Car "coughing"

Turbidine

Guys,

My 97 Volksagen Polo is having strange noises and behaviours in first and second gears. What does it mean?
When in first and second gear you'd feel it "coughing" from time to time.
I'm off with the car for the bank holiday week-end and a little scared that anything may happen to it...

Can you help?!

colm_mcm

does the car tick over smoothly? is there any loss of power?

Turbidine

Yeah during the second it coughs there's a little loss of power. Is that serious?

colm_mcm

Do you get the car regularly serviced, has the car been serviced recently?

Turbidine

Yes, it's serviced every 10 000 miles, and I've changed the battery just 6 months ago.

colm_mcm

could be a few things, airflow sensor may be at fault, there may be a leak in the vaccuum hoses, or you may have blocked injectors. Either way you should see a mechanic. It doesn't sound too urgent, but get it checked as soon as you have a chance.

Turbidine

okay! Thanks Any relation to the timing belt at all? Has never been changed and the car has 60 000 miles..

colm_mcm

timing belts generally go without warning! would suggest getting it changed ASAP if it hasn't been done on a 10 year old car.

Tea drinker

could be plug wires, I think they are a week point on those.
As already said could be MAF sensor, or an air leak.

fasty

The above poster is on to something. I had this problem intermittantly and it turned out to be the plug leads. I drive a 99 Polo.

crosstownk

Turbidine wrote:

okay! Thanks Any relation to the timing belt at all? Has never been changed and the car has 60 000 miles..

It's unlikely anything to do with the t/belt. If it goes the car stops - end of story. But do get it changed as it is now due. It's a handy enough belt to change so shouldn't cost too much - a hell of a lot less than the cost of the consequences of snapped belt!

I'd say it's probably an engine sensor giving an occasional erratic signal. You don't mention any dash warning lights. A typical intermittent VW-type fault. The only way find out exactly what is at fault is to drive the car with a diagnosis computer on board and read the values as the fault occurs. If the fault is very regular then it should be easy to detect.

Turbidine

Thanks guys for the tips. I had a few people look at the car and it would seem that it is the distribution cap and the rotor that may need changing.
I'm going to drive the car to a mechanic on Monday, so I'll let you know what it was for your reference, in case the same ever happens to you.
The car pulls back in all gears while driving which makes you feel like it's just going to die - pretty scary. Should be easy to fix though, I hope!

Turbidine

Hey!
I've left my car with a mechanic and he drove the car to get a good idea of what was going on. He told me that the reason why my car would tremble/cough is that the plug leads had to be changed.

So seamingly, that was the issue.
Just to remember the facts in case this ever happens to someone else:
1/ car trembles more than usual
2/ car "coughs" (sorry don't know a better word to describe it) mostly while in 1 and 2nd gear, but as time passes by and the car isn't being repaired, it also happens in 3rd and 4th gear. While it does that, you can feel a sudden loss of power, the car slows down almost to stopping, without warning for 2 seconds.
It can do it four or five times in a row, or even more, up to a good ten minutes. For someone who doesn't know much about cars, it feels like the more the car coughs in a row, the more chances there are that the engine breaks down in the middle of the road. The car also does that coughing in neutral gear (you distinguish it then by the sound).
3/ feeling that you have to push harder on the accelerator in order to get to its usual speed in 1st gear.

Also, so you know, you can get plug leads from your car brand, but they are quite expensive, or you can get no brands ones, which are cheaper and of lesser quality. I chose not to jeopardize things too much since my car is old, and got the Volkswagen ones, costing 120 for 5 plug leads.

Cheers!

craichoe

Yep,

Plug leads going is standard on those polos, cracked leads cause a misfire.

Tea drinker

Tea drinker wrote:

could be plug wires, I think they are a week point on those.

Eh,...... I'm glad I was right. Again.

crosstownk

VW plug leads, depending on the year, come either as a complete lead or as a lead and a suppressor end. Nine times out of ten, replacing the suppressor end will do the trick - for a lot less money.

colm_mcm

Hopefully it's sorted out now, 5 weeks on!

Esel

I 'tremble' when I look at Polos, then 'cough' and look away.