Are you having problems with your 2009 Holden Colorado? Let our team of motoring experts keep you up to date with all of the latest 2009 Holden Colorado issues & faults. We have gathered all of the most frequently asked questions and problems relating to the 2009 Holden Colorado in one spot to help you decide if it's a smart buy.
When General Motors and Isuzu split, Holden relinquished the popular Rodeo badge. The revised replacement in 2008 was the Colorado.To meet the evolving role of utes as combined tradie-family transport, the Colorado had a flashy new look that would fit comfortably in suburbia and bush alike.Underneath it remained the same tough truck as the Rodeo predecessor and was just as capable of slogging through the rough stuff off-road.There were two and four-door Colorado utes, with rear or four-wheel drive and petrol or turbo diesel engines.Depending on your need for comfort you could choose between the LX and LT-R, the latter with all the fruit you could want. Even the LX had aircon and MP3 sound, the LT-R adding Bluetooth phone connectivity and reversing sensors.The petrol option was a punchy 3.6-litre V6 (157kW/313Nm) and the turbodiesel a more frugal 3.0-litre four-cylinder (120kW/360Nm). Backing them were a smooth-shifting five-speed manual or a four-speed auto.For lighter duty, the rear-wheel drive model sufficed.For going off-road there was also the option of dual-range four-wheel drive.On the road the Colorado was comfortable and quiet, the seats were supportive and the cabin well laid-out and welcoming.The price for the V6's ample performance potential was in fuel consumption when pushed.The well-proven mechanical package gives little troubleMeanwhile the turbo diesel was not only the thriftier engine when it came to fuel consumption, it also had greater low-down grunt to make it more drivable and more comfortable and competent off road.The Colorado is rated to tow up to 3000kg braked.The well-proven mechanical package gives little trouble, according to the trade and owners alike.Initially there were some complaints from owners about noisy front suspension bushes.Holden got on top of that relatively quickly with revised upper shock absorber bushes and retainers so there shouldn't be any out there still exhibiting the distracting noise.The Colorado is well equipped to handle the hard going and will do so competentlyIf you hear a creaking sound from the front when road-testing a Colorado, check to see whether the revised setup was fitted.Some owners complain of the fuel consumption of the V6, others moan about the turbo lag of the diesel.The Colorado is well equipped to handle the hard going and will do so competently if driven by someone knowing how to do it. Look for damage underneath, to the floorpan, chassis fittings, exhaust etc.It looks good, goes well, good for family or work use.Also check for a service record. It's most important on any vehicle but it's even more important on a car that's made to work hard for its keep, such as towing or off-roading.
It sounds counter-intuitive that an engine would run at all with the crank angle sensor removed. Generally, without this sensor working properly, the fuel-injection system has no idea when to inject the fuel or fire the spark plugs. But sometimes – as in this engine – if the computer can't 'find' a crank angle input, it will take a reference from the camshaft angle sensor and use that to time the injection and ignition.
Even so, if the problem persists after two replacement sensors, it's probably fair to say this particular sensor is either not the root of your problem, or that or the engine's wiring is frying the new sensors as fast as you're changing them.
Either way, a trip to an auto electrician seems like the next logical step. Chances are a switched on sparkie will have seen this exact problem before and will know how to deal with it or at least take the logical steps to diagnose what's going wrong. Simply continuing to change bits and pieces is often an expensive way to solve a problem like this.
It’s not likely to be a burned valve, as the engine would be running roughly if it were. It could be the tappets. Next time you start the engine lift the bonnet and take a moment or two to listen to the engine to see if you can get an idea of where the noise is coming from.
The recommended service interval for this vehicle is every 10,000km. Roughly speaking, every second service is a bit more involved, so that suggests it’s more of a `major’ service. Either way, skipped services on a vehicle like this will be false economy in the longer term.
On the timing belt front, there’s good news and bad. The good news is that both the turbo-diesel and petrol V6 versions of the Colorado both use timing chains, so there’s no need to change a timing belt. The bad news is that the petrol version uses the Alloytech V6 which is renowned for its ability to stretch its own timing chain to the point where it needs costly replacement. This is a known fault with this engine.
I think you’re on the right track by concentrating on the information being conveyed by the crank-angle sensor. But the problem is more likely to be a stretched timing chain rather than a dud sensor. The V6 engine in your Colorado is notorious for this problem and, when it happens, it throws the camshafts out of synch with the crankshaft. When the crank-angle sensor and the camshaft-angle sensor can’t agree that the positions of the crankshaft and camshafts relative to each other are correct, the problems start.
This lack of synchronisation is one of the things the crank-angle sensor is paid to look for and why it’s limiting engine speed or not allowing the engine to start at all. By clearing the fault code and disconnecting the crank-angle sensor, you’re stopping the error information being sent to the ECU and the ute starts first time (it’s probably taking a camshaft-angle reference when it can’t find the crank-angle information).
Here's a pointed question: Does your vehicle have an aftermarket trailer-brake system fitted? If it does, it's quite likely that the wiring passes through the cabin somewhere near where your leak is located. Unless this access hole is correctly sealed with the proper grommet, there's every chance water is getting in at this point.
Other likely suspects for this include roof mounted aerial holes, roof rack attachment points and even worn or damaged window and door rubbers.
You should take it back to the people who installed the gas system, as something is amiss with it.
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