Holden Trax Engine Problems

Basically, the light is telling you that there’s something wrong with the car’s driveline and that you need to have it checked out before the problem does any permanent damage. This can be taken care of at a workshop that has the correct scanning tools.

Possible causes are numerous, but can include a dud sensor, a bad earth, wiring problems, damaged exhaust or any one of about a thousand engine or transmission glitches. Don’t bother trying to guess the reason, have the car electronically scanned and home in on the actual problem that way.

A lot of workshops that aren’t too familiar with a certain make and model will often neglect this little detail, mainly because they either forget or don’t know how to cancel it. The good news, it’s a pretty simple procedure.

Switch the ignition on but don’t start the engine. Then, press the little black button inside the tachometer (just above the 'RPM' symbol) until the oil-can symbol appears. Then, hold the same button for a few seconds until you hear a beep and the number next to the oil can changes to 100 (per cent). That’s it, you’re done.

Holden’s factory maintenance schedule for the 1.8-litre Trax suggests a 150,000km (or 10 years, whichever comes first) timing belt change interval. Don’t forget to change the relevant tensioners and belt idlers at the same time. Many owners also elect to replace the water pump at the same time while this area of the engine is apart for the timing belt change.

The turbocharged 1.4-litre version of the Trax used a timing chain rather than a timing belt. This chain should be good for the life of the vehicle.

This is one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions. It all depends on where the oil leak is coming from and what is involved in fixing it. If it’s a simple loose fitting that can be tightened in a minute or two, then it won’t cost much. But if the leak is coming from a gasket that requires the entire engine to be removed and disassembled to replace, then the cost will be much, much more.

Oil and coolant leaks can emanate from a huge number of locations on a modern engine, Sometimes just finding the source can take longer than actually fixing it. The best approach is to thoroughly clean the engine of all oil and gunk, and then drive it and keep checking until the oil reappears and track it back to the source.

If it’s a 1.4-litre turbo you should be using 95-octane PULP, if it’s a 1.8-litre you can use 91-octane unleaded.

The claimed fuel economy figure is a result of a standard test that all carmakers have to conduct. It's intended to give buyers a guide they can use to compare cars when choosing which to buy. The figure will differ in real world due to all the factors that can influence fuel economy in everyday driving. I would persist with it, you could find it will come down with more miles on it, and you could look at your driving habits and see if you can make any changes that might cut the fuel useage.