28th Aug 2012, 22:57

Can you say what year your Barina is?

I have an 01 Barina, and it’s had all the common problems, plus some.

Your problem sounds like it’s the EGR valve. We were quoted $480 to fit a new one by our Holden dealer. I managed to buy an original EGR vale from a local parts supplier for $180, and fitted it myself (2 screws, 1 plug-off & on. Total of 15 minutes). These EGR valves are a big problem with these cars, along with many other parts.

DO NOT trust Holden and their diagnostic machine. I say this because the diagnostic machines tend to spit out fault codes when there is no actual fault. E.g.: Our Holden dealer replaced the throttle body, accelerator positioning sensor and the CPU, and then handed me a bill for $3,550. We were told that diagnostics came up with three codes. I made it quite clear that it was basically impossible for all three components to fail on the one day, & asked for the boss-man. When I proved to the manager that his mechanics are useless and don’t know what they are doing, they all agreed that I was right, but they had to recoup some of the expense and so I reluctantly handed over $550 for the accelerator positioning sensor. We have not been back to that dealer. The car still had the same intermittent problem up until I put the new EGR valve in, GO FIGURE!!

Our Barina is currently at the only other Holden dealer in our area, as it just won’t start at all. They’ve had the car now for 2 weeks and we haven’t heard from them except for a call after just 2 days. All they rang for was to find out what parts had been replaced on the car. I’ll just give you the list of the parts so far;

1 set of gear linkages @ 65,000 km.

1 front engine mount.

2 sets of rotors and pads (some might say normal wear & tear. I say WRONG! 2nd set I did myself, and used aftermarket parts, and they are brilliant).

Air conditioning failed after 65,000km’s. The clutch fails in them. Replacement cost is $800. We wind down the windows if it’s hot, because $800 every 65,000k’s is way beyond a joke!!

1 coil pack @ 40,000kms.

1 EGR valve.

1 CPU.

1 throttle body.

1 catalytic converter - quoted by Holden at $2,265.00 (supply only). These cats are pure rubbish. They burn out the catalyst in a very short time, because they are made from an inferior ceramic base. I had a local exhaust shop make up a cat that I’m told will outlast the car. It cost $400 to have it made and fitted, GO FIGURE!!

Timing belt, pulleys & water pump every 50,000km’s

******

The paint on the roof is very faded and it’s another common problem.

Interior door trims are falling apart.

Dash pod lights failed, but a good whack fixed that.

The plastic bracket support mount for the radiator has snapped.

The headlight bracket mount has snapped.

Apart from all the problems, I will say the car is a good solid ride & economical fuel wise.

It’s not the car of the year, but it is a very yellow LEMON!

******

Diagnostic cost is $82.50 at one dealer & $104.50 at the other Holden dealer.

I think I’ve covered the lot???

Try this from; http://www.allcorsa.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/check-fault-codes-11239.html?s=7285fa76096ac43daf80c6cd8c9614bf&

25th Sep 2012, 22:48

I've just fixed the same problem with my 2004 XC Barina. Error code is misfire on cylinder 4. This was a constant misfire. I replaced the coil pack; no luck. Then removed the fuel injectors. Checked for visual blockage, and there was none, so I refitted the injectors and removed the plug on the injectors one at a time. I was testing to see if there was a noticeable difference when idling. As I was testing by removing and replacing the injector plug, the car began to run fine. So I've either put it down to a bad connection, or what I think was an injector blockage. Hope this helps.