JedB Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 Hi there, I wonder if you can help me. I have a VW Lupo 1.0 - 83k miles. Recently i noticed it running a bit rough and how i would describe "bunny hopping" up the road almost. Some periods worse than others. I only changed the plugs in November 2016 so I thought their only 2 years old - could be something beyond my skills, so i asked my mate who works at an MOT station to take a look. He has said today he replaced all of the plugs and ignition leads but the plugs were soaked in oil and in bad condition. He said probably best to get shot of the car as engine likely to be on it's way out. Now what I want to know is, should I try changing the rocker cover first? Should I wait a few days and remove spark plugs to check condition of them? Car seems to be running fine now though. Any advise is appreciated. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 It's probably sucking in breather fumes, but could be the piston rings, worn valve guides, head gasket, bunged up throttle valve, all of the above... Try diverting the breather pipe down to the road and blocking off the flange that sucks all the gunk into the engine. Then take it on a good motorway run to clean things out. When's the last time you changed the air filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted December 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 Just now, mk2 said: It's probably sucking in breather fumes, but could be the piston rings, worn valve guides, head gasket, bunged up throttle valve, all of the above... Try diverting the breather pipe down to the road and blocking off the flange that sucks all the gunk into the engine. Then take it on a good motorway run to clean things out. When's the last time you changed the air filter? Had a service in Febuary 18 which was air filter, fuel filter, oil and filter change, coolant change. Sorry i'm not very good with cars, can only do a service and sometimes some brake pads lol! Breather pipe is already aimed down to the road I believe. Just gone out and taken a photo of this to show you + spark plugs, hopefully they are attached to this post. How do i block off flange? Is that the part on the exhaust? Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk2 Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 Have a look under that big plastic cover... it's all happening under there  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj1 Posted December 5, 2018 Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 The breather pipe you refer to being aimed down at the road is in fact the air intake, which is fine to be as it is. The one Mk2 is referring to lives underneath the plastic airbox, roughly where the dipstick is. It's a push fitting and is easy enough to simply remove from the airbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted December 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 Thankyou - I'll look on Friday and update you - What is the flange and how do I block it off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted December 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 Ok so update is I think oil was spilled when filling it up as I've checked spark plugs again after cleaning and almost no oil on them now. However quite concerned my plugs are almost black after replacing around 4 days ago? Is this normal? Or does this signal a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 What's your mpg like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted December 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 33 minutes ago, Rich said: What's your mpg like? Seems to be ok we don't do many miles in the car. Had the car 5 years and done 20k. Probably 3k this year. Fill it up once a month really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 I wouldn't worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted December 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 8 minutes ago, Rich said: I wouldn't worry. Thanks mate! Think I can put this down to spilling oil when putting it in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 Unless it is weeping out of the cam cover I wouldn't worry about it. Go find a 16v lupo with oil in the spark plugs, then you will see what a problem looks like. You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 12/9/2018 at 10:20 AM, Rich said: Unless it is weeping out of the cam cover I wouldn't worry about it. Go find a 16v lupo with oil in the spark plugs, then you will see what a problem looks like. You Hi Rich. Checked em again today after this time and no more oil in plugs thank god. However, the plugs are literally black all on the ends etc now, attached is a pic, do you know how I can go about investigating this? Could the spilling of the oil caused this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 It might also be worth noting that I have some air pipes on my car that have been bodged with duct tape a friend did years ago when car was running odd. Could this be causing car to be running too rich? Does anyone know the names of these two pipes? One connects to the throttle valve and the other has a two way head at the end of it. Any help is appreciated, thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Black is carbon and that is fuel. Whole different issue. Those two pipes don't have to be official VW, they just have to be pipes which seal, they would cause a crap idle and air leaks but not necessarily overfuelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Rich said: Black is carbon and that is fuel. Whole different issue. Those two pipes don't have to be official VW, they just have to be pipes which seal, they would cause a crap idle and air leaks but not necessarily overfuelling. Thankyou so much for replying. I don't have a whole lot of experience with cars as you can tell. Spoke to car parts store and they didn't know what pipes I was describing so I'm gonna take em off and take them down to the store tomorrow and see how much it is to replace them. The idle does seem to be fine at the moment. Where would you start with this issue? Replace these pipes and replace the plugs and go from there? A mate said it might need a really good run? Thanks again. Edited January 7, 2019 by JedB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sausage Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Black and dry is it running rich. Could be be too much fuel or not enough air, make sure air filter is clean or new for starters. Could be from faulty temp sensor so it runs a rich map thinking engine is cold. Get fault codes read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 31 minutes ago, Sausage said: Black and dry is it running rich. Could be be too much fuel or not enough air, make sure air filter is clean or new for starters. Could be from faulty temp sensor so it runs a rich map thinking engine is cold. Get fault codes read. Thankyou for your reply. No EML light on. Still worth getting it read? Funny you mention that as I replaced engine temperature sensor about 2years ago, just got a cheap one from euro car parts - suspicious lifetime alot of their stuff. This could be the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Buy cheap, buy twice. (I still use the ecp temp cheapies) Replace! Rubber hose is cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 7 minutes ago, Rich said: Buy cheap, buy twice. (I still use the ecp temp cheapies) Replace! Rubber hose is cheap. I will replace these hoses that are bodged. Should I replace the temp sensor with one from TPS at same time and do plugs as well and go from there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Entirely your call. Does it use an excessive amount of fuel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JedB Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Not that I have noticed but it's a second car and doesn't get driven that much. We do love this car so I think I'll be making some attempts to get her back to normal again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 I would replace the pipes but then I would leave the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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