Holden Captiva Diesel Problems

Regardless of whether you use an additive, a car’s Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) will still need to be cleaned (or regenerated) periodically as soot builds up in it. Short trips where the engine doesn’t get a chance to warm up properly, as well as extended periods of idling in traffic and stop-start running will all hasten this requirement.

In the case of the Captiva diesel, the best way to manually force a regeneration is to put aside an hour and go for a decent drive. The advice from Holden in the day was to travel at more than 50km/h and at more than 2000rpm (which may mean locking the car out of overdrive) for a minimum of 25 minutes. During this process, you should not allow the speed or revs to fall below those two figures which suggests finding a decent strip of freeway to carry out this process. You should also not turn off the engine at any point in this procedure. The broad idea is to get the engine and exhaust hot enough for the filter to regenerate and clean itself.

If, after 100km of this type of treatment, the DPF light on the dashboard hasn’t disappeared, the solution is a trip to a workshop to have the filter investigated and, potentially, hand-cleaned. Experience suggests a couple of attempts may be needed to get this to happen as it should, and in fact, the car’s computer will give you several chances to produce the desired effect before the workshop beckons.

Excess black smoke from a diesel engine is bad news as it can – among other things – cause the engine to run hot enough to cause internal damage. As for a cause, it could be anything from contaminated fuel to a block air-filter, a faulty sensor or a damaged intake system. Modern diesel engines like this one also have a habit of forming black deposits in their intake tract (a by-product of the engine’s own emission controls) and this can cause all sorts of problems including black smoke.

Another possibility is that the car’s diesel particulate filter (DPF) is blocked and the car is trying to regenerate it (clean it out) by dumping lots of fuel into the engine, and that’s causing the excess smoke. Either way, it needs to be fixed to avoid the potential for costly engine damage, not to mention the environmental havoc the car is causing in its current state. An electronic scan of the onboard computer would be a good starting point.

It sounds like you’ve had a rough trot with your Captiva, Danielle. Let me ask you this: When did the problems first occur and were discussed with the dealer? If you’ve been putting up with this stuff over a period of years, there’s a chance these dramas first cropped up while the vehicle was under warranty. If that’s the case, you’re dealing with what’s called a pre-existing condition and, if the dealer was made aware of the situation before the warranty had expired, then Holden is still duty-bound to fix the faults even if the car itself is now out of warranty. I’m asking because you said the problems go back at least as far as one month out from the warranty expiring, which is when you had new fuel-injectors fitted.

Starter-motor problems are not unknown with the Captiva and DPF problems are likewise a well-documented source of grief with these cars. Sometimes, the only fix for the DPF is a full replacement but that’s not cheap. Not to mention the new filter will possibly become blocked sometime down the track. The only way to keep a modern turbo-diesel happy is to drive it for about half an hour at freeway speeds every three or four weeks. That will regenerate the DPF and help prevent these problems. Then again, in the case of a Holden Captiva, I wouldn’t be too certain of that.

Injector wear is prevalent on common-rail diesel engines with the high fuel pressure and rapid cycling. A diesel mechanic should be able to check the injectors for leakage.

The cap has a hex nut on it and you can unscrew it using a regular hex socket. It’s a regular right hand thread. If it’s really tight just go easy, don’t apply too much force.

It’s hard to diagnose from a distance. As the engine appears to be running ok, the noise and black smoke might well be a particulate filter burn-off event, but you wouldn’t normally expect to see smoke or hear what sounds like an explosion. The dealer can check the filter and the burn-off history, so they should be able to see if there has been an event. I would think the transmission problem is a separate issue, and the transmission might need servicing.

You don't say what your typical driving day is, so I can only guess on that front, but driving short distances without regularly getting out on the highway for a reasonable drive at higher speeds is a DPF killer. If that's the sort of driving you do then that could be the underlying cause of the problem. You can't fix that. To resolve the problem take it back to Holden and ask them to tell you what they think is causing it and try and work out a plan of action. You would appear to have a good case to put to them to fix the car.

You don’t say why you want to convert your Captiva to LPG and I think it’s important to establish that before you rush into something you might regret. I wouldn’t do it; I don't believe the systems have been developed to the point of acceptable reliability. If you are really intent on doing it I would suggest you talk to the people at Diesel Gas Connection.

6.7 L/100 km in country type driving. Now, they're the official numbers, which are best used to compare the fuel-efficiency of different makes and models. They're not necessarily the figures you would get in your particular driving conditions. You should get somewhere near them, but there are so many things that can affect fuel consumption that you should not expect the car to give you the consumption claimed.

If you can't reach a satisfactory solution to your problem going to VCAT is a way of resolving it. I couldn't predict the outcome, but as Holden has had the car for extensive periods of time trying, without success it seems, to fix it, you would seem to be justified in making a claim against them.