28th Jun 2014, 23:22

Hi, I need to know how to enter the radio code in my daughters 2001 XC. I have the code, just not sure of the entering procedure.

Thanks.

30th Jul 2014, 06:48

Hi, I have just purchased a 2001 Barina for my daughter to learn to drive in. It has been a disaster. Firstly the car was leaking because the heater was clogged up with leaves. Then I went to start the car and it was turning over but wouldn't fire. The Holden dealer has it for two days and can't find the fault. Now they are saying it's the computer. Has anyone else had this problem, or know what it could be?

4th Aug 2014, 21:56

Hi all, the problem with the air con in these things is the clutch on the compressor. It's an easy fix if you're handy with a spanner!

1. Buy a new air con clutch on eBay ($75).

2. Take the belt off & the 3 bolts that hold the compressor on the bracket.

3. Remove the air filter box & the cold intake behind the radiator. DO NOT undo the hoses; you'll be able to twist the compressor upwards so you can work on the front of it.

4. Undo the bolt in the centre of the clutch; it usually breaks so you'll need to drill it all the way out.

5. Prise off the top part of the clutch with a stubby flat head (don't lose the 2 or three little spacer washers).

6. The pulley & the clutch are held in with circlips; remove these & put it back together with the new clutch.

7. Use a long stainless rivet to replace the broken bolt.

8. Put it back together & your air con will be as good as new for $75!

5th Aug 2014, 06:12

Hi, I was just wondering if you got your Barina running right, and if so, what did you do in the end to fix it, as I'm having exactly the same problems?

Thanks, Sam.

7th Aug 2014, 00:03

Hi, I would really love to know what you did to fix this, as I have bought one for my son, and exactly the same happens.

22nd Aug 2014, 10:42

I just purchased an aftermarket EGR valve for my daughter's XC Barina for $79.00 on eBay. All up including post it was $100.00. That sure beat the hell out of $385 plus fitting quoted by Holden. All up it would have been $700.00. It is only scheduled at 40 minutes by VACC. Who is ripping who off??? Had I wanted a genuine GMH on it, it could come out of U.K. for around $200.00 including freight. So let the local dealers suffer with their ripoffs. It is no wonder that the manufacturers are battling to sell cars. Service used to be something to be proud of. NOT ANY MORE.

Oh yes, I'm a 72 year old - educated in the school of hard knocks, and if I can't fit that damn thing in 20 minutes flat, I will give away my petrol head cap.

Cheers to all. Wal.

10th Sep 2014, 03:03

Well here goes... nothing to lose.

We have an auto XC Barina 5 door hatch with 21,000 km done. It is like new. The problem we have is that after doing 80kph at about 2500 RPM, the car will shudder slightly like a temporary miss/flat spot. It is consistent just after you reach 80+ kph. When I say consistent, I mean you don't know when it will do it, but every few seconds or so that pass, it happens. Have changed the oil, oil filter, spark plugs and fuel filter. My wife is worried it will die on her.

I took it to a trusted mechanic who promptly hooked up a diagnostic module to see no error codes. Yesterday we tried the same thing, but whilst driving the car also, so the mechanic could feel the issue. Shortly after taking off doing about 70kph, everything stopped, no life in the car, dash went blank and then came back on. It took a millisecond. Worried more than ever now. I mentioned to the mechanic we also ran it on 95? octane fuel, the one higher than the yellow unleaded, to which he replied "that's what you should be using". Is this correct? The mechanic suggested replacing the fuel pump/module. I don't want to spend money, of course, that doesn't need to be spent starting a snowball effect of down the drain dollars.

Any help or advice is much appreciated, and thank you :)

4th Oct 2014, 08:13

2004 CD Barina Instrument Cluster Drop-out

My wife’s CD instrument panel functions would intermittently drop out while mobile without the engine stopping and then resume functioning. The problem frequency worsened considerably after the car started being driven diagonally over a substantial raised driveway area at a retirement village. If the car was stopped and the engine turned off while the cluster was malfunctioning, the engine would not start. Thumping the instrument cluster would fix this until next time. Tried everything to resolve it before finally concluding that the problem is a design fault. The frequency of the problem almost totally stopped immediately driving over this extreme hump ceased.

The plastic connector for the cluster is held in place on the passenger compartment side of the fire wall, immediately behind the cluster, via a lightweight metal bracket. There is an assumption that there will be no movement between the instrument cluster (or its wiring connectors) and the rest of the car. The two connectors are plugged together when the cluster is put and screwed into position within the dash assembly. This is where I believe the problem is, surfacing temporarily after there has been slight twisting between these combined components and connectivity is temporarily lost between probably only one of the many wires connecting within these plugs. This seemingly would occur after crossing the “hump”.

Solution: Removed the connector from the firewall so that it was not being rigidly being held in place, and (with the difficulty of space for hands problem) then reconnected it into the rear of the cluster. Cluster removal is simple with care.

18 months since then, and that there have been no further issues, strongly suggests that this is the cause of this not uncommon problem.

11th Oct 2014, 05:20

Hi. We have a 2004 XC Barina, and suddenly the fuel gauge is not working properly. We have replaced the fuel pump and checked the operation of the sender in the tank, and all is fine. It just won't display anything over half full on the gauge. We were going to order a new sender unit at Holden, but they said it was a common problem and there was a simple fix, but would not tell us what it is. We have to take the car to them. I think this is very unfair. Does anyone know what the fix is? Thanks.