Haval H2 Problems

If you have a look through the owner’s manual of the vehicle, you might find a method of using the info-screen menus to achieve this. It’s more likely, however, that you’ll need to plug the appropriate scanning tool into the car’s diagnostic port to reset this reminder light. At which point it’s not a home-driveway job.

I’m guessing that you had the car serviced at an independent workshop rather than a Haval dealership, as the latter would have known the procedure to reset the light. Which is fair enough as Haval does not have the dealership coverage of a car-maker like, say, Toyota or Ford. The point being that you need to make sure that any workshop you use for servicing while the car is under factory warranty, is licensed and certified to stamp your service handbook to keep your warranty valid. You don’t have to use a Haval dealer, but the workshop you choose needs to be a professional operation or you stand to kiss your warranty goodbye.

The HDC refers to the Hill Descent Control feature that allows the vehicle to crawl down a steep slope off-road without the driver applying the brakes. This function uses the car’s braking and ABS systems to operate, so any fault with it has serious implications for the vehicle’s overall safety.

You may have a dud sensor or something wrong with the wiring, electronics or even the hardware. Either way, an electronic scan should give you a few clues as to what’s causing this fault message to show up. Sometimes something as simple as a battery with low voltage can cause error messages like this to appear. But don’t ignore it; these are important safety systems and you need to know they’re working properly.

This is something you can command the car to do via the menus. From the touchscreen, find the menu for the car’s functions, scroll through until you find the relevant section for the mirrors and enable the self-folding function on locking. That should do the trick.

While some makes and models have a simple, DIY method for cancelling this reminder, it seems these late-model Havals do not, and the service indicator needs to be cancelled via the diagnostic port and a laptop with the correct, Haval-specific software. Which could mean a trip to your nearest dealer.

Did you have the vehicle serviced at a non-Haval workshop? Given the relative scarcity of Haval dealerships, that’s the reality for a lot of owners, but not every non-Haval workshop has the software to cancel the reminder. One option is to phone around local workshops to see if they have the software to perform this task. The other is to put up with the service indicator beaming at you constantly and remembering when the next service is due. A lot of old-school workshops put a little sticker at the top of your windscreen listing the date and mileage that the next service is due. It’s a nice touch.

Good news; Haval extended its factory warranty to seven years back in 2018, meaning that your car is still under factory warranty. So make it Haval's problem. Assuming you haven't damaged the screen (and the car hasn't been under water or anything similarly drastic) and the failure has been caused by an electronic or hardware fault or flaw, Haval's warranty dictates it needs to fix it.

This message flashes up when the car is due for a service or other maintenance. The problem is that just because the work gets carried out, the message continues to flash up every time you start the car, unless the reminder has been reset.

While some makes and models have simple methods of resetting the reminder (and making the message go away) usually through the menus on the info-screen, the Haval range is not among them. In the Haval's case, it appears the only way to reset the reminder is via the diagnostic port that gives you access to the car's on-board computer. Not all workshops have the equipment to tap into this port and while a Haval dealer will have the gear, such dealerships can be pretty scarce in remote and regional parts of Australia.

If you have a look through the owner’s manual of the vehicle, you might find a method of using the info-screen menus to achieve this. It’s more likely, however, that you’ll need to plug the appropriate scanning tool into the car’s diagnostic port to reset this reminder light. At which point it’s not a home-driveway job.

I’m guessing that you had the car serviced at an independent workshop rather than a Haval dealership, as the latter would have known the procedure to reset the light. Which is fair enough as Haval does not have the dealership coverage of a car-maker like, say, Toyota or Ford. The point being that you need to make sure that any workshop you use for servicing while the car is under factory warranty, is licensed and certified to stamp your service handbook to keep your warranty valid. You don’t have to use a Haval dealer, but the workshop you choose needs to be a professional operation or you stand to kiss your warranty goodbye.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a non-Haval workshop service your vehicle and, provided the workshop is qualified, there will be no problems with any warranty claims down the track. In fact, the relative scarcity of Haval dealers in Australia means that many owners living in regional or remote areas have very little choice but to use a non-Haval service centre.

As far as the service reminder message goes, the solution is not so simple. While many makes and models have a simple method of cancelling this reminder (usually via the infotainment system and a series of menus) it appears the Haval H2 requires the Haval factory computer to achieve this. The message cancellation appears to be performed via the car's diagnostic port, rather than any simple method you could do at home. So, next time you're near a Haval dealer, drop in and have the message erased.

A faulty transmission oil cooler, which uses the engine’s radiator and coolant, could definitely mix oil with coolant. And while that could lead to overheating as the coolant fills the transmission, you’d also probably notice the transmission dying a not-so-slow death due to coolant polluting the lubricating transmission fluid. But it’s less likely to pressurise the cooling system to the point where the oil-and-water mix exits through the expansion bottle.

Much more likely is that the coolant system is being pressurised by the combustion of the engine. If the cylinder head has been checked and the gasket replaced (assuming it was all done properly) then the pressurisation is probably coming from somewhere deeper in the engine’s crankcase. You need to check the cylinder bore for splits or cracks and take it from there.

Before doing anything, though, check the date of first registration of your car. If it was first registered after October 1, 2018, then it is covered by Haval’s seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. If it was prior to that, then it would have come with a five-year/100,000km warranty which, technically, will have expired. Even so, it would be worth contacting Haval’s local customer service division to see if the company is open to helping with repair costs given the vehicle is only just out of warranty. This presumes, of course, that the vehicle has been serviced correctly and at the appropriate intervals.

Logic says it should be, since it’s part of the car as it was sold brand new. However, some manufacturers place conditions on this, mainly in terms of parts that are subject to general wear and tear. For that reason, tyres, brake pads and batteries are usually not covered by a new-car warranty.

Exceptions are also sometimes made for accessories fitted to the vehicle. But even if your TPMS was fitted as a genuine Haval factory accessory, GWM's (Haval's parent company's) warranty terms spell it all out pretty clearly:

“GWM Genuine Accessories purchased and fitted to a vehicle by a GWM Authorised Dealer are warranted for the remainder of the New Vehicle Warranty or 12 months from the date of purchase, whichever is greater. “

Put simply, even if the TPMS was considered an accessory rather than standard equipment, if it was a genuine Haval system, it should still be covered by the car’s factory warranty