1988 Holden Camira SL from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Split coolant distribution pipe

A/C hose blown

Changed all brakes (normal wear)

Broken door handle (common fault)

Replaced steering arm bushes

Needs new struts (probably still the originals!)

Tires, plugs leads etc. (normal wear)

Even though they have a bad name, my JE is the best value for money car I've ever owned. If looked after, and respected as an old car with 1/4 of a million km on the clock, they are a bargain. What else can you buy for around $1500 with over head cam, multi point fuel injection, good handling and economical to run. You need to be a bit mechanically inclined, and keep an eye on things (they are 15 years old, after all) but if you get one that hasn't been abused, you won't be sorry (forget what all the snooty motoring reviewers said!).

Absolutely!! the only fault I can find with my SL is the simple fact that I don't have power steering!!! It has every other Mod-con out there though.

I had the coolant distribution pipe on my engine fail about 2 years or so ago, I figured it to be a design flaw combined with age. I also get the "Engine failure" orange light blinking on and off randomly, I suspect it seems to most often occur after you take your foot off the accelerator after having given the engine some "boot". I think it was to do with the engine coolant sensor connector loosening with age, but checking that never really led anywhere, might try again a bit later on though.

But yep, aside from the above quirks, and the fact that it its paint is a nasty cheap fading one from factory, I can't fault it at all, "bad design" my foot!. (I'm just glad I've never tried the earlier non 2.0l models)

I to own a JE Camira wagon. I also experience regular intermittent flashing of the check engine light. I've been told that it's most likely the oxygen sensor as mine lights up when there is a hint of moisture in the air. I simply placed a piece of black electrical tape over the dash lamp so it dosen't overly distract me when driving. As an aside, I have a friend who has a VECTRA which to all intents and purposes was an updated Camira and he tells me he often gets the same behaviur from the warning lights in his car.

I brought a JE second hand with 205000KMs.

Overall I have been happy with the purchase which cost me $1500 including all the repairs listed below.

Things I found wrong:

- It's front struts had gone and needed replacing.

- CV joint needed replacing.

- Steering arm bushes needed replacing.

- Exhaust pipe at the back of the muffler had rusted out, but a quick touch with a welder fixed that.

- Air-conditioned hoses were badly perished and needed replacing; I think this is due to their close proximity to the exhaust manifold.

- The power steering leaks from the steering rack, but not too bad.

- The check engine light comes on when ever you decelerate

- The instrument panel was not always working and traced that to a grounding point on the PCB which had a moving sleeve, I removed this and soldered it so it was rigid and fixed the instruments. (Vibration over time may prove this a bad move, but at least they work for now)

One problem which has manifested itself lately is that the automatic will not change into overdrive anymore which is beyond my ability to fix. It still goes great around town though. I will have to get it repaired if I go on any long open road trips though.

The worst thing about the car is the stupid clock. It will only run for about ½ an hour after the car is stopped. I find this worse than useless.