I have a 1988 Polo 1.3 with about 140000 miles on the clock. Just recently ive noticed the following:
On the last two mornings, near the end of the 10 mile drive to college, the car has lost power and seems to have misfired badly. This morning it ground to a halt altogether.
However on the drive back just now, the engine will have been warmer at the start, and it drove really well going back.
It got me to the west coast of wales and back relatively trouble free, was a bit reluctant at some points. Did 80-90 for nearly 2 hours quite hapily, then cut out at a junction.
Cutting out after a fast or lengthy run is also a problem.
The main thing thats worried me is the misfire/power loss.
It has popped 2 water hoses recently.
A breather pipe going from next to the oil filler to somewhere is broken - could this contribute?
Any ideas about the cause of the probs?
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I'm not a mechanic, but my approach to car repairs is as follows: fix the obvious stuff first and see what happens.
Chris
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I meant to say the breather pipe has been knackered since day one... surely it would have caused problems as soon as it failed completely (3 0r 4 weeks ago.) Oh and it has an oil leak. Finally the mot emissions test was passed. Maybe too well? The emissions were about 1/3 of acceptable max values.
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Sorry im busy, so excuse me. Ive just remembered that Halfords recommended a 'rocker cover gasket' due to high mileage, back in october. This was discussed after an oil change.
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Aulthough your problems sound different, while you are waiting for a better answer you may like to cast your eye over a thread entitled Volvo 340 a couple of pages back.
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Yeah. The 340 thread is directly relevant.
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I have had similar symptoms on two different make cars. The first one was taken to a main dealer, who after keeping the car for one week for tests to try and replicate the problem, failed to find the answer. In the end, a friend suggested that it might be a hailine fracture in the distributor cap, which only caused problems when the engine bay temp was very high. That was the cure.
When the same happened to the second car 4 years later, guess what - it was again due to a hairline crack in the distributor cap.
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Misfire / cutting out may be carburettor icing - check the large bore flexi hose from exhaust manifold to air intake. I wonder if this is the 'breather pipe' you refer to - Polo crankcase breather pipe runs from the back of the engine block to underneath the air filter, and there are no other pipes anywhere near the oil filler cap that I can think of..
At that sort of mileage you will get oil leaks everywhere. See bangernomics.tripod.com/oilypolo.htm
I would be more worried about the appetite for coolant hoses. If you are getting a lot of pressure building up in the cooling system, chances are that the head gasket has failed. They sometimes crack between the cylinder bores and the water jacket. Unscrew the spark plugs - if the tip of one or more is a rusty colour, you definitely have head gasket problems. Head gasket change on a Polo is a fairly easy job for a garage.
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OK, will I physically be able to see if the head has failed? How? Im pretty dumb, technically.
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On polo's of similar vintage I had problems with the fuel pump.
I seem to remember intermittent problems with it too, rather than catastrophic failure. Pattern replacements are not too expensive from specialists, but the diagnosis by substitution is expensive....
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I have a 92 Polo 1.0, I bought it a month ago and had the same problem, the car used to start first time evry time but now it doesn't I can keep it in a nice warm garage overnight come to it the next day and nothing no spark nothing although when you tow it you can bump start it how can this be when there is no spark when turning the ignition key. I have replaced a heater element in the inlet manifold called a hedgehog as these are prone to go wrong, changed all the plugs rotary arm dist cap leads etc. Had a little joy that was it started in sub minus temps although the other morning when it was foggy would it start would it buggery. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
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The battery is fine, its an absolute mystery. I believe its got an ECU unit on it so I bet the damp is getting in there?
Any help.
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Can't think of any sensible answer to this one, other than that a leaking breather pipe in a closed-circuit breather system (which this probably is) can cause poor running, though more likely at idle.
One other VERY obscure possibility comes to mind. After pressure washing the engine of a Citroen ZX some years ago, water trapped in the spark plug recess would evaporate after a few miles and condense higher up in the spark plug cover and cause misfiring and stalling at junctions. This happened for several mornings before I found the cause.
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David,
Been there, done that (on my '87 1300). Your carb flange gasket is leaking. If you search the threads, I've probably banged on about this before.
The giveaway is the low CO emissions at MOT.
As to oil leaks
1) The rocker gasket will leak - but DON'T replace it. The reason it leaks is that the rubber spacers under the rocker cover bolts become compressed. Put a thin washer under each of the bolt heads.
2) Camshaft oil seal leaks and spews oil all over the timing belt. Every single one I've ever seen in the breakers has this problem. Very easy to replace with the right tools.
3) I've been told that the head gasket can leak oil down the alternator side by bloke at parts shop. I reckon this is mostly people wrongly excluding 1) & 2).
GB,
No spark when cranking, but bump starty ability sounds like something to do with ballast resistors. I know from experience that the ignition module/hall sender can give maddening intermittent faults. Those Tune-Up chaps will doubtless know far more.
Rob
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Re early 1050 Polos
There is one oil way (block to head) that is prone to seepage into the head gasket just above the alternator. I cannot remember if it has a separate neoprene gasket but various people warn about being careful on reassy, and suggest using lots of gasket sealant around here (but dont block oilway!).
I asked a mobile mechanic to to do this on one occasion (my back was bad and couldnt lift a spanner, let alone the head), but of course he knew better. it took at least 3 weeks before it started to seep and has become progressively worse. PS he was such an expert he fitted the wrong head gasket, fitted the head, and then found the engine would not turn over!
If you want a job done properly then do it y.....
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Distributor failure (complete or intermittent) seems to be a common problem with this model. By distributor I mean not just the distributor cap,but the complete assembly. It contains a Hall trigger which fails to switch. Problem is its an expensive part to replace 'on spec',best to have it tested by 'one of those Tune-Up guys'
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