Ask The Guide

It’s pretty unlikely that a 1987 Toyota van even has a limp-home mode. These were pretty simple engines and shouldn’t really tax a good mechanic too badly. Provided you have spark, fuel and compression, an old Toyota four-cylinder engine is more or less obliged to run.

If you’re happy that the carburettor and ignition are spot on, the next step is to perform a compression test to see if the engine is internally worn out. This is a possibility and would explain the sluggish performance. You should also make sure things like the air filter and fuel filter are clean and not restricting the flow of fuel.

The reason you can’t start the engine in second gear is for safety reasons. Car makers fit what’s called a Neutral or Park switch, which means the engine won’t crank unless the car is in Neutral or Park. That prevents the car starting in gear and taking off.

If the lever’s connection to the transmission has failed or become excessively worn, you can get the symptoms you have because the lever won’t select Neutral or Park. And therefore the engine won’t start.

However, it’s highly questionable that this is connected to the limp-home mode. That’s usually caused by a problem with the driveline that threatens to do more damage if you continue driving. The gear lever problem sounds more like a simple mechanical issue. Did both things happen at the same time? If not, they’re very probably not related.

Start with the basics, including checking the fuse(s) that control these functions. But don’t dig too deep, because this is a warranty issue and is LDV’s responsibility to fix. The only exception would be if somebody other than LDV has fiddled with the car or somehow modified the dashboard or wiring. That could include an aftermarket workshop fitting auxiliary lighting or even possibly a different stereo head unit. Beyond that, it’s a pretty straightforward case of a warranty claim. Don’t make it your problem if you don’t have to.

Those codes are reasonably common ones. The first two (0193 and 0089) generally relate to a problem with the fuel rail, specifically the pressure in that rail. This is obviously critical to how the engine runs.

The third code (0401) is more commonly associated with the flow of the EGR valve. If this valve is damaged or blocked, then this fault code would likely show up. As such, you may find you have two separate problems, rather than a single one.

Low pressure in the fuel rail would certainly explain why the performance is off, and the overheating could easily be associated with an EGR valve failure. A blocked EGR can raise combustion chamber temperatures while a failed EGR can actually leak coolant and allow the engine to overheat that way.

The main problem with this gearbox is that it’s a CVT and that makes a lot of people a bit nervous. But in the Honda’s case there’s less to be concerned about.

That’s because Honda doesn’t just buy in its CVT, and instead, designed and engineered its own CVT to be a better thing. And it seems to have worked. That said, any Honda that exhibits juddering on take-off, a whining noise from the CVT and even slippage as the car tires to accelerate or travel up a hill needs attention.

The good news is that, in the case of the Honda CVT, the fix is often pretty simple. That’s because these problems in a Honda usually point to nothing more involved than changing the contaminated transmission fluid. For the record, the experts reckon that changing the fluid in your Honda CVT every 40,000km at the outside is the way to go, and should keep any problems at bay.

As far as the engine goes, the Civic’s turbocharged four-cylinder seems to follow Honda tradition by being remarkably reliable. However, it’s worth remembering that this is a high-tech unit and requires careful servicing if it’s to remain so. Make sure any second-hand Civic has a full and complete service history as part of the deal.

This generation of the Subaru Forester used the 2.5-litre FB25 engine which made use of a timing chain that should be good for the life of the vehicle.

For the record, the vast majority of engines that use a rubber toothed timing belt have what’s called a dry belt. A relatively small number of engines use wet-belt technology which is where the rubber belt operates in an oil bath situation. This tech has proved to be problematic for some car-makers and Ford, for one, is moving to a timing chain layout for the new engine in its Ranger, Everest and Transit line-up.

If the GWM Tank 300 appeals to you, check out the latest addition to the Tank range which is a version with a plug-in hybrid driveline. CarsGuide recently tested the new Tank 300 and recorded fuel consumption of 8.5 litres per 100km in the sort of rural driving you’ve described. That’s hardly a guzzler considering the Tank 300 is a very capable off-roader and will take the rough stuff easily in its stride.

Even better is that you can charge the Tank up overnight and get something like the first 100km of your journey on electricity alone, meaning you’d only be running the petrol engine for half of your daily round trip.

Most cars have a rotary dial somewhere on the dashboard to control the brightness of the dashboard lights. On this model Subaru it’s extremely well hidden. But if you look closely at the indicator stalk, you should see a collar surrounding it towards the tip of the stalk. This collar can be twisted in either direction to either brighten or darken the dashboard lighting. However, I’ve read that while some of the lights will adjust this way, the speedometer’s brightness is non-adjustable.

I’m told that by holding the climate control off button down for a few seconds, you can also adjust the intensity of the lighting for that function as well.

The two warnings are probably linked. 'Inadequate clamping force' on this model generally indicates a problem with the parking brake system. The car is trying to tell you that the electric motors that operate the parking brake can’t generate enough force to be sure that the vehicle won’t roll away on a hill.

This could be because your brake pads are very worn, the hydraulic lines are blocked or crimped, the brake calipers have seized or are sticky, or even that there’s low voltage in the car’s battery. Since you recently had a flat battery, there’s a decent chance the car still isn’t happy with the level of charge on board and is triggering this safety warning. Modern cars and their electronic systems hate insufficient battery voltage.

Whatever the cause you need to get it fixed, because a faulty parking brake has the potential to be a big problem. A decent workshop should be able to check the battery’s condition as well as test the parking brake system. You may need to consult a Haval dealer, however, to figure out how to cancel the warning on the dashboard once it’s been established that everything is working properly.

The fuse box in this car is fiendishly located behind the glove box. To access it, you first need to unclip the strut that controls the glove box lid’s action, unclip the two sides of the glove box where it pivots (there’s a plastic tab on each side) pull the glove box inner down and then you should be able to see the fuses laid out deep inside the dashboard. Next to the access panel, there should be a folded chart showing which fuse does what. There are some excellent online tutorials on how to do this.

If this chart is missing (and it’s possible as it’s a loose-leaf sheet of paper) there are lots of online guides to show you what fuse protects what circuit.

To remove or replace the fuses themselves, I’d recommend a specific set of long-nosed pliers designed for this job as there’s very poor access to the actual fuses and getting at them by hand is going to be a pain.