Conference terri::cars_uk

Can anyone help ?


My girlfriend has an '84 Polo Coupe S but recently it has been acting up...

it will go all stuttery (like fuel starvation ?) then it will be ok.  Also, if 
you have been driving at a constant 60 mph (for example), then you put the 
clutch in the car will stall - very dangerous !
The other problem is a very erratic idling speed - the car will idle anywhere 
between 500 and 1700 rpm.

The jets in the carb have been cleaned, different brands of petrol have been 
used, but this doesn't seem to be working.


Got any suggestions ???


Thanks.


Warren

    
    >>Irratic idling<<
    
    I had this problem with my 1987 Astra,from the information I managed to
    attain at the time,it could be Vaccum advance unit,or much less likely your
    throttle linkage sticking.
    
    	Andy..Have you tried Redexing it.??...
    

Andy,

What does the redex do ? 

I have seen it but never payed the stuff any attention.

Warren

    
    RE-1  REDEX.
    
    Well,I'll tell you in non-technical terms (because I don't know too
    many technical terms).
    
    	There are several ways of applying redex.
    
    1)Pour it through the air intake on your carb.
    
    This cleans the carb,jets,etc.
    
    2)Remove your spark plugs,pour it down each pot,leave for 30 mins,cover
    pots with porous cloth and turn the engine over once or twice.
    
    This should remove carbon build ups from your piston heads.
    
    3)Add a specified quantity to your petrol each time you fill up.
    
    This stops excess carbon build ups and is more a preventative method.
    
    I'm sure there are Xperts out there who will clarify this slightly if
    you need it.
    
    Hope this helps.
    		Andy.
    

    You will problably find that because you have used a carb cleaner that
    you have changed the characteristics of the jet, take it to a garage
    and get them to adjust the carb setting and/or advise you.
    
    Neil

Neil - 

The mechanic has cleaned the jets a few times (I think he just blew them thro').
He still doesn't know what the problem is, as he only takes the car for a short
journey.  The problem really starts when you have driven for a fairly long time 
eg > 5 miles at a speed of 60 +.

I dont know if he would have reset the settings or left them.



Andy - 

The Redex still sounds like a good idea.  Will ask the mechanic about the vacuum
unit though.


Will keep you informed as the saga continues.


ps : after all this hassle, she turns round and says she now wants a 4x4 !



Warren

Could you believe this ????

We bought a set of HT leads last year - silicon ones @ $12 from a shop...

"Yes Sir, these will fit the Polo Coupe S."

It turns out that the leads are the wrong ones !!
All this time, and it was the leads that were the problem.

They have done about 10,000 miles, and are all corroded and can be removed from
the spark plug with a gentle flick of your finger !

My girlfriend is now going to buy the VW leads.


Morale of the story... dont trust everyone in the car shops for advice.

Thanks for all your inputs chaps.


Cheers,

Warren

The dreaded problem has resurfaced !!!!!!!!!!

The new HT leads worked for a week, but now it's the same old problem.

Any comments ????

- other than scrap the car !!

Warren

    
    Did you try Redex,or check out your Vaccum adv unit.You can test it by
    sucking on the distributer end of the tube and if it's o.k. the engine
    note should change.(I'm sure that the above method is correct,but I
    welcome any correction)
    
    	Other than that i'd suggest sticking on a krypton and getting the
    firing checked.
    
    	Andy...A novice..
    

    
    
    The exact problem described by Warren a few notes ago has suddenly
    apeared with my parents 1991 H reg Golf 1800cc GL.It's in the garage
    today so monday i'll try to let you what the problem was.
    
    
    	Andy....
    

    RE-1
    
    The verdict from the garage was a small piece of dirt had got into the
    carb and caused a blockage.
    
    		Andy..
    

Hello folks,

         I'm back to ask your advice about my girlfriend's polo coupe s.

The problem...

         can be driving along quite the thing on the motorway (60-80) and 
         then for no reason, after say 6-10 miles, the engines just totally dies
         and no amount of coaxing will bring it back to life.  The car will just 
         coast to a halt.  After a few minutes the car can be restarted as if the
         problem was never there.

       The mechanic has replaced the fuel pump and this improved things for about
       3 days, then it started playing up again.

Anyone got any ideas/suggestions ??

Thanks,


    Warren

    HAve you changed the petrol cap recently?  I've had similar symptoms
    where the vent hole in the petrol cap was blocked.  As the petrol is
    used it creates a vauum in the tank and the pump can't suck hard enough
    to get any petrol through.  If you leave it for a little while the
    vacuum leaks away and everything is fine for another little while. 
    
    
    John

    Has it got an alarm fitted ? I had a similar problem with a Golf GTi
    which took ages to find the problem. In my case, a short in the alarm
    sysetm, which had been fitted incorrectly by the garage ( the supplier's 
    wiring diagram was wrong ), was cutting out the fuel pump rather than the 
    starter motor. The VW garage said that there had been a number of these 
    incorrectly fitted alarms.
    
    I did point out at the time that I thought that they should have done a
    recall as it is bl**dy dangerous.
    
    Terry

    
    .... I experienced similar problems with an old VW Jetta - however it
    could happen to any car - the problem was a perished fuel line. When
    driving along it gradually took in more and more air, eventually
    starving the engine of fuel, the engine would then cut out, sometimes
    accompanied by large quantities of white 'smoke' from the exhaust.
    After a few minutes, and much cranking of the starter it would then
    start up again and run without any problems.
    
    Thnis usually happened when travelling long distances at a reasonably
    constant speed, presumably because it was only a pin-hole in the fuel
    line. when driving in traffic, or on country roads where use of the
    gears also meant variations in the throttle there was no problem.
    
    I found the cause after replacing the fuel filter with an in-line clear
    plastic type, as I then noticed the air collecting in it !
    
    hope this helps,
    
    Graham 

Good grief,  

          so many replies in the time equal to the length of a Manz cat's tail !

Right, here goes :

re 18 :  The petrol cap has not been replaced recently, other than to put fuel
         in  ;-)

re 19 :  There is an alarm fitted, but it is not a factory fit.  It was added
         at a later date (Scorpion make).

re 20 :  Interesting.

re 21 :  This sounds quite like the problem.  How far would the flexible pipe go
         before it reaches a join to the metal pipe (ie: just to the underside 
         of the car) ? 

         I'll check out the fuel filter tomorrow night...
          take it for a run, let the problem occur, then quickly see if the 
          contents of the filter is all air instead of petrol.  I would assume,
          that if this is the case, then the *hole* in the pipe must be 
          somewhere between the filter and the join to the metal pipe  ??


Thanks for all your replies, and if you can think of any more, please keep 
them "coming" (as Gillian would say) ;-)


/warren

    
    Re .22 - Re.21
    
    There wil be flexible pipe from the tank, either to a metal pipe which
    then runs the length of the underside of the car and then joins to more
    flexible pipe at the front; Or, as is the case on some Fords there is
    flexible pipe from the tank, joining on to rigid plastic pipe which
    runs to the front and then back to flexible stuff.
    
    Flexible Petrol pipe is very cheap, so it's probably best to replace
    the lot if it's suspect....
    
    Graham.

    
    We will assume that the feul *filter* is clear of obstructions......
    
    Brian
    

    Chaps,
    
    Could this be icing of the carburettor (if it happens during a run at
    speed and then is ok after about 5 minutes)?
    
    Has the cooling system been drained and refilled recently, causing an
    air lock in the manifold heating circuit, or is the air intake still
    set to summer position?
    
    Peter
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    Has it got a winter/summer settting on the air filter housing ?
    
    If so check it is set correctly.
    
    Royston

    Polo's have an automatic deflector for taking air either from the
    engine bay (cold), or from over the exhaust manifold (warm). If this
    has failed, then carb iceing may be a problem. The deflector is
    operated by vacuum which comes from a small diameter plastic pipe that
    runs to the back of the carb. The join at the carb is hard to see, if
    this comes out then the air going in will always be cold. Either this 
    pipe, or a fail in the deflector itself. The deflector operation can be
    seen by watching the end of the spindle, which protrudes through the
    air intake pipe. Start the car and see if this spindle moves as the car
    warms up. If this system doesn't work then cold wet air will be drawn
    into the carb all the time. On a cold day and a long run this can give
    ice build up in the carb and the symptoms you have seen.
    
    	A friends Polo had this problem, though in this case it lead to the
    engine running poorly, rather than to iceing up.
    
    		Jeremy      

	I had an similar problem on my wifes Astra, except it wouldn't die and 
then not restart, it would just die for a few seconds and you couldn't get above 
about 65mph.

	Turned out to be a blocked fuel filter in the inlet pipe to the carb, it
was a really tiny cone shaped thing, and you definitely would not have known it
was there unless you'd seen it in the book !

	Worth a look, but my bet is on the petrol cap !

	Andy

Well,

    the mechanic took the car last night and the problem happened with him.

    At least he now knows the sypmtoms, he just has to find out the cure.

    I'll keep you informed.

/warren

    
    
    Bought a set of spark plugs today for my Polo GT Coupe and almost
    passed out when I got the price..  5.99 + VAT each.....  it turns out
    that they are the 3 electrode type plugs which are suppose to give you
    a better spark ... VW dealers were the only ones I could get these
    plugs from as there are no single electrode alternatives... !!!! 
    
    
    
    
    

    Hi Folks,
    Recently I have been experiencing problems with my VW Polo. It is a
    1990 H-plate 1.3S Coupe. The problem is to do with the automatic choke
    on the carburettor. The car broke down last Friday on the way to work
    and the AA were called. It was running sluggishly on the way down the
    road and when I stopped at any roundabouts it just died. The AA man
    tinkered about with it for a wee while and got it running again. He
    suggested fitting a manual choke as he thought the automatic choke was
    jamming on, therefore flooding the engine. After work that day I went
    and bought a manual choke kit for it and went home to fit it. When I
    took off the old choke assembly there were 2 water pipes attached to it
    and after reading through my trusty Haynes manual found that they would
    have to be joined after fitting the manual choke. Got a length of steel
    tube and fitted them together with jubilee clips. The manual choke
    works ok and the engine is running ok but now there is this problem of
    the engine overheating. I topped up the overflow tank for the cooling
    system after doing the plumbing on the old choke, as I lost a fair bit
    of water while doing it, but everyday since that I have had to top it
    up. There is water being forced out of the header tank also, and the
    temp. gauge on the dash is reading higher than normal.
    Ideas anyone?
    
    Cheers,
    
    Gavin.......
    

Don't know if it's of any relevance, but I encountered similar
stopping problems in my polo after the vacuum pipe leading from
the back of the carb to the air filter became detached (okay, I
forgot to reattach it after pulling various parts of the engine
to bits...)

Chris.

    Yes, I thought of that one too, but it is ok.
    Anyway, it broke down again yesterday afternoon on the way home from
    work. Same old problem -> spluttering, lack of power through the gears,
    overheating etc.. Managed to get it back to the garage that I bought it
    from, and I must say, they were extremely unhelpfull. The salesman told
    me that I should have 'phoned to tell them I was coming in and that I
    would have to bring the car back during the week after I had booked it
    in.  After seeing the look of anger building up on my face, he quickly
    backed down and said just to leave the car with him and it would be
    looked at first thing in the morning. He even managed to get me a car
    so I could get to work today. He will 'phone me later on this morning
    to tell me what is wrong. Hopefully the warranty will cover any
    repairs.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Gavin
    

    Hi,
    
    I had a similar problem with my VW Santana. The carburettors on some
    models are really over-engineered, so when they go wrong...it's
    expensive.
    
    My problem was with the auto-choke mechanism, based on a 'pull down unit' 
    which is a sort of 'bellows' device that shifts (as the air expands) 
    according to the heat of the engine after warm-up.
    
    There was also a 'Y' piece 'waxstat' near the carburettor which
    monitors the engine's water temperature, to help control the auto-choke
    mechanism, and this had got damaged by someone over-tightening a
    jubilee clip, thus causing the alloy to corrode, water to leak slowly,
    and the motor to eventually over-heat.
    
    Once replaced (80 pounds for a genuine part!) it was fine.
    The bottom end of the carburettor was always a bit sticky though even
    after that...basically an over-complex carb!
    
    Yours may not be the same carb though!
    
    Hope it may give some idea.
    
    Have you checked the oil to see if water is getting in, indicative of
    the head gasket failing?...and also the core-plugs on the side of the
    engine to check for weeping?
    
     
    Tim

    
    If the over heating has just started I would suggest binning the steel
    hose for a rubber hose with jubilee clips as metal to metal joins are
    bad news on water systems.
    
    As for the reason for the problem - where do I start..
    
    			Air leak in fuel system. ( check petrol filter )
    			ignition 
    			etc etc
    regards 
    
    \_spike_/

    
    I went through a similar scenario with a VW Jetta, the Carb never was
    sorted properly although having it looked at by someone who knew a lot
    about older VW's helped a lot. The loss of power, cutting out etc was
    finally traced to a pinhole in the petrol line. Prior to this the tank
    had been removed and steam cleaned, the pump had been stripped and
    rebuilt, filters had been changed and the carb had been stripped and
    rebuilt - oh and a new set of leads, points and condenser had been
    fitted ! The pin-hole didn't let enough air in when in the garage to
    be noticeable, but it seems that when the car was being driven it let
    in progressively more and more air until it lost power and died. A few
    turns on the started and it started up again okay !!
    
    Might be worth putting new flexible fuel pipe on it, it'll only cost a
    few bob, and _may_ save you a fortune.
    
    Graham

    Well folks, got the car back yesterday. The original problem was
    diagnosed as being dirt in the carb.. They cleaned it out and rest all
    the CO settings, mixture etc and tuned it. It is now running great,
    apart from the overheating problem. It is going back into the garage
    today to have the cooling system flushed out. This overheating problem
    must be to do with my plumbing work on the old automatic choke, so I'm
    going to gat them to replace the two joined hoses with one hose. This
    should do the trick. Will keep you posted on what happens.
    Anyway, thanks for all your helpfull ideas and suggestions.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Gavin 8^)
    

    OOPPSS!!!
    Spoke too soon yesterday. On my way to the garage yesterday afternoon,
    the car started cutting out again.........
    
    Got the cooling system drained and refilled etc so the overheating
    problem is sorted. Left the car at the garage to see if they could find
    out why it was still cutting out. They 'phoned this morning to tell me
    that they have finally been able to fix it. Apparently there is an
    electronic solenoid attached to the idle speed circuitry on the carb
    and this was goosed. They have fitted a new one at no extra cost to
    myself and given the car a thorough road test and it would appear to
    going well. We shall see.
    
    Fingers+toes crossed,
    
    Gavin..........