Holden Calais Problems

I believe Orbital supplies the HSV system and I can't think of any reason that you couldn't fit an Orbital system to your car. It would have to be tuned differently, of course, because your engine is different to the HSV one. There are other liquid-injection systems available, as well as some very well developed vapour-injection systems. One you could check out is the Impco system. The beauty of injection systems is that you can tune them to produce the same performance on LPG and on petrol. Without being exact you could expect to recover the cost of installing a system in around 18 months.

It's best to choose a reputable brand, one that has been on the market for some time, and it should be a sequential injection system. Holden uses an Impco system, and that's certainly one to consider, but there are others as well. To find an installer go to the LPG system manufacturers' websites and get the list of their accredited people. It's always a good idea to talk to other people who have made the same conversion you are planning, and get their recommendations on systems and installers.

The backfire you are hearing is the gas igniting in the intake manifold, which is quite common with cars running on LPG. A random spark usually causes it, and the plug leads usually cause that. It's not the LPG. I'd take it back to the installer and get his help.

It is not unusual for the battery to be placed in the boot; some carmakers have been doing that for many years. You might notice that it's often placed there in race cars for weight distribution reasons, to get more weight over the rear wheels, but in regular passenger cars it's mostly done for packaging reasons. One look at the engine bay of most cars today is enough to know that it's a pretty crowded place, and putting the battery in the boot alleviates that problem.

I believe you're locked into getting the dealer to do the update when you buy a factory-fitted system and I'm not aware of a way around that problem. Your experience is well worth noting for others who might be taking delivery of a new car. It's a good idea to check the maps that come with the car, as they are often well out of date, and demand they be updated before you drive away in the car. While the car is at the dealer's you have some negotiating power, once you drive away it's much harder.

It's a little higher than I would expect, but roof racks and bikes carriers would have an adverse effect of the fuel consumption, and it would be even more affected by carrying bikes.

It could be that you’re driving on the point of torque convertor lock-up, change your speed when it happens.

There was a problem with the early Calais and there was a software fix developed to take care of it. It wouldn't have been a sudden loss of battery charge, but a steady drain that would ultimately mean there wasn't sufficient charge to start the car. I would have expected the fix to be automatically installed in your car when it went to the dealer for its regular servicing. It certainly should have been if you had complained about the previous times the battery went flat.

One flat battery is unfortunate, two is a worry, but five should have been a clear sign something was wrong and that your car needed to be checked by a mechanic. Had you acted while the warranty was in effect you could have had it fixed at no cost to you.

I am assuming the engine was a second-hand one and there was no guarantee on it or the work done by the mechanic. If that is the case you are relying on the goodwill of the mechanic to do the 'right' thing and have little other claim. The best thing to do would be to talk to the mechanic about your expectations and try to reach an agreement on the cost to carry out the subsequent repairs. If you can't reach a satisfactory agreement you could try your consumer affairs people, or take the mechanic to your small claims tribunal. If there was a guarantee on the engine or the work make a claim on that.