2016 Holden Barina Pricing and Specs

The only real way to properly overcome a dashboard – or a 'check engine’ – warning light is to fix the problem that caused it to light up in the first place. Cars like yours have lots of sensors dotted around them to keep an eye on things like the emissions controls and a small glitch in one of these can cause the warning light to illuminate.

The best way forward is to have the car electronically scanned at a workshop equipped to do so. From there, the car can tell the mechanic what’s wrong and you can pinpoint the exact problem. Otherwise you’ll be stabbing in the dark, as these systems can be very complex and made up by lots of different sensors and triggers, all of which can give the same warning light.

Beyond that, a car’s oxygen sensor (which lives in the exhaust system and sniffs the engine’s emissions) is a likely culprit. But don’t guess: scan the car’s computer and find out for sure.

The first thing to determine is whether the engine is actually getting hot. You need to find a mechanic who can tell the difference between a genuinely hot engine and one that is crying wolf. Most times, this will involve letting the engine idle until the warning light comes on and then checking the actual temperature of the coolant. This is usually done via a trusted thermometer (infra-red thermometers are great for this) checking the temperature of the coolant in the radiator's top tank.

If the engine really is hot, then you're looking for a mechanical problem. But if the temperature is within a normal range, then you need to start looking for a dud temperature sensor, faulty gauge/light or a problem with the car's wiring. This can be a lot harder to find than you might think, but driving around with a temperature warning flashing is no good either.