Is the engine turning but not starting, slow to start or not turning over at all? The answer to this question will determine where you look first. Hitting something lying on the road is more common than you might think. And it can cause absolute chaos, even causing enough damage to write the vehicle off in some cases.

If the car won’t turn over at all, your suspicions should first turn to the starter motor and its wiring. The wiring is pretty easily dislodged after an impact, so it could be something as simple as reconnecting that wiring.

If the engine is slow to turn you could have damaged the charging system that has allowed the car’s electrical system to stop charging properly, gradually flattening the battery which now struggles to turn the engine over. And if the engine turns over but won’t start, you could have any combination of wiring or mechanical damage that is preventing the thing firing.

The best advice is to get the vehicle on a hoist where you can safely and easily examine its underside with a torch. Look for any freshly exposed metal (which could indicate where the impact occurred) and take note of any oil, fuel or coolant leaks. From above, check the battery connections and other wiring and see if there’s anything loose, dented or smashed that could be cutting off the supply of fuel. Even a smashed-in or crushed exhaust system that is preventing the flow of gasses can cause problems like this. The problem could even be something as simple as a high-tension lead or crank-angle sensor wire that has come adrift from its proper attachment point as a result of the impact.

Since you’ve been driving manual cars for many years now, you’ll be aware that some gearshifts are just better than others. However, none should be causing you to apply lots of force just to select a gear.

You could be dealing with a worn clutch which is making selection difficult, or a selector mechanism (cables, linkages and pivots) that are worn or have run out of lubricant. Even the adjustment of the shift cables can cause a problem like this.

I’d start with lubricating everything that connects the gearstick to the transmission and work the lever through the gears a few times to see if the lubricant makes any difference. If not, you might have to dig a bit deeper, checking for frayed shift cables of frozen joints. If you’re really unlucky, you may have wear or damage inside the gearbox that is making it difficult to select first gear.

But in the meantime, you can try this trick. When you’re stopped at the lights and ready to select first, instead of going straight for that gear, slip the lever into second for a brief moment and then try for first. Sometimes, this can assist selecting first, as you’re using the synchromesh on second to help with engaging first. This is often a great trick for a worn transmission.

This generation of Holden engines was prone to failure of the crankcase ventilation valve (PCV). When it failed, it caused a vacuum leak in the engine that could easily cause rough running and hard starting. It would also possibly trigger a check-engine light.

Depending on the model and year of the car, you might be able to fit a replacement PCV, but sometimes the solution was to replace the entire rocker cover assembly, which included the valve in question. In many cases, the valve failure was accompanied by a failed rocker cover gasket that leaked oil on to the spark plugs, making the car run even more erratically. Don’t be tempted to try a second-hand PCV from a wrecked Barina. The chances are every high that it’s PCV will be trashed, too.