Haval Problems

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.

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 automatic stop-start is an increasingly common feature on new cars and it's designed to save fuel by switching off the engine when you're, say, waiting at a red light. A lot of people find this function annoying and wish to turn it off permanently.

Depending on what version of the H9 you have, there should be a small switch down low on the centre console (near the hazard flasher switch) This will be marked with the same A-in-a-circle and, once you press it once, will disable the stop-start function. The catch is that you have to press this button every time you restart the car to disable the function.

But if you go into the Settings menu on the info-screen, you should also be able to find a listing for the stop-start function which, if you disable it this way, should keep it switched off.

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.

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.

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.

There’s nothing wrong with having your vehicle serviced by a non-Haval mechanic as a registered workshop will still be authorised to stamp your service booklet and maintain your factory warranty. For many people, a non-Haval workshop is the logical choice as the Haval dealer network is not as wide as some of its competitors. But some independent workshops will forget or not know how to cancel the service indicator on the dashboard, and that’s probably what’s happened in this case.

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. The other option is to phone around local workshops to see if they have the software to perform this task. The third option is to put up with the service indicator beaming at you constantly and remembering when the next service is due.

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.

Detailed information like this is not usually included in the sales brochure. Nor do many (any?) road tests of a particular vehicle usually go into such detail. So in the end, I had to contact Haval Motors Australia which, in turn, contacted head office in China to find this info.

So, here’s how it pans out Kim: All the legroom figures are dependent on where the front seat is positioned and in the H2, front seat legroom is anything from 870mm to 1060mm. Rear seat legroom is from 650 to 910mm. In the H6, the same figures are 790 to 1000mm and 710 to 950mm respectively.

When it comes to headroom, front seat headroom in the H2 is 990mm and in the rear it’s 970mm. In the H6, the equivalent figures are 990mm and 950mm.

In the end, of course, those figures are just numbers and a far better idea is to visit a Haval showroom and take a seat in both vehicles to really see whether they suit you.