Holden Captiva Problems

This is a very contentious issue and occurs when the car decides it’s in mortal danger if it’s driven any farther. In many cases a car will go into limp-home mode with reduced power to get you home without further damage, but in the Captiva’s case, it can go one step beyond limp-home mode and simply shut itself down, lock the driver out of the equation and refuse all attempts at being moved. This has severe ramifications if it does so on a level crossing, for instance.

In any case, this condition is usually triggered by a serious fault to do with the engine and can include a lack of oil or a severe overheating condition. When things cool down after a while, the car will sometimes restart, but in the meantime, it’s not going anywhere. The suspicion is that you have a major mechanical problem on your hands, and continuing to drive the car (when it decides to co-operate) puts you in danger of a catastrophic driveline failure.

The black panels you refer to are nothing more than a styling touch. The idea is to make the panels black so they look like they’re part of the rear window, therefore appearing to make the window wider and the whole car wider and lower. Does it work on a Captiva? Not really.

Any remedy can only be suggested once you know what’s causing the problem. The first step, then, is to have the car scanned to see if there’s a problem the on-board computer has identified and logged. Once you have that information, you are a lot closer to knowing what to replace.

Logic suggests that an engine that runs roughly when it’s cold might be running lean. If that’s the case, it could be caused by many things including worn injectors, a lazy fuel pump or even a temperature sensor that is not telling the computer that controls these things that the coolant temperature is low and the engine needs more fuel to compensate. Then, once the engine has warmed up, the fuel-air mixture is correct and the engine settles down and runs properly. That said, 30km is a long time for the engine to take to warm up.

You could spend lots of time and money replacing the wrong bits here, so a scan is definitely the way to proceed.

The first thing to do is check the fluid level in the transmission. Problems like this are often caused by a low fluid level, so that’s where to start. The problem then is that the Captiva’s transmission doesn’t have a conventional dipstick, so the level is checked by getting the vehicle up to operating temperature and then removing the fill bung (on the transmission next to the left-hand driveshaft. Obviously, you need to car off the ground to do this.

If a little fluid drips out of the fill bung when you remove it, the fluid level is correct. If not, you need to add fluid until it does start to drip back out. If the transmission is low on fluid, you’re also dealing with a leak, because this is a sealed system and should not require top-ups.

Don’t be tempted to continue driving the vehicle as it is, as the fluid not only provides the drive for the transmission, it also lubricates the moving parts. So operating it with a low fluid level can cause permanent damage to the unit.

Potentially, this can be fixed by a specialist, but in reality, it’s probably going to be cheaper and simpler to fit a better stereo head unit and pick up a few modern features like Bluetooth and smart-phone connectivity. These units are relatively inexpensive to buy and there’s lots of choice out there. Consider upgrading the car’s speakers at the same time for an even better listening experience.

When things like a car’s lights start to develop a mind of their own, the car’s body computer is sometimes the root cause. This is the computer that controls everything from the central locking to the lighting and the climate control to the cruise control, as well as a lot more in between. If this computer module starts playing up, all sorts of weird things can take place, including the dashboard lights coming on of their own doing. If this happens overnight or when the car is parked for a long period of time, it could easily drain the battery and leave you with no electrical power.

An auto electrician is the obvious solution, but try this trick at home first. Remove the negative battery terminal on the car and leave it disconnected for an hour or two (or, even better, overnight) this is sometimes enough to reboot that body computer and return the car to normal operation. Be aware though, that even if this fixes the problem, it may recur sometime down the track. But at least then you’ll know what to do next time.

This sounds like a problem with the rear or centre differential not working properly. When a car turns a corner, the various wheels must turn at different speeds (because they travel through different arcs). The differentials use a complex series of gears allow this to happen, but if they’re not all working properly, there’s a chance that the individual wheels are not able to turn at the correct speed. When that happens, the tyres have to skip and spin. Either that, or something like an axle or drive-shaft will snap.

The rear differential allows the two rear wheels to turn at different speeds, while the centre differential (which an all-wheel-drive car has) allows the front and rear wheels to turn at different speeds and maintain harmony. Being all-wheel-drive, your Captiva also has a front differential, but since you’re feeling the rear wheels skipping and skating, the front differential is probably not the cause. Which leaves the rear or centre differential.

Differentials can fail for a variety of reasons, including excess heat build-up or a lack of the correct type of lubricating oil. It’s entirely possible a seal has failed, allowing the oil out and letting the differential run dry to the point where it’s now damaged. But don’t ignore the simple things like a biding rear brake or poorly adjusted park-brake.

Your mechanic is right in deciding that a leak between the engine and gearbox will need the two components to be split to access the problem. Whatever it turns out to be. It could be a broken torque converter which would be expensive, or a simple oil seal which may cost just a few dollars. Either way, though, the labour involved in fixing even that cheap oil seal is going to make this an expensive operation.

Sometimes, you just have to let it go and cut your losses on a car that is starting to become worn out. To be honest, the Holden Captiva was not the most reliable or durable car ever made and many owners have discovered the hard way that this Holden badged car was actually a Daewoo, and not a good Daewoo at that.

The most common way to do this is to lower the window completely via the button, and hold the button down for an extra five seconds. Then, close the window fully with the up button, and hold that for another five seconds. Usually, this will reset the windows so that the body computer knowns where they are and can operate the automatic up and down functions correctly.

In some cars, you can achieve the same by standing next to the car and holding the locking button down on the key fob for 30 seconds. If that doesn’t work, try the unlock button for the same 30 seconds.

As part of a car’s exhaust system, a catalytic converter contains some pretty exotic metals that help convert the engine’s exhaust gasses to less harmful chemicals. It’s pretty high-end chemistry, but the converter’s job is to make the overall exhaust emissions less harmful to people and the environment.

Several things can go wrong with a catalytic converter that can stop it doing this job, and that’s when the dashboard light will flash on, alerting you to the fact that the converter needs attention.

Sometimes, the converter’s internal structure (the matrix) will collapse, at which point the only solution is to replace the unit. But sometimes, the matrix simply gets clogged by soot and other contaminants from the engine’s combustion process. In the case of the latter, you can remove the converter and manually clean it or, add a chemical to the car’s fuel tank that will be burnt in the engine, pass through the converter and hopefully clean it.

However, the jury is still out on whether using either method to clean a catalytic converter is worth the time and effort. Many cleaning attempts have led to the dashboard light flickering back on within minutes of the cleaning taking place. Perhaps the additive method is worth a try, but in a high percentage of cases, converter replacement is the only fix. So why not just remove the converter? Because it’s illegal to tamper with a car’s emissions control devices and there are big fines for those who do so. Also, a catalytic-converter warning light on the dashboard is actually a roadworthy item.