27th Nov 2017, 10:10

Hi again owners. I had misfiring in cylinder 2 when going up long steep mountain roads, when by chance, I filled up my car with Lucas upper cylinder lube additive and O.M.G my little Barina did 70 kph, NO misfiring. It seems these little cars are prone to carbon build up and the additive has slowly cleaned the carbon off the cylinder 2 valves. So people clean your engines (fuel wise). Also it improves fuel mileage.

14th Jan 2018, 02:59

Hi XC owners, me again, After talking about using (Lucas) Upper Cylinder Lube petrol additive, I can't find any anywhere, I've been to every auto shop in town, strange??? But any Upper Cylinder Lube will do and at the next fill up squirt some in with 98 octane grade petrol, drive on the highway or expressway for an hour; I found my cat converter cleaned itself out and now my little XC flies along and there's no hesitation when I put my foot down. This is for cats that are not mechanically damaged or blocked up by melted material. Most cat. converters are sooted up restricting gases, losing power etc. Try and use nothing less than 95 octane petrol (98 is better); I know it costs too much, but in the long run it saves on paying BIG bills.

I've sprayed a black plastic rubber around the booster brake and all joints that I could find; just as well I found several open holes that would have leaked last down pour; so far I've been lucky as no water has gotten in the cabin thank goodness. All of this has been tried out on my little XC and so far it's worked. I'm not a mechanic so it's trial and error time. Hope this has helped others and if it has, pass it on to others.

17th Jan 2018, 19:57

Just a question about the fuel lines - do you mean they hang low towards the ground under the car? Because I've just noticed it in mine and now I'm worried that it's some kind of major safety risk.

18th Jan 2018, 13:22

Hi there, the fuel lines must be UP and attached to the car's body frame; if they are hanging down and loose, cable tie them up to something solid. The last thing you need is broken line, losing fuel, especially near a hot exhaust. Otherwise go to a trusted mechanic to do a safety check, but tying lines up is easy and saves money.

23rd Jan 2018, 07:46

My daughter has a 2002 1.4l Barina 5 door hatch, similar story, engine light has been on for 2 years, no power, says the throttle body is crook, only has just started to stop for no reason and then start 5 or so minutes later. Also loses all throttle control and then stops and won't start; then after 5 minutes, away it goes.

I have changed the crankshaft sensor and the two relays in a previous post; had no luck, then I got some industrial strength contact cleaner (I'm an electrician) and started spraying every connection and then tried the engine after each one. I got to the top ECU connector and it took a bit of getting off, spayed it, engine light was on, did the same for the bottom ECU connector; the light went off. The engine has full power, have driven for 2 hours straight without an engine light or stoppage or loss of power.

I'm not 100% sure that it's fixed, but it's certainly never had the engine light stay off for that long in 2 years.

24th Jan 2018, 08:54

Like I said in my other comments, spray ALL electrical connections you can find, because as I found out, you fix one problem, another shows up. I think that's the problem with these little cars; there's no electrical grease, and with time etc, even though they're sealed, the heat, fumes and steam eventually builds up a resistance coating, causing problems (it's there, then later it's not).

24th Jan 2018, 09:09

I found my XC would misfire too, then by accident I squirted in some Upper Cylinder Lube with a fill up of 95 octane petrol and went for a drive on the open highway for an hour, and the misfire slowly went. Now I can drive up steep hills without a miss. Try it, it's better than paying big money for nothing. This is only for little XCs that haven't been damaged mechanically. These little cars are prone to carbon build up and need to be cleaned with good cleaning additives for fuel.

24th Jan 2018, 09:12

Also spray ALL electrical connections with either WD40 or INOX; these little cars have bad connections (relays, connectors, fuses).

29th Jan 2018, 08:46

Hi everyone. me again. Today I've replaced the disc brake pads (first time), straight forward, but as I found out afterwards, ALWAYS apply brake lube to them as shown on YouTube videos, otherwise they will sound like you're dragging a pipe on the road.

I spray some INOX onto the calipers only as a temporary measure which worked until the next day when I can put disc brake lube on (from the auto shop). ONLY on the calipers, not the discs or pads. Doing it yourself can save you several dollars. Take your time, be careful when jacking the car up. I always use 2 jacks; never trust just one, otherwise if it fails, using the one jack, the car will crush your feet or hands. Once again I'm not a mechanic, this is by trial and error, just trying to save some money.

30th Jan 2018, 06:02

Hi again. Today I've replaced my broken fuel cap with one from Holden and that made an improvement with my idle and drive availability. Yes I know Holden parts are costly, but sometimes you've got to have it, to make this computerized car work the way it's been tuned. Remember this is a computerized performance car and needs looking after.

17th Feb 2018, 10:56

Hi again everyone.

To remove carbon build up in inlet manifold, valves etc I've connected a Flash lube upper cylinder applicator, which is a small bottle with short tubing that's connected to the inlet throttle plastic ducting, just sitting above the throttle, by a brass tube. The inlet vacuum sucks in a drop at a time, which cleans throttle plate, the EGR valve, the inlet manifold and the valves, improving the idle and mileage. Or for those with less tech, drill a small hole above the throttle plate so you can spray in CRC carbon cleaner; when finished put a screw into the hole to seal it; now you have an access hole for future cleaning.