Holden Viva Engine Problems

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.

Regardless of the engine work, the Viva is not a good car. For similar money, in a small wagon, I'd go every time for a Mitsubishi Lancer.

You need to have a mechanic check it with a diagnostic tool to find the cause of the problem. It could be a number of things, including a failed catalytic converter that’s collapsed and partially blocking the exhaust.

The belt does need to be changed every 60,000 km, but it doesn’t end there, as the belt tensioner, idler and crank sprocket needs to be inspected.

I wouldn’t bother with the injector cleaner, that’s a real stab in the dark. It’s obviously an intermittent problem that doesn’t occur when it’s at the dealership, or show up on the diagnostic checks. Next time the engine malfunction light comes on take it straight to the mechanic and have it checked, if you wait for it to go off there is little chance of finding the problem.

The official fuel economy figure for your car is 8.8 L/100 km, which does suggest that there is something wrong with it. While the official figure is from a dynamometer test done in a laboratory and not necessarily representative of real life, it shouldn't be a long way off the mark as it seems it is in this case. Talk to the dealer and express your concerns to them and ask that they recheck your car and work out a course of action that will identify the cause of the problem, and consider going all the way back to Holden if necessary to get a resolution.

HOLDEN claims 7.4 litres for 100km for the Viva with the manual gearbox. The auto will be a couple of tenths of a litre higher. That fuel consumption figure is a combined city/highway figure that comes from its testing and isn't necessarily what you would get in the real world. It's main purpose is to allow you to compare make to make, or old model to new model, to see where it sits in the car population. That said, you should get something close to the published figure and yours does seem to be higher than it should be. You should also see a significant difference between the fuel consumption you get in town and what you get on the highway -- the latter typically about 2 litres/100km lower. I would expect an engine to be run-in and achieving optimum fuel consumption within 2000km at most. I would suggest you have your dealer do a thorough check of the engine and systems. If that fails to find a fault, and your car continues to return high fuel consumption, go straight to Holden's customer assistance people and demand action.