Question 1

My 2009 Holden Colorado has been going into limp mode

Accepted Answer

It sounds counter-intuitive that an engine would run at all with the crank angle sensor removed. Generally, without this sensor working properly, the fuel-injection system has no idea when to inject the fuel or fire the spark plugs. But sometimes – as in this engine – if the computer can't 'find' a crank angle input, it will take a reference from the camshaft angle sensor and use that to time the injection and ignition. Even so, if the problem persists after two replacement sensors, it's probably fair to say this particular sensor is either not the root of your problem, or that or the engine's wiring is frying the new sensors as fast as you're changing them. Either way, a trip to an auto electrician seems like the next logical step. Chances are a switched on sparkie will have seen this exact problem before and will know how to deal with it or at least take the logical steps to diagnose what's going wrong. Simply continuing to change bits and pieces is often an expensive way to solve a problem like this.

Question 2

How to deactivate hill assist in a 2019 Holden Colorado

Accepted Answer

I'm curious to know what happened when the hill-start assistance kicked in on the flat. Since this system holds the car on a hill so you can move off easily, it should deactivate as soon as you press the throttle to move. Which means, on a flat surface, you shouldn't be able to feel the system at all. Are you sure this is what's happening. Could the problem instead be a brake caliper that is sticking on, or a hand-brake that is dragging? In any case, the hill-start system is controlled by sensors that detect that you're parked on a slope and then apply the brakes to stop you rolling back. If any of these sensors is kaput or not sending the correct signal back to the computer, the set-up won't work properly. Conceivably it could engage on the flat but, again, I don't know how you would know. But the solution is a simple one; take the vehicle to a Holden dealer who will be able to figure out what's wrong and then fix the problem under warranty. Your car is covered by a five-year warranty, so make the most of it. By the way, disconnecting safety gear is not the best way to go as it can (obviously) make the car less inherently safe and, in some, cases even render the vehicle technically unroadworthy.

Question 3

Water leak in my 2009 Holden Colorado

Accepted Answer

Here's a pointed question: Does your vehicle have an aftermarket trailer-brake system fitted? If it does, it's quite likely that the wiring passes through the cabin somewhere near where your leak is located. Unless this access hole is correctly sealed with the proper grommet, there's every chance water is getting in at this point. Other likely suspects for this include roof mounted aerial holes, roof rack attachment points and even worn or damaged window and door rubbers.

Question 4

2015 Holden Colorado won't start

Accepted Answer

A diesel that will turn over but not fire will often have a problem with its fuel system as the cause. You may need to check the fuel pressure and the pump itself, but other causes can be blocked or worn injectors and blocked or dirty fuel filters. A car with faulty glow-plugs can also be difficult to start from cold. But even things like a blocked air filter or something else fundamental to the car's operation could be the cause. And while it sounds simple, is there actually fuel in the tank? If the solution doesn't present itself simply, the best advice is to have the car electronically scanned to check for fault codes the on-board computer will have logged.

Question 5

Vibration at high speeds in my 2015 Holden Colorado

Accepted Answer

A wobble or vibration big enough to be felt through the floor that suddenly occurs for no reason, can often be traced back to a wheel balance issue. If the wobble is worst through the car's steering wheel, it's likely to be a front-wheel balance issue, otherwise we'd be looking at the rear wheels. The generally terrible state of our roads at the moment is probable cause for this, and a decent impact with a pothole can be enough to dislodge the small weights on a car's wheel that make it balanced and, therefore, rotate smoothly. When you consider how fast a wheel is turning at 100km/h, you can imagine that a small imbalance can be enough to produce a big wobble. The good news is that this is a simple fix. A visit to a tyre specialist will soon determine of a wheel balance problem is the issue and it can be fixed quickly and cheaply with the replacement of the small, lead weights which are stuck to the car's rim. While the wheels are being checked, it's a good idea to examine the tyres, too. A tyre with structural damage or a flat spot an also lead to this type of problem. If this doesn't turn out to be the cause of the wobble, you then need to move on to other components like the driveshaft and universal joints and even suspension bushes and shock absorbers.

Question 6

What can I do if I bought a lemon 2015 Holden Colorado 4WD?

Accepted Answer

It would be worth talking tom Consumer Affairs over this one, as well as asking the auto specialist who made the diagnosis whether they thought the problem was a pre-existing condition or not. I know that in most states and territories, second-hand commercial vehicles don't carry a statutory warranty even when bought from a licensed dealer. But the reality is not as simple as no-warranty-bad-luck. If the vehicle was not fit for purpose (as the legislation quaintly puts it) and the gearbox fault was not disclosed when the purchase was made (if indeed it existed back then) then you may have some recourse in terms of getting the problem fixed or some compensation. These disputes are looked at strictly on a case-by-case basis, but if the car was already damaged and you were not told about it, nor the price-tag reflected it, then you may have a leg to stand on.

Question 7

Can you swap a 4x4 engine and gearbox into a 4x2 Holden Colorado?

Accepted Answer

Even if the two cars were from the same production month and year, you’ve got some serious mis-matches there; enough to make the job far more time, effort and money than it’s worth. For a start, the two-wheel-drive Colorado won’t have the extra differential and drive-shafts to mate with the twin drive-shafts that the all-wheel-drive gearbox will have. So you’d have to somehow blank that front driveshaft off. Or, add the front differential and axle which will also probably require different front suspension. Prop-shaft lengths are likely to be different between a manual and an automatic version of the same car, too. Then there’s all the other things that can suddenly catch you out. In many cases, the manual and automatic versions of a particular car will have different transmission tunnels and different holes in the floor for the shifter to poke through. Even the centre consoles can be non-interchangeable. The dashboard of an automatic car with its PRNDL display will also be different to the manual one. Then there’s the question of wiring looms which can also be vastly different to suit the specific requirements of each driveline layout (a modern automatic needs lots of electrical inputs). In fact, the on-board computer is very likely to be different between the two transmissions on that basis as well. Following on from that, what about the sensors to control the all-wheel-drive system? Or even the rotary dial inside the car to select the different four-wheel-drive modes? A two-wheel-drive car just won’t have them nor even possibly the access points to add them. And what about the real basics? Things like the automatic car not having a clutch pedal. That requires a full pedal change inside the car. None of this stuff is simple, easy or cheap. To be honest, the engines themselves are very possibly interchangeable, but even if that’s all you swapped (and not the transmission) you’d still need to change the flywheel and plenty of little details. By far the best advice is to simply buy the version of the Colorado you want.

Question 8

Is there a way to get an English workshop manual from the manufacturer for a 2008 Holden Colorado?

Accepted Answer

I'm with you, Allan; I much prefer a hardcopy book I can lay out in the engine bay with me while I'm working on a car, rather than an e-book that requires an electronic device to access it. A quick online search revealed that while the official Holden manual is, indeed, most commonly available as an electronic document, there are plenty of hardcopy workshop manuals from other companies available to buy. Another possibility would be to try a Holden service centre to see if it still sells workshop manuals for its cars. Some public libraries also keep a selection of workshop manual to borrow. The best place to find workshop manual is a swap meet where some vendors have literally hundreds of titles to choose from. A second-hand workshop manual is not only a great form of recycling, the pages with the most greasy fingerprints will give you a good hint on the major problem areas of the vehicle.

Question 9

I am having trouble starting my 2013 Holden Colorado

Accepted Answer

Most glow-plug systems in diesel cars work on a timer system. The manufacturer will have worked out that X seconds of current will heat the plugs to a temperature sufficient for easy starting, so that X-seconds period is where the timer will be set. What happens, though, is that glow plugs can lose their efficiency over time (and with 233,000km on board, your car is a candidate for that to have happened). As that efficiency is lost, they don't produce the same amount of heat as they used to and, therefore, the timer isn't giving them long enough to heat the combustion chamber sufficiently. When that happens, the engine becomes hard to start. The other possibility is that the timer itself is faulty and isn't giving the plugs power for long enough. The fact that your engine starts easily after the first cold start of the day, suggests the glow-plugs are, indeed, at fault here. The other possibility is that the car's electrical system is not sending enough voltage to the glow plugs to make them work properly. This can be verified quickly and easily with a voltmeter. This method can also verify the length of time the timer is supplying power to the plugs. In vehicles where the timer has already shut off the power to the glow-plugs before enough heat has been generated, the solution is often a new set of glow-plugs. The good news is that these aren't expensive, nor are they difficult to change if you know what you're doing. The caveat is if you aren't sure of what you're doing, at which point the fuel system on a common-rial diesel injection system can be very dangerous to tamper with due to the super-high pressures involved.

Question 10

Are there any known problems with the 2014 LTZ Holden Colorado?

Accepted Answer

This model Colorado doesn't have a completely clean rap sheet in terms of its long-term reliability, so I'd definitely want to see a complete service history with no gaps or skipped maintenance. Beyond that, manual-transmission versions of this car didn't like towing and had a small gearbox component that could fail requiring a new gearbox. But even an automatic version was known to have (in some examples) oil consumption problems (Holden's fix was to fit a different dip-stick to alter owners' perception of the consumption). Other problems included leaking coolant plugs, electrical wiring issues and even water leaks into the cabin. All that said, the Holden was actually an Isuzu D-Max under the skin; a vehicle that has a better than average record for reliability among its peers.

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