Isuzu MU-X Pricing and Specs

The first thing to check is the fluid level in the transmission. Consult the owner’s manual for the correct method of doing this (sometimes the engine needs to be running and the transmission at operating temperature, in other vehicles everything needs to be cold, so this is important).

Low transmission fluid can cause all sorts of problems with gear selection, flaring between gears and actually making the vehicle drive, so that’s why this is the first step. If the level (and the condition) of the fluid is fine, then you need to start looking deeper, and a transmissions specialist is probably your best bet there.

The transmission is a sealed system, so any drop in the fluid level suggests a leak somewhere that needs to be fixed or the problem will return.

Beyond that, running a transmission that isn’t behaving properly can cause damage to the unit itself, so continuing to drive the vehicle in this state is not a good idea.

Even though your caravan is not at the towing limit of your vehicle, more than 2000kg still puts a pretty big load on the Isuzu’s engine. And that, simply, put, is why it’s using its gearbox to keep the engine happy and revving at the appropriate speed to safely make the power and torque you require to move that caravan at highway speeds.

The short answer is that you won’t be hurting the engine by allowing the gearbox to determine what gear it needs to be in. Quite the contrary, and over-riding the transmission to force the vehicle into a too-high gear would, indeed, damage things by overloading various components.

Short of fitting a more powerful engine, there’s not a lot you can do about this. After all, you’ve taken a two-and-a-bit tonne vehicle and more than doubled its weight (with the caravan) meaning you’re asking it to do twice as much work with the same engine. Fundamentally, you can’t beat physics.

The minimum recommended tyre pressure for your car is 230kPa. That’s equal to about 34psi in the old money. Bear in mind that’s the minimum Isuzu recommends. So 210kPa is definitely too low.

But don’t be tempted to use the tyre’s appearance as a guide to it inflation pressure. Most time, you won’t visually pick a deflated tyre until it reaches below 20psi, at which point it’s already dangerously low. Even parking on a sloped piece of road can make a tyre look underinflated thanks to the weight of the vehicle distorting the tyre’s sidewall.

Using 230kPa is the minimum, you’d definitely increase pressure if you were towing a trailer, were fully loaded or travelling at freeway speeds on a hot day. And don’t be too trusting of your tyre gauge if it’s throwing up low readings all the time. Check it against another gauge to see if there’s a discrepancy. And don’t be at all be tempted to trust the tyre pressure gauge at a service station. The modern, automated tyre inflaters are better, but the old hand-held ones are constantly left out in the weather, thrown on the ground and run over by fuel tankers.