[Foxman]

Hi,

Just found this forum so thought I would ask a question about the Chevrolet Captiva.
I bought a new one last year, the LTX 7 seat version. Overall I am very happy with it apart from 2 concerns;

1. Brakes
I had to have the front discs changed at 30,000 miles due them being warped. Pads on both the front and back were also changed.
Is this normal that front discs need to be changed after what is, for a diesel very low mileage. I am an Advanced Driver, Fully Qualified Motorcycling Instructor so i think I have a pretty good idea on how to drive. I tow a caravan but it is well within the cars towing limit.

Has anyone had the same problem?

2. Clutch

When I am reversing with the caravan attached the clutch gives off a very strong smell of burning. I do not ride the clutch or slip it for any length of time but still the smell of burning occurs.
I use the caravan mover most of the time now to save the clutch on the car.
It has been checked by the dealer and they reported no fault found but I cannot beleive its right when it gives off such a strong smell.

Anyone come across this?

Your comments would be gratefully received.

Craig Fox.

 

[yzfrichie]

Hi Craig,


I doubt if your discs are warped...This is a rather common myth. Very often either the discs have not been checked for run-out on installation or the pads have not been bedded in properly.



Discs should be checked with a DTI (Dial Test Indicator) after installation with the contact faces of the hub and disc thoroughly cleaned.



New pads should be used for around 1000 miles then the vehcle taken to 60 mphand the brakes applied at 90% until the speed drops to 10 mph. This should be repeated a total of 10 times. The pads will fade and smell-don't worry. Just don't brake to a standstill during the procedure and then drive slowly to allow the system to cool off. Obviously you need to choose your stretch of road carefully.



I'm afraid I have no suggestions for the clutch problem.



Regards,



Matty

 

[yzfrichie]

foxman. my captiva has three thousand miles on the clock from new and the clutch burnt out, like you i think chevrolet thought my wife or myself had been riding the clutch, in fairness to them they replaced the clutch, the down side they gave me a crap car to use whilst mine was being repaired. It has been fine since although I think I can smell it sometimes especially on motorways happy motooring robsenpen

 

[yzfrichie]

Hi,


My Captiva clutch has smelt really bad in reverse since day 1



Also brakes very spongey first thing in the morning since day 1.

Also sometimes engine very 'jumpy' taking up the drive when crusing along since day 1. Like a delay in the fuel getting thorugh - regardless of how gently you release and press the accelerator. Not very good for a modern ECU controlled engine.



Apart from that - great car!

 

[Foxman]

Hi
Thnaks for the reply. The clutch smell seems to be common.



I took mine into the dealer and they 'flashed' the ECU and it improved the stuttering when accelrating etc. Might be worth getting it done by the dealer.



Cheer,s



Craig.

 

[POP]

Hi Craig,


I also have a Caravan well under the weight limit and when we reverse it smells really bad! I have used it with the caravan twice and only have 3000 miles on clock but both times I wondered why the **** it was so bad.



Fortunatley I never get the smell any other time, only reversing with the caravan.



Must be common but far from ideal.



Dave.

 

[yzfrichie]

Hi, I got my Captiva ECU remapped by Technology-jpg (they advertise on Ebay), it made a very noticeable difference right through the rev range. It also gave it a lot more power.

. I could highly recommend having your Captiva remapped. It cost about £250.

 

[herron]

Hi


I was just wondering if anybody could give me some advice. I brought a new Chevrolet Captiva from the Arnold Clark Chevrolet dealership last June (2009). The car was first registered in April of last year.



On driving my brand new car, a burning smell was evident. On speaking to the garage I was told that it was just the 'newness' of the car, so I carried on driving. The car had it one year service in April 2010. Well a year on and the clutch has burnt out (9768 miles). I can't believe it!!!



I brought it to the same garage again and they investigated the problem and have said that it is driver error and thata replacement clutchwould not be covered under warranty. They charged me £1970.49 to fix the problem. Apparantly the flywheel also had to be replaced and once again this would not be covered under the warranty.



They said that it was driver error and that I must be riding the clutch, I've been driving for over 20years and have brought several cars from the Arnold Clark dealership - however none of my previous cars was a Captiva! Arnold Clark has serviced all my cars for the past 10years and not once has the clutch been noted as a problem - I don't understand how a clutch could burn out so quickly!!



Anyway, I paid the money to get the clutch fixed two weeks ago and once again with a brand new clutch and flywheel thesmell of burning is still there. I brought it into the garagetoday to get it checked out and they said that there is a slight smell of burning but nothing to worry about. They said the smell could be coming from dust particles in the air conditioning system left from the previous clutch problem. Theyoffered me a £10 deal instead of £40 to clean out the air conditioning system. Does anybody think this is a valid solution?



Has anybody got any suggestions what I should do next? I don't want to be paying out another £2000 for a burnt out clutch, if this smell of burning continues .



Thanks

 

[bigiainw]

I have no burning smell. The discs were "warped" when I test drove the car (used at 16K), the garage had them "skimmed" (hadn't heard of that for years) and now they are fine.


Iain

 

[mjefferson]

Before I bought my Captiva, I owned a Hyundai Tucson. Like you I would sometimes detect a burning smell when the car had been worked hard. I remember towing a colleague's car out of the mud and a huge cloud of black smoke pouring from the underside of the car, together with the burning smell.

After 104,000 miles, and just before I changed it (!), the Dual Mass Flywheel went. I didn't have a clue what a Dual Mass Flywheel was, but the garage explained that it was a new idea, now commonplace on cars, which is supposed to effect a much smoother gear change. The garage went on to say that it is also commonplace that the flywheel fails. This is the burning smell. Like you I had to change the clutch, together with the flywheel, with a bill of just over £1000.

I don't know if the Captiva has a Dual Mass Flywheel BUT, there is some evidence on-line to point to the fact that it has. Try typing in 'Dual Mass Flywheel Towing' and there's loads of hits containingcaravanners with flywheel problems.

 

[rn-newforest]

Hi, I have an auto version of your car and have not had the pads changed yet, but they were getting low at the 2.5 yr inspection in April. With no clutch I have no burning issues but it has pulled a 1.5 tonnes trailer to Cornwall from the new forest with no issues.

 

[BoNoS]

I have been driving for over 16 years without any clutch problems until purchased my Captiva LTX 2.0 Diesel. After three and a half years and 39000 km on the clock I have found that my clutch has burned out! I took it to the garage and they told me that I have burned the clutch by 'riding the clutch' I was completely bewildered by this comment. Unwillingly I agreed for the garage to order the parts and get started on the work. The garage then later contacted me and explained that the burned out clutch had affected the Flywheel which also needed to be replaced. They explained the costs and I now found out that the new clutch and flywheel replacement (including labour) was to cost me £2000!!!!!

I spoke with a mechanic from a separate Chevrolet dealer who was shocked to hear that the flywheel had also gone, telling me that after 3 and a half years the flywheel should not be damaged, but explained that he hadn't seen the damage so he couldn't comment on the decision made by the original garage. He explained that it may just be covered in the hydrolic fluid and requires a clean.

I have checked various forums and complaints made by other Captiva owners and believe that we are being fobbed off with 'its a driver error' (riding the clutch), just so it is not covered by the warranty. I believe that either the flywheel (mechanical) design is faulty and is the responsibility of the manufacturer, or Chevrolet mechanics are covering their backs by making us replace the flywheel when all it needs is a good clean!

I have contacted General Motors on this matter, and as of yet I am waiting for a reply!!!!

 

[boggyman]

Hi,I'm having same problem with the clutch on my Captiva 2.0 Diesel LX in Serbia. The car is in the service now, because it stopped on a highway.

I planed to contact GM so would you be so kind to share with us the reply you got from them?

 

[Cap driver]

Below are two incidents we recently had with the clutch of our Captiva

1. Just had to replace my clutch on my brand new Captiva Chevrolet, 2.4 AWD, 9 months old, 18000km on the clock, GM Northcliff will not fixed under warranty, will cost R10000 to fixed. Read an article dated 11.11.2009, in the 4x4 community forum where a person had the same problem, also Captiva Chev AWD, but with 26000km on the clock and 1 year old, GM Roodepoort/Krugersdorp fixed this persons clutch, pressure plate and release bearing under warranty. On the 2nd day driving my Captiva, the clutch gave off a very strong smell, took it to GM and their feedback was that it is a brand new car and it is normal, will settle in. Read numerous articles where Captiva owners are complaining about this smell and of clutch problem.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
My Captiva's steering rack was replaced in the 1st few months, apparently this is a factory problem. What is happening, can someone from GM explain this to me as a customer. I called there Head office and all they did was contacted the Dealer and came back with the same story that it is Drivers fault. Driving for many years, first time replacing clutch and only after 18000km, sound suspicious to me?




2. I sat in the traffic for plus minus an hour this morning, my 4 year old was in the car with me and she was nagging about an awful smell. The smell was coming from my clutch. Realizing that my Captiva AWD 2.4 Chevrolet is giving me clutch problems again, I took it back to Autocliff GM in Northcliff.

Autocliff GM replaced my clutch (18000km on the clock then) last month and did not fixed it under warranty. According to them they reduced the payment of fixing the clutch from R10000 to R8330. My question is what is up with the clutch?, paying so much for the clutch due to no fault of my own, sitting again with a clutch problem. The mechanic wanted to see how I drive my car and his findings is that you need to have a special technique to drive the Captiva, what crap is this? My findings are that the Captiva Chevrolet has serious clutch problems and that this car cannot handle traffic driving for more than half an hour. Is this fair to expect the customer to pay for poor quality?
On insisting to leave my car at Autocliff, they agreed that I can leave it with them and I must come backthe next dayfor a test drive in traffic. Why don't they investigate this clutch problem? Why is it drivers technique only and now after a month of replacing the clutch it starts all over again. The clutch problem started the first time in Nov 2009 when the car was just a day old and I was driving in traffic for plus minus an hour, I was then told by Autocliff GM that he clutch is just settling inn and that this was the reason for the strong smell on the clutch. I then left with it and 9 months later I had to replace the same clutch and me the customer had to pay for it? Must I wait another 9 months or 18000 km to prove a point and pay again to fix the clutch?

 

[Kersy]

chev Captiva..2.4.lt..just wanted to know..if there is a clutch pedal adjustment for free play..i put in a new clutch..but I feel there is some freeplay..how do I adjust