmission specialist who will possibly have seen this very problem before. Don’t forget, either, that if the car has travelled less than 130,000km and has been serviced correctly, you may still be covered by LDV’s factory warranty which was for five years back when the vehicle was sold new. But get it looked at and the problem logged with LDV before that warranty runs out.

This is not a difficult job, but may require moving the battery or air intake box to gain access to the rear of the headlights from inside the engine bay. From there, you simply twist and remove the socket that holds the globe in the back of the headlight assembly. Then, you can unplug the globe from the wiring harness and simply replace it with a new globe.

It’s important not to touch the glass portion of the new globe as this can lead to a hot-spot that will shorten the globe’s lifespan. Use a cloth or paper towel when fitting the new globes.

The parking light and headlight globes will be separate and held in separate sockets, and need to be purchased individually. From memory, the headlight unit is what’s called a H4. Now is also the time to consider a headlight upgrade with a brighter replacement globe.

An automatic gearbox relies on fluid pressure as well as volume to make everything work as it should. So, if the level of fluid is correct, you then need to move on to the pump and accumulators involved to ensure that the correct hydraulic pressure is being applied to the bands and clutches that actually apply drive to the gears and physically move the car.

Your problem could be something as simple as a worn pump, but it could also indicate internal wear and tear that requires a complete transmission rebuild. A transmission specialist is your best bet. The good news is that this is a common and well understood transmission, so finding an expert shouldn’t be difficult.

Clearly, there’s something inside the fuse box that isn’t enjoying cold mornings. It’s more likely to be a relay that controls the fuel pump (or some other vital system) as a relay has moving parts (as opposed to a simple fuse). Those moving parts could be weak or worn and might not be so keen to move correctly when the ambient temperature is low. It sounds pretty weird, but stranger things have happened.

All electric fuel pumps, regardless of the make or model of car, have a finite lifespan. Since your car is now getting on for 20 years of age, it’s a fair bet the pump is due for replacement. These pumps spend their lives submerged in fuel, pumping it from the tank to the engine is pretty extreme conditions. So it’s really no surprise when they give up the ghost after several years of this type of treatment.

Sometimes you’ll be lucky and detect the pump either getting lazy or failing to work on an intermittent basis. If that’s the case, the message is to get the pump replaced pronto. In other cases (and it’s pretty common) the pump will simply go from working perfectly one day to not working at all the next. And given the way electronically controlled engines work, if the pump isn’t working, there’s no way the car will start or run.