LDV G10 Problems

It’s a bit hard to imagine how removing and replacing a transmission could make an engine misfire or backfire. Unless, that is, you’ve managed to bump part of the engine’s electronic controllers, wiring, sensors or even something as simple as pinched or displaced a vacuum line somewhere in the engine bay. Incorrect ignition timing can make an engine do this, but, again, that’s nothing to do with the transmission.

It could even be a complete coincidence. But did the vehicle sit for any length of time while the transmission was being fixed? You might find the battery has discharged over time. Modern, electronically-controlled engines do not like low battery voltage and can run poorly as a result.

There are plenty of things that can cause this, but being a petrol engine with no turbocharger, it shouldn’t be too tricky to diagnose. Any time an engine runs well when warm but struggles when cold, suspicions are drawn to the fuel/air mixture. A warm engine needs a very different mixture to a cold engine, so modern engines have sensors that monitor the engine temperature, the air/fuel ratio and how well that mixture is burning. If any of those sensors are not telling the computer everything it needs to know, poor running can be the result.

But it would also be worth looking at the air intake side of things. An air or vacuum leak into the intake manifold can also cause rough running and hard starting. The engine’s stepper motor (which controls the idle speed) could also be at fault, but could also be the victim of one of those non-working sensors.

On most cars, you can disable beeps and buzzers that tell you the car has locked or unlocked. Many people choose to do so, too, out of consideration for their neighbours who don’t appreciate even a small toot of a car’s horn when you leave for work at 5am.

On newer LDVs, you can go to the touchscreen and hit Settings. Then touch 'Car' and then 'Comfort' and 'Convenience'. That will then offer a list of features, but the one you want to touch on is 'Locking Feedback'. That will then give you the choice of 'Lights and Horn', 'Lights Only' or 'Horn Only'. By touching on 'Lights Only', you should have disabled the horn beep when locking and unlocking. Your neighbours will thank you.

First things first; have the car electronically scanned to see what fault codes are thrown up. From there you can make a much more accurate diagnosis of the problem. Simply replacing random sensors and other parts on a hunch is a fast way to throw money away and still be stuck with a car that doesn’t run properly.

The de-carbonising process you mention is sometimes necessary in modern turbo-diesels which, for reasons of emissions control, consume a percentage of their own exhaust gasses as well as any gas build-up inside the actual engine. And since the exhaust gasses contain soot, and the crankcase gasses contain oil, those two compounds get mixed up into a black, gooey paste that clogs the engine’s intake system. At this point it usually needs to be pulled apart and manually cleaned. If this is the case with your car, it could well be the cause of the check-engine light and the poor running.

Your vehicle is interesting as it continues to use the old-tech hydraulic power steering, rather than the newer, more efficient electric power steering. This newer technology is simpler and potentially more reliable, but is used mainly because it saves a few drops of fuel.

In the case of your car, noise from a power-steering pump is often caused initially by low fluid. The power steering fluid doesn't just provide the hydraulic pressure to help you steer the car, it also lubricates the moving parts of the pump. If this fluid runs low, that lubrication doesn't happen, and the pump will wear quite quickly to the point where it seizes. It's a bit of a surprise that such a new vehicle would have this problem, but any sort of leak in the power steering system can lead to this low fluid level and the problems it causes. If you're lucky, the system might just need a top-up to make the noise go away. But if damage and wear has already started to occur, then the pump might be on the way out.

It's worth mentioning that your car is covered by a five-year/130,000km warranty. So, provided you haven't exceeded that mileage and the car has a documented service history, you may find that the problem is actually worthy of a warranty claim.

From the sounds of things, you need a vehicle that can accommodate the wheelchair as an actual seat in the car rather than having the chair folded and stored for the journey. With that in mind, a van or people-mover is by far the best best bet and the news is good, because there are plenty of choices. For a while there, people were converting Ford Falcon station-wagons for this task, but since the Falcon is no longer made, vans have become the new default vehicle to convert. Which makes plenty of sense.

There are specialist firms around that will carry out whatever conversion you require and tailor-make the ramps, lock-down points and grab-rails you need to make it work for you. Switched on companies will sit down with you and discuss your precise requirements and engineer something bespoke if necessary.

At the moment, the list of car choices is pretty long and includes the new Hyundai Staria, VW Caddy, LDV G10, VW Caravelle, Renault Kangoo, Renault Trafic, Hyundai iLoad, Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Toyota HiAce and, in case you need something really big, even the Toyota Coaster. Some of these companies are also registered as NDIS suppliers.

But don’t rule out a second-hand vehicle, either. There are websites around listing used wheelchair-accessible cars for sale. Some will be ex-taxis, but others can be relatively low-kilometre cars that might just have the exact layout you were looking for.

The horn-beep when you lock the car should be able to be turned off via the car settings menu on the main infotainment screen. You need to the find the menu that gets you into those settings and turn off the horn beep function. Many car-owners hate this feature (and so do their neighbours) but disabling it is a fairly simple process that should also be outlined in your owner's manual.

The radio with a mind of its own is another issue altogether and has been around long enough to annoy a couple of generations of LDV owners now. Radios that turn themselves to full volume every time the car is switched on, poor reverse-camera clarity and Bluetooth systems that simply refuse to recognise some phones have all been flagged by owners. But since the car is still under warranty, you should take this up with your LDV dealer. There may be a factory reflash that will return the radio to an obedient state. Perhaps the stereo system is turning itself on automatically as it searches for a connected phone. Some LDV owners have resorted to aftermarket head units to fix these problems, but hopefully LDV has engineered a fix for these later-model vehicles.

This is possibly a fault with the smart key which not only physically unlocks the car, but also disables the immobiliser and allows the car to start. Have you somehow managed to lock the keys in the car at any stage and retrieved them with the spare key? If so, try the spare key to see if that will now start the car.

I’m told that locking the keys inside the car and opening it with the spare key, will wipe the electronic coding on the first key, meaning that it will no longer unlock all the electronic security measures. You can take the key to a dealership and have it recoded. Perhaps it’s just that the key has failed electronically for no good reason and needs either a new battery or a new key module. Generally speaking, messages like `No VID Found’ suggest that the key is not talking to the car’s body computer. Often it’s the key, but sometimes it can be the body computer itself.

There are so few of these things on the road even now, that it’s difficult to find patterns within the LDV’s reliability record. But a few things have emerged with enough frequency to call them trends. Those start with the electronics and, specifically, the body computer. Some owners have found that the central locking has problems (sometimes traced to a faulty drivers’ door actuator) while others have problems with the entertainment system.

Beyond that, shock absorbers seem to die young and some owners have reported grumbling noises and low-speed jerkiness from the driveline which has been traced back to the rear differential. Some dealers have replaced these units, only for the problem to recur sometime down the track. Overall, the LDV seems to have its problems, but many would-be buyers are prepared to allow for that based on the budget pricing of the LDV range. You get what you pay for…

There were three engines offered in the 2016 LDV G10, Brett; a turbo-petrol, a non-turbo petrol and a turbo-diesel. Here’s the answer to all three possibilities: Both the two-litre turbocharged petrol and the turbo-diesel use a timing chain. The 2.4-litre non-turbo petrol engine uses a timing belt.

The timing belt will need replacing at regular intervals while the timing chains should be good for the life of the vehicles they are fitted to.