Ask The Guide

You can get a good feel for a car’s quality simply by looking at things like the paint finish, the panel fit, the feel of the doors as they open and shut, the touch of the trim and plastics in the cabin. Kia’s quality is generally good; I can’t see any reason why you should be disappointed with the Cerato.

A fouled plug could cause a misfire, but it should be resolved by changing the plugs. If one particular plug regularly fouls there could be a problem with that cylinder. It could be a number of things causing it, but you’d need to inspect the cylinder to know for sure.

The best thing to do it to call the experts at Jeeepart Recyclers (03 5448 8444). They will be able to help you with a front tailshaft for your car.

There’s not much between them, but the Honda is regarded as being a little better than the Nissan overall. It’s well-equipped, good value, and practical. Another to consider is the Mazda CX-5.

Many owners have changed from a dual-mass flywheel when changing the clutch in their utes, and none have reported a major vibration problem after the change. I would doubt it is the flywheel that’s the problem, look elsewhere in the driveline.

A broken valve spring is not something that would be caused by the fuel. Most likely the spring was faulty, perhaps there was in inclusion in the material it was made from, or there could have been some other manufacturing problem. Use either 95 or 98-octane fuel.

The PowerShift transmission problems related to the dry clutch transmission fitted to the Focus, Fiesta and EcoSport models. The Mondeo has a wet clutch transmission, and as such, is not affected.

D-Max models before MY 17 do not have a DPF. The later Euro 5 compliant 4JJ1-TC engine does have a DPF filter.

I don't believe there is one, but try the Castlemaine Rod Shop (03 5472 2853) as they do a lot of that sort of thing and might have something they could help you with. If they don’t you could have the conversion done by a Vicroads accredited engineer, but it would an expensive exercise and I would think it would be more economical to buy a replacement diesel engine for your van.

As an estimate if it’s got a petrol engine it would be $20,000-$25,000, it the engine is a diesel it would be $29,000-$33,000.