Ask The Guide

There’s a very simple check you can do to see whether the battery or the charging system (alternator, regulator and wiring) is at fault here. With the engine running, place the probes of a multi-meter (switched to measure voltage) on the relevant battery terminals. If you see a figure of anywhere between 13.2 and 14.7 volts, the charging system is doing its job. You might need to rev the engine slightly off idle to see these numbers, but the voltage going into the battery should be in that range.

At this point, the battery becomes the main suspect, and a worn out battery will often neither hold a charge nor accept one.

It doesn’t sound right, does it? While it’s possible for an engine to be perfect one minute and blown up the next, you’d expect some sort of warning that this was about to happen. Which begs the question of why didn’t the Ford mechanic spot that there was a problem.

Probably the best advice is to have the engine independently inspected to find out what broke or went wrong. From there, you can work out whether you were just unlucky, or the dealership missed something or somehow contributed to the engine’s demise.

For the record, these engines won’t tolerate being drained of oil for more than about ten minutes. Due to the design of the oil pump, leaving the engine drained for more than that length of time means the pump won’t work when the engine is restarted and the engine will blow up soon after. Plenty of mechanics have been caught out by this, but surely not a Ford dealership…

You could be dealing with a broken or worn clutch that is not disengaging as it should. This would explain the notchy shifting. But the whining noise makes me think you could have a worn or dry throw-out bearing. This is part of the clutch that allows the clutch actuator to disengage the clutch while the engine is running. If it’s worn or it runs out of grease over time, it can start to make a shrill noise and can cause iffy shifting.

Any diesel engine can be a bit noisy; that’s just the way they work. But if a new noise has surfaced, then something has definitely changed under the bonnet. First thoughts would be a hydraulic lash adjuster (also known as a lifter) that is failing and making the noise.

These lash adjusters maintain the correct valve clearance (which otherwise alters as the engine heats up and cools down) but one that fails will allow the valve clearance to grow, at which point you get a ticking noise at the top of the engine as the valve and lifter collide.

If this is the case, you’ll need to replace the offending lifter and best practise suggests you replace all of them at the same time as one failed one suggests they’re probably all worn. But it’s also important to make sure it really is a dud lifter you’re dealing with. A diesel engine has lots of potential sources for such a noise, so make sure you rule out a worn fuel pump or any other mechanical problem before ripping the lifters out.

The first thing to do is find the owner’s manual and any paperwork that came with the car when it was brand new. Many dealerships wrote the security code on a business card that was slipped into the owner’s folder, others sometimes write the code somewhere on one of the manual’s pages. Either of which kind of defeats the purpose of a secret code, but it was common practice.

If that doesn’t pay off, you may have to remove the radio from the dashboard, record the unit’s serial number and contact either Holden or the stereo’s manufacturer (I think Blaupunkt, in this case) to see if it has records of what security code went with what radio.

Finally, there’s another long-shot that might pay off. Your car has an individual VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) which should be recorded on a metal plate at the edge of the windscreen, under the glass. The last four digits of this VIN are often the security code for the radio fitted at the factory. It doesn’t work on every make and model, but it’s free and worth a shot.

Various systems randomly turning themselves on or staying powered up when the car is otherwise turned off often point to a fault with the body computer which controls literally hundreds of functions. Obviously, the power steering should shut down with the rest of the car so, as the master control unit, the body computer is where many mechanics would start looking.

Whether the same fault is also causing the ESP light to come on is another matter, but it’s possible both problems are connected. Again, the body computer is a likely culprit. Have the car scanned to see what and how many individual fault codes are thrown up. That’s the best way to proceed in this case.

You’re (possibly) looking for a driveline problem here. It’s probably not the engine itself as the vibration occurs when you’re slowing down (and the engine is no longer under load) but beyond that, it could be anything from a driveshaft, axle, transmission, braking system, wheel bearing, suspension or even an engine or transmission mount problem.

But the bottom line is that your vehicle should still be covered by the factory warranty, so make use of it. If you don’t get any satisfaction at dealership level, tackle LDV’s Australian customer service department. Our laws regarding vehicle warranties are plain and simple and are designed to protect consumers.

While many car-makers now profess that their automatic transmission no longer need regular fluid changes, many mechanics believe there’s no harm in doing so and, in fact, there are benefits in doing so. They include reduced wear over time and the removal of any contaminants that might cause problems. Also, if a transmission has ever reached high temperatures, the fluid should be replaced.

The thing to know is there are two types of fluid change. In the simplest, the transmission fluid is drained, the filter changed and new fluid added. Inevitably, some of the old fluid will remain in the torque converter and other components. But a more complete approach is what’s called a fluid flush where new fluid is pumped through the entire transmission, purging it of all the old fluid. The full flush method is best practice and shouldn’t cost a lot more.

This sounds like a problem with the rear or centre differential not working properly. When a car turns a corner, the various wheels must turn at different speeds (because they travel through different arcs). The differentials use a complex series of gears allow this to happen, but if they’re not all working properly, there’s a chance that the individual wheels are not able to turn at the correct speed. When that happens, the tyres have to skip and spin. Either that, or something like an axle or drive-shaft will snap.

The rear differential allows the two rear wheels to turn at different speeds, while the centre differential (which an all-wheel-drive car has) allows the front and rear wheels to turn at different speeds and maintain harmony. Being all-wheel-drive, your Captiva also has a front differential, but since you’re feeling the rear wheels skipping and skating, the front differential is probably not the cause. Which leaves the rear or centre differential.

Differentials can fail for a variety of reasons, including excess heat build-up or a lack of the correct type of lubricating oil. It’s entirely possible a seal has failed, allowing the oil out and letting the differential run dry to the point where it’s now damaged. But don’t ignore the simple things like a biding rear brake or poorly adjusted park-brake.

It’s difficult to be definitive here without actually driving the vehicle, but there are at least two possible sources for this. The first is the simplest and involves either a wheel and tyre or driveshaft that is out of balance. That should be easy to diagnose and fix.

The second possibility is that the vehicle’s driveline (engine, gearbox and transfer-case) has what’s called a resonant frequency that, when reached at a particular speed range, will result in some weird harmonics and vibrations which is possibly what you’re feeling and hearing. This becomes worse when the torque converter locks up (to save fuel) and there’s no slip in the driveline to absorb these bad vibes. By shifting back to fifth gear, you’re raising the engine revs and moving it out of that harmonic patch.

I’ve heard that Isuzu has been remapping some ECUs (on-board computers) to try to move this harmonic zone into a different (higher) speed range (by manipulating the torque-converter lock-up point) where it won’t be a problem to most owners. The fact is the Isuzu diesel has never been the most refined one out there and some vibrations and harmonics are relatively common, However, they shouldn’t be bad enough to ruin your enjoyment of the car.

In the old days, a different exhaust was often enough to move the harmonics around or get rid of them altogether, but I can understand why that’s not really an option on a brand-new vehicle.