Definitely lose one of the holes on the bar. I think mine has 4 and I only use maybe 2. Depends on my thread.
How long have you had your machine? If you've had it awhile and never serviced, you can also take your tension apart (remember how it came off thought) and run your tension discs on fine sandpaper. Gets them nice and clean.
I know you probably already did this, but someone else might not have, a good cleaning could help in case there is a "blob" of fuzz or thread stuck in there.