Ask The Guide

This generation of the Subaru Forester used the 2.5-litre FB25 engine which made use of a timing chain that should be good for the life of the vehicle.

For the record, the vast majority of engines that use a rubber toothed timing belt have what’s called a dry belt. A relatively small number of engines use wet-belt technology which is where the rubber belt operates in an oil bath situation. This tech has proved to be problematic for some car-makers and Ford, for one, is moving to a timing chain layout for the new engine in its Ranger, Everest and Transit line-up.

If the GWM Tank 300 appeals to you, check out the latest addition to the Tank range which is a version with a plug-in hybrid driveline. CarsGuide recently tested the new Tank 300 and recorded fuel consumption of 8.5 litres per 100km in the sort of rural driving you’ve described. That’s hardly a guzzler considering the Tank 300 is a very capable off-roader and will take the rough stuff easily in its stride.

Even better is that you can charge the Tank up overnight and get something like the first 100km of your journey on electricity alone, meaning you’d only be running the petrol engine for half of your daily round trip.

Most cars have a rotary dial somewhere on the dashboard to control the brightness of the dashboard lights. On this model Subaru it’s extremely well hidden. But if you look closely at the indicator stalk, you should see a collar surrounding it towards the tip of the stalk. This collar can be twisted in either direction to either brighten or darken the dashboard lighting. However, I’ve read that while some of the lights will adjust this way, the speedometer’s brightness is non-adjustable.

I’m told that by holding the climate control off button down for a few seconds, you can also adjust the intensity of the lighting for that function as well.

The two warnings are probably linked. 'Inadequate clamping force' on this model generally indicates a problem with the parking brake system. The car is trying to tell you that the electric motors that operate the parking brake can’t generate enough force to be sure that the vehicle won’t roll away on a hill.

This could be because your brake pads are very worn, the hydraulic lines are blocked or crimped, the brake calipers have seized or are sticky, or even that there’s low voltage in the car’s battery. Since you recently had a flat battery, there’s a decent chance the car still isn’t happy with the level of charge on board and is triggering this safety warning. Modern cars and their electronic systems hate insufficient battery voltage.

Whatever the cause you need to get it fixed, because a faulty parking brake has the potential to be a big problem. A decent workshop should be able to check the battery’s condition as well as test the parking brake system. You may need to consult a Haval dealer, however, to figure out how to cancel the warning on the dashboard once it’s been established that everything is working properly.

The fuse box in this car is fiendishly located behind the glove box. To access it, you first need to unclip the strut that controls the glove box lid’s action, unclip the two sides of the glove box where it pivots (there’s a plastic tab on each side) pull the glove box inner down and then you should be able to see the fuses laid out deep inside the dashboard. Next to the access panel, there should be a folded chart showing which fuse does what. There are some excellent online tutorials on how to do this.

If this chart is missing (and it’s possible as it’s a loose-leaf sheet of paper) there are lots of online guides to show you what fuse protects what circuit.

To remove or replace the fuses themselves, I’d recommend a specific set of long-nosed pliers designed for this job as there’s very poor access to the actual fuses and getting at them by hand is going to be a pain.

On the surface of it, you have multiple problems across multiple systems and components. But the root problem could be as simple as a poor earth or other electrical connection.

Modern, computer-controlled cars absolutely do not like an incorrect voltage across their electrical systems, so the problem could also be something like a battery in poor health which is forcing the alternator to work too hard and for other systems to go haywire due to incorrect voltage.

A close check of the car’s entire electrical system is probably a good place to start.

The 1.8-litre engine in your Lancer uses a rubber toothed timing-belt. As such, it requires periodic replacement. According to Mitsubishi, 90,000km is the recommended belt-change interval. Don’t ignore it, either, as a snapped timing-belt can destroy the rest of the engine.

The best advice is to change the engine’s water pump and belt tensioner while you’re at it. It makes sense to change these components all at once, as they’re all accessed at the same time as a belt change.

We’ve seen complete replacement timing-belt, water pump and tensioner kits for sale online for as little as $150. The labour involved would likely be a few hundred dollars at most workshops.

The problem could be to do with the ignition barrel, or it could be a hundred other things including a poor earth somewhere on the car. But my experience with Fords of this vintage suggests the first place I’d look would be what’s called the inhibitor switch.

This is a small switch that tells the car whether the transmission is in Park or Neutral before allowing the engine to turn over or start. If this switch isn’t relaying that information, the engine won’t so much as budge. And the fault is often intermittent.

So, try this. Instead of trying to start the car in Park, move the selector to Neutral and hit the key again. Often the inhibitor switch that isn’t recognising Park will still detect Neutral and you’ll be on your way.

Generally speaking, a new-car warranty won’t cover items that are considered consumables. That normally includes the battery and tyres. However, if the tyres have become worn because of a fault with the vehicle’s suspension the situation might be different.

That depends, however, on whether the suspension fault was caused by poor materials or assembly at the factory, or because you hit a pothole at 100km/h or the suspension was in some other way damaged accidentally. If it’s the former, you might be able to convince Isuzu that the warranty claim on your suspension should also include new tyres. That said, given the tyres were already worn to the tune of 30,000km, don’t expect Isuzu to cover the full cost of brand new tyres.

Your best bet – if, indeed, the tyre damage is the result of a suspension problem within the warranty – is to contact Isuzu’s customer service department to see if you can work out a deal to fix the car and replace the tyres on a pro-rata basis.

The simplest answer is that the engine’s idle speed is set too low. I think these engines used a stepper motor to control the throttle at idle, and if this fails the engine will run with some throttle applied, but will stall at idle.

If that’s not the cause, you need to look a bit deeper into things like fuel pressure at idle and whether there’s some kind of problem with the fuel-injection system. It could even be something as simple as a dirty fuel or air filter. A good mechanic will know how to alter the idle speed to prevent this happening, although it may involve a new stepper-motor unit.