02 1400 Polo ECU light - interesting problem.

my3cents

Friday on the journey back from town went slowly over a speed ramp and the engine lost all power. The engine still idled fine and would slowly pick up speed but had no poke whatsoever. After a couple of minutes of this the ECU light came on flashed a few times and went off again. The engine power stayed low for a couple more minutes and then picked up again.

Today did the same run and was fine on the way in (about 6 miles) but on the way back out of town on the SAME speed bump the ECU light came on and this time stayed on.

I'll take the car in and get the codes read on Monday but in the mean time can anyone think of anything obvious that might have just come loose. I've had problems with loose and corroded connectors before so I'm hoping its that again. Getting the codes read will obviously give me a better idea of where to look.

greasepalm

ecu or do you mean orange engine light,until codes are read to see if it says cylinder*
missfire be it plug missfire faulty coil or start of injector failing,no poke if engine ticked over perfectly it does not sound like in above but maybe throttle pedal sensor as engine should know where you are on acc pedal.

my3cents

greasepalm wrote: »

ecu or do you mean orange engine light,until codes are read to see if it says cylinder*
missfire be it plug missfire faulty coil or start of injector failing,no poke if engine ticked over perfectly it does not sound like in above but maybe throttle pedal sensor as engine should know where you are on acc pedal.

Just mean the orange engine light that looks like a picture of an engine came on and now stays on. Engine doesn't missfire it just doesn't respond to my foot on the pedal.

Its a strange car at one stage the oil light would come on for no reason at all, the engine temperature gauge on the dash would go off and the fuel gauge would show empty but not all at the same time. All fixed by going through the wiring loom and checking and cleaning connections.

The pedal sensor is one I'll look at tomorrow.

Thanks.

greasepalm

engine coolant temp. sensor is a very common issue on vws,changed at every service with vw lol

is your oil light pressure switch leaking causing oil light,or not checked oil or worse overdue oil and filter change 3 years ago

my3cents

greasepalm wrote: »

engine coolant temp. sensor is a very common issue on vws,changed at every service with vw lol

is your oil light pressure switch leaking causing oil light,or not checked oil or worse overdue oil and filter change 3 years ago

I was going to change the temp sensor but after disconnecting it to see which one of the two possible versions I needed and reconnecting it worked and has ever since. I still have the new replacement.

Oil filter and oil gets changed every 6 months about 3k-5k which is too often I know but as I use cheap oil (still right spec) its no big expense. I do two long trips each year and just change the oil before I go each time. Not had a sign of the oil pressure light on in ages. Engine doesn't use much oil.

my3cents

Had everything ready for a service and was in two minds whether to bother but thought no harm and I needed to take the big plastic air filter housing off to take a look at some stuff underneath anyway.

I had had spark plugs for the last service but not fitted them as the plug leads (are they actually coils) wouldn't come off. This time I checked on line and discovered they do need a bit of force to get off and I used a large flat screwdriver to add a gentle bit of leverage and they came off quite easily.

First plug I pulled had like a 3mm gap and the anode was almost burnt away. I take it they were special plugs of some kind as the next plug had a central tip to the anode (gap was about right at about a mm) which was missing in the first. Of all 4 plugs removed 2 were embarrassing to the extent you'd wonder how the engine could run with them, so with them all replaced and the battery disconnected to reset the electronics I might have fixed it. A quick drive up the road and back and it seems OK but I'll need a longer drive to be sure.

Now do I get the error codes checked or not I've probably reset them all anyway but on the other hand they might still reveal something?

greasepalm

hope you used good ngk plugs,new plugs will make a big impact,if it goes funny again then get codes checked or pick up a cheap one from ebay.not knowing what problem was stored can be dangerous=lambda probe car runs rich with more petrol washing cylinder bore and reducing life of oil.

my3cents

Plugs I put in weren't the OEM ones but now I know which are the "right ones" I'll order the correct NGK ones. Amazon.co.uk have them for about €10 each (even at the current crap exchange rate) and I'll get a code reader while I'm at it, should have bought one long ago.

greasepalm

there not 10 euro each,are they bkur6et-10.??

http://ngkntk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Car-Catalogue-2014.pdf

my3cents

greasepalm wrote: »

there not 10 euro each,are they bkur6et-10.??

http://ngkntk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Car-Catalogue-2014.pdf

Those would probably be fine but for the ANW engine type the plugs listed in the catalog are NGK PZFR5D, same as the ones I took out. Both types are listed on Micks Garage when I look for plugs by the car reg.

greasepalm

platinum plugs,but sometimes there is cheaper ones for regular service instead of long life as doing a service and customer see a bill for 55 euro for plugs they give you funny looks.check if they give you the option of either.