Holden Barina Spark Pricing and Specs

I’m not sure about other markets around the world, but the Barina Spark sold in Australia between 2010 and 2015 was a five-door hatchback. That is; it had four doors and a lift-up tailgate (hatchback) that is considered the fifth door.

At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Spark is, in fact, a three-door car, but that’s because the South Korean designers (the car is actually a Daewoo with Holden badges) styled it to look that way by hiding the rear door handles high up in the car’s C-pillar. So until you look carefully and spot the rear handles, it could pass as a three-door. The idea is that it looks like a sporty three-door but has the practicality of a five-door.

Diagnosing starting faults often requires a mechanic familiar with a particular make and model who will know where to start looking, as there are literally hundreds of causes for behaviour like this. An auto electrician can also be your best friend at a time like this.

However, as a very rough guide, the problem could be to do with something in the engine bay getting hot and not allowing the engine to restart. The symptoms bear this out; no hot start, but play resumes once things have been allowed to cool over time. Suspicions would be drawn to the ignition system, and a dodgy spark plug, distributor, ignition lead or coil-pack can easily create this sort of problem. In fact, the coil-packs on your car would be a very good place to start looking, as they have a reputation for cracking and putting a stop to things, especially when they’re hot.

A sharp clicking noise from under the dashboard when you press or release the clutch is almost certainly going to be down to a sticky or dry clutch-pedal pivot. It could also be the clutch cable itself, but for the 2013 model year, Holden switched to a hydraulic clutch for the Barina, so that rules out a cable noise. But I’ll stick with the theory that something connected to the clutch pedal is either sticking or dragging against something under there are causing the noise; there’s a fair bit going on under the dash of a modern car. A few minutes with a torch, a keen ear and a can of penetrating fluid might yield a good result.