Holden Captiva Engine Problems

WE WERE told by a reader that his Holden dealer had fixed the high fuel consumption of his Captiva by reflashing the memory. He told us the dealer had said it was a Holden recall, but it seems that isn't the case. He may have been misinformed, or misunderstood what he was told. In any case, Holden tells us it has not had a recall on the Captiva to improve its fuel economy. What it did tell us was: ``All published fuel-consumption figures are calculated using a controlled government testing procedure . . . ADR 81/01, which is a combination of highway and urban driving conditions and is used as a comparison measure. As such the real-world fuel economy of any vehicle will vary according to external influences such as driving styles and/or conditions.''

THE rotten egg smell and the high fuel consumption are most likely connected. A smell like that was once a sign of a problem with the catalytic converter, and the high fuel consumption suggests there is a problem with the engine system somewhere. It could be a faulty oxygen sensor making the engine run rich, giving you the high fuel consumption. Have your dealer check it out again, and more thoroughly.

The Captiva V6 doesn’t reach its peak torque until 3200 revs so it’s hard to know why you feel it dropping off after just 2000 revs. The exhaust system was primarily designed as a fuel economy improver; the engine also has constantly variable cam phasing and that’s the main system that allows good low down torque as well as good top end performance.

The LPG system manufacturers are working on kits for the Captiva and they should be available within weeks. From what I am told they are developing both vapour and liquid injection systems, and either would be fine. Of the two liquid injection would be the better, but I would expect it to be more expensive. Generally you would pay off the cost of a vapour-injection system in about 12 months, which makes it a good proposition given you plan to keep the car for five years.
 

You have to fix it, it's worth virtually nothing with a damaged engine, so there's no way around spending the money. But I would be very keen to find out what caused it to fail, and whether it's perhaps a manufacturing fault that has caused it.

Holden claims the fuel consumption of the petrol Captiva is 16.4 L/  100 km in urban, or city, driving conditions, but that drops to 8.9 L/100 km in extra urban, or country type driving. On average, the company claims, the Captiva would average 11.6 L/100 km. You say yours does 6.2 km/litre, which equates to 16.1 L/100 km, and that's in line with Holden's claims for urban driving. When you look at the labels on the windscreen you need to take in all of the information, not just the combined, or average, figures. The main thing they are there for is to allow you to compare one vehicle with another rather than give you an outright number that you will get from the vehicle yourself. Before complaining to the dealer I would do what has been suggested, that is to run it for the 15,000 km. You should see a reduced in the consumption as the vehicle beds in.

There would seem to be something amiss with your car to be getting 15-17 L/100 km average when the claimed average is less than 10 L/100 km, so you would appear to have grounds for complaint. Take them to the dealer and insist that the car be checked to make sure all is within specification, and if it is ask the dealer to do a supervised fuel consumption test on it to verify your assertions of poor economy. If you can't get any satisfaction at dealer level go direct to Holden and request the company's direct assistance.

Your car clearly has a problem and should be checked by a competent mechanic who can run a diagnostic check on it. The power loss is a result of it going into ‘limp home’ mode, not the other way round. The problem could be a faulty sensor, a dodgy connection, or any number of things really. Have it checked.

MODERN diesels perform on a par with petrol engines now so you won't lose performance. When looking at economy, it's important to consider the higher purchase price of the diesel model and the higher fuel price.