Holden Problems

The turbocharged petrol-engined Cruze was the pick of the bunch; smoother and sweeter than the turbo-diesel and packing a lot more punch than the non-turbo petrol version. But they’re not without their potential traps.

The good news is that the car you’re considering is a 2015 model, so it got the bigger 1.6-litre turbocharged engine and a build date that should have put it beyond the earlier transmission failures of some Cruzes. The earlier, 1.4-litre engine was known for coolant leaks from the water pump, although the later 1.6-litre also seems susceptible to overheating. Some Cruzes with this engine required new thermostat housings to be fitted to correct this, so make sure this has been done by a previous owner.

The 1.6 turbo also showed problems with the cooling system for the turbocharger unit (as distinct from the above cooling problems). It seems as though the coolant hoses for the turbocharger were underdone when it came to Australian underbonnet heat levels, and a leak could ensue.

To be completely honest, these cars were a Daewoo design (even though they were built by Holden in Adelaide after 2011) and they seemed a bit short on engineering in some areas. They’re also a car that will become more problematic – relative to some of the competition - as they age. It wouldn’t be my pick for a long-term purchase.
 

Assuming your car is a V6, I’d recommend a quality brand of oil with a viscosity of either 5W30 or 10W40. Provided you buy a quality, known brand, it will have all the additives that make modern multi-grade oils so much better than the oils that went before them. If your car runs on LPG (as many Commodores do) then you need to buy an oil that’s designed for use with this fuel. Fundamentally, though, the same rules apply: Stick to the correct grade and weight of oil and only use a quality brand, not the generic-branded supermarket stuff.

The actual oil capacity for a V6 Commodore of that vintage is 5.3 litres, so if you buy a six-litre pack, you’ll have enough for tops-ups between oil changes. Don’t forget to change the oil filter, too. While some mechanics reckon changing the filter every second oil change is enough, the wisdom of putting nice, clean oil through a dirty filter is beyond me, especially considering an oil filter costs only a few dollars.

Changing your engine’s oil is probably the best engine insurance you can buy. But you need to do it properly, so a workshop manual is probably a good thing to have as well as it should walk your through the process (important the first time). You also need to be able to dispose of the old oil and filter in an environmentally responsible way, too. But this is a great first maintenance job for the budding home mechanic and can really save you some money over the years. Good luck with it.

Symptoms like this one are often traceable to a faulty stepper-motor which is a small electric motor that controls the position of the car’s throttle and, therefore, the speed at which it idles. If this little electric motor goes awry, the idle speed can stay too high, which is precisely the symptom you’re reporting.

The other likely culprit is a vacuum leak from somewhere on the inlet side of the engine which is allowing too much air into the engine and causing the idle speed to increase. Check for split hoses around the engine bay and don’t forget to check the plumbing associated with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve which can also crack and allow excess air into the intake manifold.

By 'rides' I’ll assume you mean 'slips', which then slowly allows the car to build up to speed (as in, the rest of the car catches up with the engine). There are two major causes of this, the first is a clutch that is out of adjustment, and the second is a clutch that really needs replacement.

The problem you have, though, is that even if the clutch on the Barina is adjustable (and some clutches aren’t) the fact that you’ve been driving it with the clutch slipping suggests that you’ve already damaged the clutch to the point where it would need to be replaced anyway. Continuing to drive it can also put 'hot-spots' on the car’s flywheel (to which the clutch attaches) and that can mean the flywheel also needs to be resurfaced when you replace the clutch.

I reckon, at the minimum, you’re looking at a new clutch kit. Ignoring it will eventually wind up with the clutch expiring completely and you walking home.

It’s quite possible for a car’s engine to lose a little performance over time as it wears internally. When that wear occurs, the compression ratio can fall a little, the valve timing may alter a fraction and the fuel injection system might get a bit slack. All these things can lead to a slight drop off in power. Because this dwindling power output happens gradually, most owners never notice it happening.

But since the Holden Combo was a fairly low-powered car to start with, there could be some external factors that are making it feel a little tardy at times. Again, since you’re not playing with a whole lot of power in the first place (a Combo had just 66kW when it was brand-new) even tyres that have deflated over time (perfectly normal) can make the car feel a bit slower from time to time. The same goes for a brake that is dragging slightly or even having a second occupant or a heavier than usual load in the car. Even a decent headwind can make a Combo feel like it’s struggling.

The best idea in the long term is to service the vehicle properly and make sure it’s in top condition. That will rule out some of those external factors and will keep the thing in good mechanical condition so that it can muster up the maximum number of kiloWatts when you need them. You could also try a bottle of injector cleaner in the fuel tank now and then, and don’t forget the basics like a blocked air-filter, and old, stale fuel which can also rob power.

There are many, many things that can make a car overheat. A faulty radiator, collapsed radiator hose, jammed thermostat, blown head gasket, low coolant level, incorrect ignition or camshaft timing, faulty fuel injectors, the list goes on and on. So you need to have the car scanned electronically to see if a fault code is offered up that could be the cause or part of the problem. First, though, I’d have a close look at the obvious stuff like a leaking radiator or blown radiator hose to make sure that it’s not a really simple fix. Even a faulty radiator cap – as simple as that sounds – can lead a car to overheat.

To be honest, a 34-dgree ambient day should never be enough to make a modern car overheat, especially not one like a Holden Commodore which was designed here to easily cope with our weather and temperature extremes.

It’s interesting to note that you bought the car from a dealer, so it would be worth going back and checking the paperwork to see if the car was sold with any warranty. It’s doubtful, however, as a 2005 model car falls outside the boundaries of Victoria’s statutory warranty legislation (generally a used car must be less than 10 years old and have travelled less than 160,000km before a statutory warranty applies from a licensed car dealer). A good mechanic who knows this type of car should be able to sort it, but have it checked soon; continuing to drive it with an overheating problem is a sure way to make small problems bigger ones.

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.

To connect your mobile phone to the Holden Cruze’s optional Bluetooth system for hands-free phone operation, the first step is to check your phone settings to ensure that Bluetooth is enabled and that the phone is `visible’ or `discoverable’.

From the info-screen in the car, select Add Device (Handsfree) at which point the car’s Bluetooth system will search for and find the signal from your mobile phone. When that happens, a four-digit code should be displayed on the screen which is then keyed into the phone’s keypad to make the connection. The car will then ask you if you want to pair your phone and you press `Yes’ to complete the pairing process.

As many as five mobile phones can be connected to the Holden Cruze Bluetooth system. You can then choose a different phone to pair by choosing one from the device list displayed on the info-screen. Once the connection is established, you can operate many of the phone’s functions through the car’s information screen including your address book and adjusting the volume of the phone call.

For more instructions on how to play music through the system, more setup options, and troubleshooting problems, refer to the vehicle’s owner’s manual.

The V6 engine in the Captiva is well known for its propensity to suffer from worn or stretched timing chains far too early in life. Early signs can be a rattling noise when the engine is first started (hot or cold) as well as a check-engine light on the dashboard. The check-engine light is a result of the stretched chain allowing the camshafts to move so far out of sync with the rest of the engine that the sensor that measures their position can longer 'find' them. At which point, the warning light is triggered.

You can also have the car electronically scanned to see what’s going on. If the computer throws up fault codes P0008, P0009, P0016, P0017, P0018 or P0019, then you almost certainly have a stretched timing chain. Replacement of the chain is the only proper fix.

On the lower-right corner of the dashboard, you’ll find the rotary switch that controls the headlights. On the same switch panel (just to the left of the main headlight switch) are a pair of sliding controls that control the headlight aiming (the right-hand slide) and the dashboard-light brightness (just to its left).

When the car’s headlights are turned on, the dashboard lights are automatically dimmed, and sometimes this provides insufficient light to see the gauges clearly in bright daylight. But by holding the adjustment slide in the up position, you can turn the dashboard lights to their brightest level of illumination.