Holden Colorado Problems

Was the lift kit an approved Holden fitment? I don’t think it was, I think it was done at dealer level, and that’s where you should be venting your frustration. By fitting the lift kit you have modified the car and voided the warranty in that area of the car. Remember, the dealer is an independent business, it is not part of Holden. Go back to the dealer and get him to sort the problem, and if needed call in the manufacturer of the lift kit.

If the mechanic/repairer is a qualified and registered company they should have some guarantee on the quality of their work. Take the car back and show them what your are unhappy about and ask for the work to be done again, or compensation. If they are not qualified or registered with a trade organisation you have little comeback.

Since both variants of Colorado here use essentially the same engine, I’m not sure what sensors would be different and require changing. That said, the MY17 Colorado got recalibrated hill-descent and hill-start functions, so maybe there are some differences there.

The major mechanical difference that I can see between a 2014 and a 2017 Colorado is probably the power-steering. In late 2016, the vehicle switched to an electrically-assisted system in place of the previous hydraulic set-up. So the later engine would probably lack the pulleys and mounting hardware for the hydraulic power-steering pump that your vehicle requires. Perhaps they can be removed from the old engine and fitted to the later one.

Perhaps an easier solution would be to return the engine originally supplied and ask for the correct version for your car. If the engine supplied originally was not fit for purpose, then you’ve every right to ask for a replacement unit that is.

Yes, it is a common rail diesel engine.

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.

I doubt that it is a low oil pressure problem; it’s more likely to be an electronic issue with the car’s computer or a sensor associated with the ECM.

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.

Make sure the camera lens is clean and there’s nothing obstructing its field of view. If all is well there have a dealer check it.

Was the lift kit an approved Holden fitment? I don’t think it was, I think it was done at dealer level, and that’s where you should be venting your frustration. By fitting the lift kit you have modified the car and voided the warranty in that area of the car. Remember, the dealer is an independent business, it is not part of Holden. Go back to the dealer and get him to sort the problem, and if needed call in the manufacturer of the lift kit.

As with any four-wheel-drive that is approaching middle-age, you need to treat every Colorado on its individual merits. How has it been driven? Has it been used as a work truck? Has it spent every weekend off-road?

Beyond that, the Colorado is subject to the same concerns that challenge all owners of modern, common-rail diesel engines. Those start with the soot filter which can clog up and require manual cleaning. The solution is to make sure you do at least one decent freeway journey every three or four weeks as a means of allowing the filter to regenerate as it’s supposed to.

The other thing that catches many owners out is a build up of black gunge in the engine’s inlet tract. The black ooze is a combination of oil mist from the crankcase ventilation system and soot from the exhaust (a modern engine consumes a proportion of its own exhaust gasses as an emissions-reduction measure). When these two compounds mix, the black, sticky murk is the result. If it’s bad enough it can trigger a check-engine light on the dash and can lead to poor running and fuel economy. Left long enough, the whole intake system will need to be removed and manually cleaned. An aftermarket oil separator stops this is it traps the oil mist before it can enter the engine and is a good addition to these vehicles.