Ask The Guide

Depending on the amount of fumes visible (it’s not actually steam) this could be a small or large problem. Here’s how that works: A small amount of white fumes from the oil filler cap is not so bad, but what you don’t want to see are gales of the stuff blowing out when you remove the cap.

These fumes are caused by pressure from the combustion process in the cylinders finding their way into the crankcase. As an engine wears, more and more pressure can find its way into the crankcase, increasing the fumes. When the fumes increase, this is a clue that your piston rings (among other things) are becoming worn over time and kilometres.

But you could also be looking at a car with a faulty PCV valve. This valve has the job of removing the fumes and sending them back through the engine to be burnt a second time. But if the valve is faulty, the engine won’t be vented sufficiently and the fumes suddenly become visible again. So, have the car checked out at a workshop who will be able to perform a compression test to tell whether the engine is in good internal condition or not, as well as check the PCV valve for correct operation, If the problem is the latter, it’s an easy, cheap fix.

Before you commit to any costly course of action, go back to basics. A car that jumps out of gear might have a poorly adjusted shifter or linkage mechanism rather than something internal to the gearbox. Even a worn engine or transmission mount can allow enough movement for the car to jump out of gear. So check that stuff first.

In terms of rebuilding a gearbox like this one, you may find the cost is greater than the retained value of the vehicle. Not to mention, with that sort of mileage, that you’ll lie awake at night wondering what’s going to break next. At that point, you have to make a call. But don’t forget, you might be able to find a second-hand gearbox in good condition at a parts recycler, and have that fitted for a fraction of the cost of an overhaul. And then you’re on your way to your second half-million kilometres.

For a start, your vehicle at just over five years of age is only just out of its five-year warranty. So it would be worth contacting LDV Australia’s customer service department to see if there’s any help available for a fix, or to cover some of the costs of a fix.

Meanwhile, a lot of these plastic add-ons are attached via small plastic clips and it’s these that fail, allowing the part in question to fall off. In the old days, such a trim piece would probably have been made of metal and been secured by metal tabs or pins or even a nut and bolt. But there are some really good adhesives on the market now that would probably have the strength to effectively glue the trim piece back on. That will make getting it off again (if you ever have to) a bit messy and could damage the paint underneath, but it’s probably better than having to replace a strip of tape every few weeks.

ZX Auto was one of those early Chinese brands that came and went without making much of an impact here. Imported by a WA-based dealership mogul, the brand entered Australia in 2012 and was gone before the end of 2015 when the Chinese factory stopped producing right-hand-drive cars. Not to mention the fact that pretty much nobody here was interested in the product.

Which means finding spare parts now can be a bit problematic. However, I did find a couple of local suppliers online who had clutch kits for this make and model for sale, so they are out there. Don’t forget, too, that the Grand Tiger used either a Toyota-derived turbo-diesel engine or a Mitsubishi-designed four-cylinder petrol and five-speed transmission. The latter was also used in the Great Wall V240 range, so you might find that there’s interchangeability between the ZX and those 'donor' vehicles. It’s hard to imagine that ZX would have licensed a design from either Toyota or Mitsubishi and then changed the clutch design.

In your case, I’d say you need to find out which Toyotas used the engine design shared with the ZX and work from there. From what I can gather, the engine code was DK4B and it was also used in a variety of Toyota light commercial vehicles.

Start with the basics. How old is the battery and what condition is it in? Sometimes you can check a battery’s voltage is at 12 volts with a meter, and have lights on the dashboard, and be tricked into thinking the battery is okay. But if the battery is worn out, when you turn the key to engage the starter motor, the extra load on the battery sees it lose the plot and nothing happens. You might hear a clicking noise, or you might hear nothing.

Modern engines rely heavily on electricity to run and will cut out if they aren’t getting enough voltage from the electrical system and, again, a dud battery can be the cause even if the alternator is working properly. You need to have the battery tested when a load is applied to it. If the voltage plummets when you apply that load, the battery is definitely ready for replacement.

Don’t forget the other basic stuff like the tightness and cleanliness of the battery terminals. Dirty or loose terminals can provide enough power to light up the dashboard, but can fail you when you apply the load of the starter motor.

A lot of car owners would be horrified at the thought of having to top up their engine oil between services. But the reality is, all car engines use at least a tiny amount of oil. It’s just part of how an engine works.

There are other factors, too, including the extended oil change intervals we’re seeing these days as car-makers try to drive down servicing costs and down-time. But some modern engines also use what are referred to as low-friction piston rings. These don’t exert so much force against the cylinder walls during the engine’s operation to reduce internal friction and, as a result, can contribute to noticeably lower fuel consumption. The flipside is that these low-tension rings can also contribute to an engine using a bit more oil.

Haval specifies an engine oil change every 12 months or 15,000km whichever comes first, and that’s a pretty decent length of time (and distance) to go without servicing. So full marks to you for keeping your eye on the dipstick and knowing when the level is dropping.

The general view in the trade is that the oil you use to top up should be a fully synthetic 5W30, but you really need to find out what oil Haval put in it at the last service. That’s because you don’t really want to mix oils as different brands have different additive packages that may not necessarily be compatible with other brands.

Around this time, Toyota (and others) was having terrible problems with paint peeling and flaking off its cars. My best information suggests that there was a problem with the paint supplier’s quality, and the result was paint that was absolutely falling off affected cars, sometimes in sheets. White cars seemed to be the biggest offenders, but other colours were affected, too.

With that in mind, I’d be taking the car to a paint specialist who will be able to determine if your car is one of the affected ones or not. If not, then you may indeed have paint damage due to water sitting on the paint, but that seems a fairy remote possibility if the car has been garaged most of its life. If the cause is a case of the paint quality problem, then you need to talk to Toyota Australia’s customer service department. Even though the car is out of warranty, this may be classed as a pre-existing problem and subject to some form of warranty claim. That said, I wouldn’t be holding my breath…

You haven’t actually told me what the shock absorber issue is. Is it a vibration, a lack of damping, a clunk? Either way, if there’s an issue with the shock absorber, then it should definitely be replaced, whether it’s linked to the strut-top bearing problem or not.

Best practice is to always replace things like shock absorbers in pairs. The same goes for suspension bushes, ball-joints, brake components, tyres and more. If they work as a pair, they should be replaced together.

You may be on the right track with your theory that the fuel rail is not holding pressure overnight. But you could also have the same problems with, say, glow-plugs that are not working efficiently (or at all). In that case, the vehicle will be hard to start form cold and could easily display the other symptoms you’re seeing.

Modern turbo-diesels have a pretty complex (and super high-pressure) fuel system, so there’s plenty to go wrong. A check-up at a diesel specialist is probably the best advice. Don’t be tempted to tackle the problem in your driveway, either, as these systems run at sufficient pressure to remove fingers if you get it wrong.

In fact, a diesel engineer once told me that one of the big concerns with these modern diesel engines is making them tamper-proof to protect inquisitive backyard mechanics.

GWM is unlikely to replace your hybrid battery, because under the terms and conditions, the car is now out of factory warranty. The problem is that the car has been used as a ride-share vehicle, at which point GWM’s factory warranty drops from eight years and unlimited kilometres to eight years and 150,000km. So, on the basis of distance travelled and the car being used for ride-share duties, you’re around 20,000km over the warranty limit.

You can certainly contact GWM’s Australian customer service department and plead your case, but on the face of it, your car is out of warranty and GWM has no obligation to help with repairs or costs.