Car Servicing

I read the complaints about oil cooler failures on Falcons with some interest (CarsGuide, February 14, 2014) as I have a 2009 FG XR8 ute with the same problem. My transmission is full of water and the engine has transmission fluid in it, and it makes a noise shifting from second to third. I was quoted about $8000 from a transmission specialist and about $11,000 from a Ford dealership where the car is currently sitting and has been for about six months. Ford has offered to pay for the new transmission, but I will still be about $4000 out of pocket, so I have decided to take it further. It is a well-known problem, and there should have been a recall.

There was mention in Carsguide (March 1, 2014) of a 2011 Pathfinder having timing chain trouble. I've just bought a 2013 R51 2.5-litre automatic diesel, is this in line for the timing chain trouble? You talk of keeping up the service, my previous diesels have always had oil and filter changes every 5000 km, is this helpful?

I am about to go to Europe for a month and will be leaving my Nissan X-Trail in an underground car park while I am away. It's coming up for its 30,000 km service, should I have the car serviced before, I go or could it wait until I return when the 30K will be achieved?

When my four-and-a-half-year-old year Dodge Calibre went in for a front suspension fix I was told that I would need to order the parts from the spares dept. and pay for them, then wait 10 days plus for them to arrive from the US before bringing the car in to get them fitted. I have never needed to do this before on any car I have had. Is it not Chrysler's responsibility to keep spare parts, especially what I would consider consumables?

Last year we noticed an intermittent vibration in the six-speed auto in our 2010 XR6. Tests confirmed that the transmission was contaminated with water due to cooler failure. The dealer looked after us very well and supplied a loan vehicle while a new transmission was installed. I asked about the fitting of an external cooler instead of the water cooled one and was told that the failure was very unusual and was unlikely to reoccur. I'm thinking we might get an external cooler fitted before then.

Although Ford would have you believe otherwise it appears that there is still a problem with the auto transmission oil cooler on Falcons. I happened to me a few years ago and it cost $8000 to replace the transmission in my BFI Falcon XR6 Turbo. There was no real warning, other than it would "flare" when shifting at times, and the shifting became rough and erratic. My options were to replace the cooler with a complete bypass costing $800-$1000, but the effect of doing this on the computer in the 'box is unknown, or, as I have done, replace the cooler every 12 months or 20,000 km at a cost of $200 each time and hope that it lets go while its under "consumer warranty". Just thought I would share my experience with this problem, and as of now I am still contemplating the complete bypass option as I am not to confident in the warranty if it lets go again, I figure $1000 is better that $8000 again, and I then have next to no worries with the cross contamination that can occur if it goes.

Like Rob Fox (Carsguide, February 14, 2014) I also have a vibrating 2013 Holden Colorado. Mine happens at around 3000 rpm in most gears. My dealer told me that they test drove two other vehicles like mine and that they did the same thing, so it was normal for this vehicle. Thanks to Rob Fox I am a lot more confident now going back to Holden with what I believe is the problem. If Rob's vehicle is a manual he should maybe check out the clutch.

After I start my 2013 Hyundai i30 CDRI huge amounts of smoke pour out the exhaust and it sounds like it is going to conk out. There is also an extremely loud noise in the motor all the time. It has been back to the dealer four times now, but the tests have been inconclusive. I have been told that the injectors might need to be replaced, they may need to replace the motor, or that it could be a programming issue, but nothing for certain. It has only done 3500km, so I find this very disappointing. I hope that you could possibly help.

In the 18 months we have owned our 2012 Holden Commodore Equipe we have only done 10,000km. It had its first check at 3000km, had a nine months service and only had around 6500km on it at its first oil and filter change, and it is now 18 months old and I am told it is due for its 18-month service even though it has only got 10,000km on clock. The oils are supposed to be so much better today and last longer, so why do I need to service it so often?

The day after the 120,000km service was done on my 2011 Mitsubishi ASX turbo-diesel, which included having the coolant replaced, the low coolant engine warning light came on. I found the coolant reservoir was empty and had the car towed back to the dealership where the mechanic informed me that it must have been an air lock. He said he ran the engine for 30 min after refilling it with new coolant and this should have been enough time to expel the air. He used approx. a litre of coolant to refill the reservoir. Could an air lock cause this, or wasn't the coolant reservoir properly refilled? Could the engine have sustained any damage with the low level of coolant?