15th Oct 2014, 22:47

Hi, we have a 2004 XC Barina. It's been mostly a very reliable car, having done 235,000 km so far. Although we have the dreaded spanner light ONLY coming on when we put the engine under load, for instance, going uphill in 5th instead of 4th, and similar through the gear ratios. Took the air hose off the throttle body intake and it was gunked up, so cleaned it out with carby cleaner and installed a new EGR ($185 from Holden, actually didn't think this was too bad!). After spraying carby cleaner into the throttle body, the throttle seems to be sticking; should I oil the flapper in the throttle body?

After running the car after that work, the car seems to be running heaps better, but the dreaded spanner has reared its ugly head.

Where to next?? The car runs perfectly otherwise.

16th Oct 2014, 07:57

My 2002 XC Barina auto's problems began with it intermittently not starting. If left for another 10 minutes it would start. This deteriorated with it then cutting out on the road. Taken to the garage, the following were all replaced:

1. EGR valve.

2. Fuel pump.

3. Fuel pump relay.

4. Coil pack.

However, after functioning well on a short test drive, the car would then not restart, even with a break. It's now been towed to an auto electrician with the bill already past $1k. Is there anyone out there who has an answer about this?

17th Oct 2014, 07:01

Hi, check or replace the crank angle sensor and air flow sensor. Hope this helps.

30th Oct 2014, 09:57

Hi. I also have an 2002 XC Barina. This has the spanner light on & won't restart. No throttle response after a run & it's hot.

What's the 1st likely fix please?

Runs normally after having cooled off for 15 minutes.

Electro fan runs just over 90 temp.

ROD / New Zealand.

2nd Nov 2014, 04:26

Had same problem. Replaced my coil and the engine light comes on then off. Sometimes a 0300 code shows up. Replaced the fuel filter, and now going to replace the air filter. My coil combo I bought off eBay for $100, whereas the auto shops wanted 250.00. The car was sluggish, then would pick up, but once warmed up, it was sluggish with no power. With the new coil it's fine now. Good luck.

3rd Nov 2014, 05:12

I too have an NZ XC Holden Barina 2002 105k & can't wait to get rid of it. The number of faults would overrun these pages; the latest being replaced was a 2nd ECU (potential $1400 plus $360), but as it was under warranty it cost me nil.

Hot start problem with no throttle & only idle. Once it cools it's normal. Code errors all spurious, so replaced ECU. I see it's made in the UK by Opel Delphi Delco.

ROD, New Zealand.

8th Dec 2014, 07:25

I just traded in my Subaru Forester 03 (perfect condition) to buy a Holden Barina City 2001... to get rid of debts. I have had it for 3 weeks and it's been kangaroo hopping and losing power for the last few days. The mechanic said he couldn't find a problem, but said there is something majorly wrong with it. The fuel gauge goes up and down, so I have no idea what is actual. Mechanic suggested to take it to Holden to get it read there, and feels something may be amiss with the throttle position sensor. I just managed to get it home, kangaroo hopping through traffic. It has 4 days left of Statutory Warranty B. When I bought it, I could smell petrol strongly every few days. It also drops out when I start it up. Anyone else have similar problems, and how did you solve it?

6th Jan 2015, 04:37

Hi, I have a 2012 Holden Barina, which is manual, and yesterday I experienced a problem with my car. The ESC warning light came on, and then when I took off from the traffic lights, as I pushed down the clutch, my revs went into the red, and as I changed each gear, as the gear was going in, it would make this big clunk noise. I called RACV, who came out, did a computer check, and found that it was a clutch switch fault.

I got towed to my Holden dealership. By this stage the warning light went off and the car started running normal. The dealership ran a computer check, which came up with the error, however the dealership can’t find any problem with this switch, and has never heard of this problem happening before. So I would like to know if anyone has had a similar or same problem with the Barina? The dealership won’t change anything, as they think that there is nothing wrong, and they would like to see it for themselves. Please help if you know what the problem may be.

Thanks in advance.

19th Jan 2015, 09:07

I've got the same happened to me now. The car won't start. It's the computer chip, 1800 dollars to fix at Holden.

28th Jan 2015, 08:34

I had a car that would start fine when it was cold, and then after about 2 minutes it would run as rough as anything. It was the O2 sensor.

When the car is cold, the computer uses a default setting and mixes the fuel properly. Then after 2 minutes it comes off default and now accepts all the info from all the sensors, and with a bad O2 sensor it was saying too much air, so it would put in more fuel and flood the engine.

6th Feb 2015, 05:54

Just clean and blow through all and any rubber hoses that have clip fittings from under the bonnet. Found clogged lines on my Barina 2002, which must have been causing chugging at low speeds and take off. It's now running great, and I see a big difference in petrol consumption as well.

11th Feb 2015, 10:11

Hi! My wife's Barina has the same problem. Runs smoothly when we start it up, but after 2 minutes it becomes rough. Can you tell me if you replaced the O2 sensor yourself or did you get a mechanic to do it?

23rd Feb 2015, 08:48

Hi there, thanks for the help. Could you please explain how to clean the breather please?

6th Apr 2015, 07:45

Hey. Did you find out what was wrong???

Our throttle will no work at all... not happy.

6th Apr 2015, 07:51

Hi guys.

We have my Nan's Barina here... I think it's a 2001, and after cleaning out all the leaves in the engine bay and just in front of the windscreen (this involved taking the battery out), the throttle has stopped working. Not getting to 90C and stopping.... Just flat out stopped working. Please help. I don't know how to get it to work again, and she needs her car.

Thanks.

17th Apr 2015, 09:28

Commenting on behalf of my daughter who has bought a Holden Barina 1.6 petrol 2006 (she obviously didn't read all these comments before buying), and she has what seems to be a common problem with the engine warning light on. Having spent a lot of money having the O2 sensor replaced (twice), the light still comes on, just after leaving the repair shop - is this really as common a problem as suggested by comments found from a single web search? Can anyone offer advice from experience beyond having the fault code diagnosed?

Cheers all.