Ask The Guide

You’re in luck here, Tony, because both the petrol and diesel engines fitted to this generation of the i30 used timing chains rather than rubber toothed timing belts. As such, the chain should be good for the life of the engine, rather than requiring scheduled replacement like a timing belt.

For the record, most manufacturers say a rubber timing-belt should be changed (roughly) at 100,000km or 10-year intervals. That said, some carmakers recommend much shorter intervals, so it’s worth knowing this stuff. A failed timing belt will often destroy the rest of the engine, but so can a timing chain if it fails. It’s just that a chain is much less likely to fail in service.

This sounds like a body computer problem. The body computer is the brains that controls a huge range of features but, tellingly, also the climate control and entertainment systems, as well as functions such as the wipers, central locking and much more. These computers can sometimes fail and require replacement, but sometimes they can be rebooted or 'returned to factory settings’ to use an IT term.

The easiest way to do this – not to mention the cheapest – is to disconnect the car’s battery and leave it overnight. It sounds odd, but this will sometimes force the reboot it needs to begin operating properly again. It doesn’t always works and even if it does, the effects may not be permanent. But it’s well worth a try before you take it to an auto electrician or specialist.

While it’s true that many check-engine lights are caused by a problem within the exhaust system, there are literally hundreds of other reasons for a non-specific check-engine light to suddenly illuminate. To simply start changing sensors in the hope of hitting on the right one is a great way to waste time and money and still have a car with a check-engine light (which, technically, makes it unroadworthy).

If you are convinced the exhaust is the culprit, a likely suspect is the oxygen sensor which more or less sniffs the engine’s exhaust gas to determine whether the fuel/air mixture is correct and that the engine is burning cleanly. The sensors are usually screwed into the exhaust system near the catalytic converter. They’re not usually too difficult to change (assuming you can get the car in the air) but a better bet would be to have the car electronically scanned to discover the real reason the check-engine light is glowing.

What you’re probably hearing is the pump switching on to prime the engine’s fuel system so that it starts easily and promptly. Even though the engine isn’t running, when you switch the ignition on, systems like the fuel pump all come to life to get things ready to be started and driven. When the pump has generated enough fuel pressure and volume to start the engine, it can then switch off and only switch on again once the engine is running and a constant supply of fuel is required. This could be why it only runs for a few seconds when you first turn the ignition on.

This is pretty normal, but what isn’t is if the pump starts to make a new noise or the tone of its buzzing changes. At that point, what you might be hearing is wear or damage inside the pump.

This is a slightly tricky one because while both the SRi and SRi-V were fitted with the same engine, this point in time marked a change in specification. Around March of 2013, Holden switched the SRi and SRi-V engines form the 1.4-litre unit to the 1.6-litre unit. The automatic transmission was updated with a sport-shift mode and predictive down shifting, although physically the automatic and manual transmissions were carried over to the 1.6-litre version.

On the surface, this sounds like a viable swap, but you could run into wiring and computer problems in trying to make what was a 1.4-litre car `talk’ to the 1.6-litre engine. The 1.6-litre engine also used direct fuel injection, so you’d need the entire engine management system and computer to go with the swap. There may also be physical differences in things like airbox design and exhaust locations, too, so you need to drag out the tape measure and make an assessment based on measurements and facts. However, if your 2013 car was one from later in that year, it will already have the 1.6-litre engine and the swap to an engine from a 2014 car should be pretty straightforward.

From memory, that model Audi Q7 had the option of rear window sunshades which are a great addition and should really be standard on any car sold in Australia. In this model, the shades were manually operated so you need to grab a small tab and pull the blind upwards to fix it in place. If the tabs are missing, the shade may be broken or may have been removed by a previous owner, leaving just the empty slot in the door trim.

Some cars also had electronically-operated shades, so a check of the owner’s manual may reveal where the relevant button is located. If the shades are missing, you may be able to find an aftermarket replacement that uses the same factory mounting points. There are lots of aftermarket choices online.

Fan belts and other rubber drive belts can squeak or squeal if they’re not correctly adjusted for tension. Usually, a too-loose belt will be the cause, and to fix it, you need to slacken off the adjuster and tighten the belt to the correct tension.

In some cases, though, you may find the noise is coming from a partially seized or worn bearing in one of the pulleys. You could try a little squirt of penetrating fluid on the bearings to see if that makes the noise go away. If the bearing is really worn, however, it will need to be replaced.

Sometimes the noise will be caused by coolant or water getting on to the rubber belt. Check the radiator and its hoses for leaks that could be allowing fluid on to the rubber and making it squeal.

The Ora is produced by Great Wall Motor, or GWM, a Chinese automaker based in Hebei, China.

Genesis is a premium sub-brand of South Korean automaker Hyundai. The GV70 is built at one of Hyundai's facilities in both South Korea and the United States, with South Korean models being sold in Australia.

The first generation Honda NSX was produced between 1990 to 2005, of which 18,685 examples were produced. Just 2908 of the second generation - built from 2016 to 2022 - were produced, of which just nine were sold in Australia. Honda canned the NSX from its local line-up in 2020.