b.calvert

Could it be part of the immobiliser?? I had a similar fault - put the key in, turned it and the engine turned over and didn't start (but not caused by the rain). The AA man said it was a fault in the engine immobiliser control system. When I took it to my dealer they said that it was probably the "dash insert" - part of the ECU?? that's located near the fusebox, but called me later to say that in my case it was the fuel cut off solenoid that was causing the car to turn over but not start. Apparently if the car had turned over and then all the power had died then it would have been the engine immobiliser kicking in (which sounds like what you've got??), but in my case because the power was not being cut it wasn't the immobiliser. Sounds possibly like your Loop has the fault that they thought mine had? The dash insert is £180 parts and not too hard for them to fit, but for my fuel cut off solenoid it was £40 parts and £210 labour!! Bloody VW dealers. Brian

Hey Linsey, I've got the clonking door hinge problem - and even worse sometimes the driver's door clonks open then closes by itself - those doors are sooo heavy! I had condensation in my headlamp rather than indicator but took the bulb out & dried the reflector area out with a hairdrier and it's been fine since. No oil leaks or dodgy heater switches; I seem lucky there! Brakes are crap though, I've never seen any so bad - taken them to 2 VW dealers and an independent and they all say that they're in fine condition and that there's nothing wrong. Borrowed my mum's new Polo TDi with ABS, tapped the brakes as I came out of the driveway and almost went through the windscreen!! I wish I'd paid extra for ABS on mine now... Wish I had the TDi like yours too!! Brian

Hey Linsey, I've got the clonking door hinge problem - and even worse sometimes the driver's door clonks open then closes by itself - those doors are sooo heavy! I had condensation in my headlamp rather than indicator but took the bulb out & dried the reflector area out with a hairdrier and it's been fine since. No oil leaks or dodgy heater switches; I seem lucky there! Brakes are crap though, I've never seen any so bad - taken them to 2 VW dealers and an independent and they all say that they're in fine condition and that there's nothing wrong. Borrowed my mum's new Polo TDi with ABS, tapped the brakes as I came out of the driveway and almost went through the windscreen!! I wish I'd paid extra for ABS on mine now... Wish I had the TDi like yours too!! Brian

I left my SDi on a mate's driveway for 2 weeks whilst on hols & when I flew back I turned the key and it wouldn't start. Turned over fine and made the right noises but wouldn't fire up. Waited for the AA & with a lot of fiddling & taking the dash & steering column apart he took out part of the ECU, put it back in a few times & it started fine. Says that this is a common problem with diesel Lupos? Anyone else heard of this?

Cheers Twisty, I'm gonna get a price on the parts and look into it. BTW, my mirrors are both the same size - very small!

Hi, I've got a 99 SDI and I want to fit a cup holder somewhere to reduce the uncomfortable risk of driving with a cup of coffee inbetween my knees. On the dash, I've got a VW radio & VW cd player taking up the 2 DIN slots, then the switchgear suspended below the radio (the hazard light and rear heater switches). I'm sure I've seen other Lupos (2001 ish) that have their switches fitted into the dash just above the ashtray, just below the heater controls (where I've got a blank space for fuel cards at the mo). Does anyone know if it is possible to get a new set of switches that will fit into this gap under the air vent controls, above the ashtray, and how difficult it would be to sort out the wiring to do this? If I can move the switches from under the radio to under the air vent controls then I can get a cup holder unit which hangs under the radio, instead of the switches - apparently this is an easily obtainable VW part. Anybody know anything about this, or where I could fit a cup holder somewhere else? It's only a matter of time before I accidently burn my nads with hot espresso if not!! Cheers, Brian

Hi Hugh, My 99 SDI does it too - ever since I bought it, when I'm in fourth gear, if I have my hand on the gearstick, come off the accelerator for a few seconds then tap the pedal again the stick jolts back towards neutral. It also did this on a Polo TDI I had as a courtesy car. When I reported it to my local VW dealer they said it wasn't a problem. Don't know what it is, but I've done 4 years and 60k miles and it's not fallen apart yet. My mum was driving her Saab 900 a while back and the same was happening with her gearstick, then she went to put the car into reverse and the stick fell off in her hand! Brian