# 2016 Holden Barina RS (Chevrolet Sonic 1.4 turbo) loses power and hesitates and jerks between gear changes (6 speed manual)



## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

Firstly please accept my apologies if I've got this in the wrong section.

Hi
I have a 2016 Holden Barina RS (same as the Chevrolet Sonic 1.4 turbo) 6 speed manual gearbox version (Engine A14NET). Keep in mind that I have two of these with both being the same but only one year apart so I've been able to swap over parts from a known good car that doesn't have this fault.

The fault is when you are accelerating from 1st to 2nd (more noticeable) and onwards to 3rd gear. In between each shift the car hesitates and jerks a little between gears and loses power. It's more of an annoying problem and I'm not imagining this either as I have two of these cars and my other car (identical year/model) doesn't do this. It's almost like the engine hesitates between gears before applying the power again which causes the jerking sensation.

I've done the following to check things out.

Note: No Fault Codes either and the car has travelled only 39,872kms (24775 miles).


Replaced the 4 spark plugs (BKR7E (4644) gaped to 0.7mm as per GM’s recommendation)
Removed coil pack (was found to be ok)
Swapped coil pack with other Barina (as this is a known good car - no change)
Checked air filter (was found to be clean)
Removed throttle body and cleaned (was found to be mostly clean)
Swapped over throttle body with other Barina (as this is a known good car - no change)
Removed air mass sensor (was found to be clean)
Swapped over mass air sensor with other Barina (as this is a known good car - no change)
Checked 2 engine mounts (drivers side and centre subframe mount – both are ok)
Swapped out the accelerator pedal with other Barina (as this is a known good car - no change) (26-09-2022)
Checked all air hoses for leaks (nothing found)
Checked waste gate pre-load (all ok however some free-play "side to side slackness" was noted on the waste gate, this maybe an air leak and the turbo may need replacing. I'll get the dealer to check (see below).
Firmware check and turbo waste gate issue booked in with dealer (13-10-22 will update shortly)

Any suggestions would be helpful and greatly appreciated.


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

Check your hoses from the turbo to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the intake. Sounds like you may not be building boost.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

joe.ninety2 said:


> Firstly please accept my apologies if I've got this in the wrong section.
> 
> Hi
> I have a 2016 Holden Barina RS (same as the Chevrolet Sonic 1.4 turbo) 6 speed manual gearbox version (Engine A14NET). Keep in mind that I have two of these with both being the same but only one year apart so I've been able to swap over parts from a known good car that doesn't have this fault.
> ...


Are there more than one generations of this vehicle? I mean have they ever done a significant change in body style?

When was the last time you changed the trans fluid?


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

Blasirl said:


> Are there more than one generations of this vehicle? I mean have they ever done a significant change in body style? When was the last time you changed the trans fluid?


 Transmission fluid was changed 2 months ago to Redline: MT-LV 70W/75W GEAR OIL. I doubt this is a transmission fault as the jerky behavior would seem to be more engine power related I would suspect as the gearbox feels fine and shifts well,


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

MOTO13 said:


> Check your hoses from the turbo to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the intake. Sounds like you may not be building boost.


Hi, checked all of those items and they are fine


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## hopefulbull (5 mo ago)

When you changed the spark plugs did they all look the same? How did they look overall? How do I "read" a spark plug? - NGK Spark Plugs

It sounds like the hesitation is right as you tipping into the throttle during a gear change in you manual transmission. Is that correct? 

Does it hesitate when you tip into the throttle after coasting in gear, and then get back on the throttle hard?

This is a shot in the dark. Have you tried swapping the throttle pedal? Since everything is drive by wire if there is a voltage hiccup from the peddle it might cause the throttle body to do weid things. 

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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

hopefulbull said:


> When you changed the spark plugs did they all look the same? How did they look overall? How do I "read" a spark plug? - NGK Spark Plugs
> 
> It sounds like the hesitation is right as you tipping into the throttle during a gear change in you manual transmission. Is that correct?
> 
> ...


Thanks and an excellent suggestion. I'll swap the one from the other car and see if that helps. The old spark plugs came out clean and looked fine and I replaced all 4 with new ones in a process of elimination to see if that was the problem but new plugs made no difference. I'll try swapping the accelerator pedal and see if that helps and report back to the forum.


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

joe.ninety2 said:


> Thanks and an excellent suggestion. I'll swap the one from the other car and see if that helps. The old spark plugs came out clean and looked fine and I replaced all 4 with new ones in a process of elimination to see if that was the problem but new plugs made no difference. I'll try swapping the accelerator pedal and see if that helps and report back to the forum.


Tried swapping out the accelerator today and unfortunately that didn't make any difference.


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

MOTO13 said:


> Check your hoses from the turbo to the inter-cooler and from the inter-cooler to the intake. Sounds like you may not be building boost.


Checked all the hoses and everything appears to be fine


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

joe.ninety2 said:


> Transmission fluid was changed 2 months ago to Redline: MT-LV 70W/75W GEAR OIL. I doubt this is a transmission fault as the jerky behavior would seem to be more engine power related I would suspect as the gearbox feels fine and shifts well,


Are there more than one generations of this vehicle? I mean have they ever done a significant change in body style? I am trying to determine if this thread is in the correct area.









Help please


2014 CHEVY CRUZ , ROUGH IDLE , LOSS OF POWER , CHANGED THE SPARK PLUGS RAN FINE FOR ABOUT 100 MILES WITH SLIGHT LOSS OF POWER AND ROUGH IDLE, SAYS MISFIRE CYLINDER 3 ( REPLACED ALL SPARK PLUGS) AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHES AND SERVICE STABILITY TRACK MESSAGE FLASHING .IT IS A TURBO AND HAS...




www.cruzetalk.com


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## hopefulbull (5 mo ago)

It sounds like the hesitation is right as you tipping into the throttle during a gear change in you manual transmission. Is that correct? 

Does it hesitate when you tip into the throttle after coasting in gear, and then get back on the throttle hard?

These questions were posted above, but I didn't find a response. 

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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

hopefulbull said:


> It sounds like the hesitation is right as you tipping into the throttle during a gear change in you manual transmission. Is that correct?
> 
> Does it hesitate when you tip into the throttle after coasting in gear, and then get back on the throttle hard?
> 
> ...


Hi

Yes you are correct it happens just after you change gear and then go back on the throttle and yes there is a brief hesitation when you are coasting along and then go hard on the throttle again.


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

Blasirl said:


> Are there more than one generations of this vehicle? I mean have they ever done a significant change in body style? I am trying to determine if this thread is in the correct area.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hi
Hopefully this helps. As far as I know this has the following variants:

1. 2011-2016 Holden Barina RS (TM platform with the M32 6 speed manual gearbox), sold in New Zealand and Australia,
2. 2011-2017 Chevrolet Sonic, also called the Chevrolet Aveo (Second generation (T300; 2012) 1.4 turbo with the M32 manual gearbox sold in the USA . both variants use the following engine (Opel 1.4L Ecotec A14NET).

Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Aveo

The following cars also share the same engine
1. Opel Corsa D
2. Astra J
3. Opel Mokka
4. Meriva B
5. Chevrolet Cruze

Hopefully this helps


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

You haven't said what fuel you are using, I suggest trying 98 to see if it helps.


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## hopefulbull (5 mo ago)

In the beginning post you stated there are no codes. Did you hook up a scanner? Did you assume there are no codes because of no "check engine light"? Sometimes codes don't set if the CEL.

When you swapped the parts from the good running car did you do the re-learn steps for the throttle body, and accelerator pedal?



Honestly I'm at a loss of where to check next. I will keep digging and thinking, but I'm not sure I can help. 

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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

Aussie said:


> You haven't said what fuel you are using, I suggest trying 98 to see if it helps.


Hi
I'm using BP Ultimate which has a 98 octane rating here in New Zealand. I've always use this fuel in anything with a turbo as it just runs better and smoother.


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

Check hoses that are connected to the throttle body as well!


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

CHEVYCRUZE RS said:


> Check hoses that are connected to the throttle body as well!


Hi checked all of those. It only has 2 on the back of the intake manifold. the throttle body has none.


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## joe.ninety2 (4 mo ago)

I suspect it's a turbo issue with air leaking around the waste gate housing. I've pulled off the waste gate arm with the adjustable thread and noticed that the waste gate itself has quite a bit of freeplay (side to side wobble) so I'm guessing this would cause an air bypass issue and possibly cause the hesitation during gear changes due to the loss of spool pressure. As a matter of interest it appears that these are not very well made units given that I've only done 40,000 kms which is very low mileage for a replacement of a turbo. I've also spoken to three local mechanics from different companies who are very familiar with cracked turbo housings for this model. I've contacted GM/Holden New Zealand they didn't want to acknowledge and pretended they didn't know about these issues which based on my experience is typical for the brand.
I've ordered a new turbo online on ebay so lets see how this goes when it arrives and I install this.


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