Holden Rodeo Problems

Something, somewhere in the vehicle (probably the driveline) is causing the car to go into what’s called limp-home mode. This is designed to limit speed and power and, therefore, protect the vehicle from further damage due to the original problem.

You may have a fuel problem or an exhaust problem or maybe there’s something wrong with the emissions control system, or even a simple electrical sensor that’s faulty. The point being that you won’t know what the actual problem is until you scan the vehicle to see what the computer has seen going wrong. Until then, you’re just guessing and the vehicle will continue to go into limp-home mode. These problems don’t fix themselves.

Based on probability, you either have a faulty oil filter which is not sealing properly, or there’s a crack or some other flaw in the boss (fitting) on the side of the engine that accepts the filter. Chances are the oil appears when the engine is cold and oil pressure is highest. The oil pressure (which all engines need to survive) is pushing the oil out through the weakest part of this assembly.

It’s not unknown for oil filters (especially cheaper brands) to have basic manufacturing flaws that allow them to leak, so that’s where I’d start my investigation.

There are many, many things in a modern cat that can cause the check-engine light to illuminate. The cause could be anything from a sensor somewhere on the engine or in the exhaust to a problem such as low oil pressure, overheating, a dud fuel-injector or even a stretched timing chain that has allowed the crankshaft and the camshafts to become out of synch.

Basically, the car’s computer notices and logs anything that’s amiss and warns the owner that some form of servicing is required by lighting up the check-engine light. The other possibility, of course, is that whoever worked on the emissions control system you mentioned, may have neglected to manually turn off the check-engine light. It’s happened before.

According to the information I have, the final drive ratio on this vehicle was 4.3:1. That means, for every revolution made by the wheels, the driveshaft (which links the transmission to those wheels) has to turn 4.3 times.

The coincidental nature of these faults would make most mechanics suspect the body computer is having a nervous breakdown. This computer is the one that controls functions ranging from central locking, the immobiliser, power windows, dashboard and even the entertainment system. It’s also responsible for the indicators, climate control and probably the gear selector. See the pattern?

And because the computer itself – rather than an individual component – has gone on the blink, it won’t always throw an error code. An auto electrician is the first place to visit as your diagnosis of an electrical fault is almost certainly spot on. Don’t rule out a simple bad earth connection, either, as these can also cause electronic havoc.

The problem here could literally be a thousand different things. You may have a different fuel problem than simply a blocked filter (injectors, pumps etc) or you might even be looking at an electrical or electronic problem with a sensor or computer module. What you need to do is have the vehicle electronically scanned to see if the on-bord computer has logged any problems that will guide the mechanic to the cause.

The other thing you could try would be to run the car on LPG and see what happens. If it runs perfectly on LPG but still struggles on petrol, you’d be very tempted to think the problem is indeed in the petrol fuel system.

Yes, like the vast majority of dual-cab utes sold in Australia, the Holden Rodeo was indeed built in Thailand, at the Isuzu plant (the Rodeo was an Isuzu D-Max under the skin apart from the petrol V6 version which used a Holden-made engine). But diesel Rodeos used the Isuzu 4JJ1 four-cylinder diesel which used a timing chain rather than a rubber toothed timing belt. As such, the chain should be good for the life of the engine.

Let’s start with the basics here. Is your vehicle a petrol- or diesel-engined Rodeo? If it’s the former, you may have disturbed the wiring when changing the filter. So go back and check all the connections. If you can’t hear the pump whirring when you turn on the ignition, then you either have a fuse or wiring problem or the pump itself has died.

It’s pretty common for this to happen and most electric fuel pumps have a lifespan of something like 100,000km. But this can be a lot shorter if the car has ever been filled with contaminated fuel.

If your Rodeo is a diesel, there’s a chance it will need to be primed before it will restart after a filter change. That is, it needs to have any air in the fuel system removed before it will run. Locate the fuel filter in the engine bay, and you should see a small plunger at the top. With everything refitted, you can manually push on this plunger to prime the pump and remove any air. All things being equal, the engine should then start and run.

Speaking of back to basics, make sure you haven’t installed the new fuel filter the wrong way around. These only flow in one direction and installing it backwards will not allow the fuel to flow from the tank to the engine.

I’d say that you’re absolutely spot on that the rising level on your engine’s dipstick is caused by diesel getting into the sump. At this point, you have a problem because the diesel will be diluting the engine oil, meaning it won’t be lubricating the engine parts as well as it should. Leave it unchecked and eventually you’ll damage the engine internally.

There are a couple of major ways for this dilution to occur. Firstly, a worn, damaged or stuck fuel injector can dump excess fuel into the engine. At this point, the engine can’t burn it all, and some finds its way past the piston rings and into the engine’s sump.

The other common way for this to happen is when the vehicle’s Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) becomes full of soot and needs to regenerate (clean itself). If you haven’t been driving at highway speeds for a while, the exhaust system may not have got hot enough to force this regeneration. At that point, the computer will inject extra fuel into the engine to make the exhaust run hotter. And, again, some of this excess fuel can find its way into the sump.

An oil change is your best plan of attack, and then keep a close eye on the level of the dipstick. Any increase in level should not be ignored.

Yes it did. In order to produce the engine’s 96kW and 280Nm of torque (291Nm in automatic form), Holden - or rather Isuzu, who engineered the vehicle and provided the driveline - used an intercooler to achieve that level of performance.

The factory intercooler was a top-mount (mounted on top of the engine) and there are plenty of aftermarket alternatives when it comes time for replacement. Some owners also choose to fit a front-mounted intercooler for better performance, although in an off-roader like the Rodeo, this can place the intercooler in harm’s way in an off-road scenario.