Holden Colorado

Holden Colorado Q&As

Check out real-world situations relating to the Holden Colorado here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• Is a 2014 Holden Colorado ute positively or negatively earthed?

  As a modern, conventional design, your Holden is negatively earthed (or, grounded). That is, the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the car’s body and engine to complete the circuit for the electrics to function.

  But it wasn’t always this way, and in the USA and particularly Britain, many makes and models were positively earthed. Farm machinery and motorcycles were also often positively earthed. I’ve even heard that Dodge cars from the 1920s and 1930 were positively earthed in Canada, and negatively earthed in the US.

  There’s a theory that negative earthing is better for preventing corrosion due to electrolysis, but it seems not all engineers agree on this. Ultimately, negative earth is the conventional setup today. Just make sure you don’t get it wrong as hooking up a battery the wrong way around in a modern car is a fair chance to blow the computers and other electronics to smithereens.

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• Experiencing shudder in my 2013 Holden Colorado

  That the shudder only occurs in fifth gear is, perhaps, the big clue here. If the problem was an engine mount or drive-shaft or suspension problem, the shudder would appear at those same engine revs or road speed, regardless of what gear the car had selected. So maybe you need to dig a bit deeper into the transmission to see if there’s a problem with the torque converter, the way the converter lock-up is working or even a problem with the gearset itself that offers up fifth gear. This is, of course, if the vehicle is an automatic (which you haven’t disclosed).

  If it’s a manual, then fifth gear is the overdrive ratio for that gearbox and some Colorados were fitted with five-speed manuals that had a problem with the thrust washer on fifth gear. This washer could fracture if the vehicle was used for towing heavy loads. When the washer finally failed, the vehicle could jump out of fifth gear and actually lock up the rear wheels. Back in the day, Holden was actually replacing the entire gearbox if the vehicle was one of the affected ones. It would be worth checking with a Holden service centre to see if your vehicle is from that batch.

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• Common engine and gearbox issues with the 2015 Holden Colorado

  The biggest issue owners have experienced with this car is a tendency for the engine to consume oil and require a top-up between oil changes. Holden addressed this by changing the specification of the oil from a 5W30 to a 5W40 oil and released a new oil cap design. You’ll know if the new-design oil cap is fitted to your car as the owner’s manual will have been altered by a Holden dealer to reflect the new oil specification.

  Beyond that, the biggest driveline complaint seems to be the noise generated by the engine. However, this seems to be a natural by-product of the 2.8-llitre turbo-diesel fitted to the Colorado 7 and is not a fault per se.

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• 2018 Holden Colorado has leaks in the top near the brake light

  Not every Colorado suffers this problem, but there are certainly a percentage that do. It’s a relatively common thing with this model and the first sign is a stain that develops on the roof lining in the rear seat just above the rear window. It’s caused by water entering the cabin through the high-mount brake light assembly.

  The problem is caused by the light’s seals that fail over time, and the fix is to remove the light, clean the area around it and then seal it with panel sealer (or something similar) from the outside. If you’re fussy, you can replace the whole light assembly, but that won’t fix the failed seal, so you’ll still need to reseal the area where the light mounts.

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