Nealie Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Friday morning the little Loop refused to start. So got towed to the local garage for them to have a looksy. Had a couple of mechanics off ill so left it til yesterday. Got a call "it's starting fine" and there were no error codes on the ECU.hmmmmPopped in and had a chat. It's the original battery, over 5 years old now, so we're gonna start with a new one of those as the cars brain shuts down unless power supply is perfect. He then noticed a load of dust under the cambelt cover....popped that off. EEEEEEEEEEKKKCam was held together with just a few threads. very VERY lucky!so now it's in for a new cambelt, battery, check of the key reader ring in the steering column and while they're at it it's getting it's 40k service too.If that doesnt sort the starting problem......new starter motor is next on the list.*sigh*Still....it's only money huh? border="0" class="linked-image" /> border="0" alt="IPB Image" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigz™ Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 "We dont know whats wrong.What we'll do is keep fitting bits untill we fix it.Heres your bill Sir.."Good luck with it mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealie Posted February 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 "We dont know whats wrong.What we'll do is keep fitting bits untill we fix it.Heres your bill Sir.."Good luck with it matehee heethankfully i know them at the garage and have done for a while......i know they're not gonna rip me off......and not charge me full whack either.Guess it's just a process of elimination.......and having watched The Garage on digital lastnight i think the key reader ring might be a good bet...either that or VW messed something up when they fitted the new pedal box the other month of course........dunno how close the starter and wiring is to the pedla box set up.still.......they're doing me a blinding deal on the service as the engine will be in bits anyway......was gonna get it done next month anyway.a right pain.....but having seen the state of the cambelt, i think the car was trying to tell us something! style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicki Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Very lucky with the cambelt mate!My starter motor has begun to over run... oh great, more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Sympathies - my Lupo is poorly too - it failed its MOT catastrophically with emissions way over on all readings. Its been putting black smuts out of the exhaust for nearly a year now, and I have been trying to get it fixed. The answer keeps coming back 'computer says no' - no error readings on Vag-com so I keep getting told that its perfectly ok. It isn't and the MOT failure has made the garage realise that perhaps there is something wrong after all... but they have NO idea what. They've got the car today for compression test etc etc... were talking last night about transplanting a second hand engine, but there is no guarantee that will be any better, because they don't actually know what's wrong with it. I'm fed up of spending all my days off with the car in the garage trying to get it fixed... I don't mind so much in the summer - I'll use my bike - but I tried really hard all last year to get them to fix the car so that it would be reliable during the winter. Its coming to the end of its life if they cannot get it sorted in the next week or so.... shame cos I love the car, but there is no point in throwing lots of money at it with no guarantee that it will work afterwards.So, the numberplate L16UPO could be up for sale very soon if anyone is interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 thankfully i know them at the garage and have done for a while......i know they're not gonna rip me off......and not charge me full whack either.Hi mate, how's things?It's good you have a reliable garage like that and you always know where you stand. Good luck getting it sorted asap.Fafnir, what price you looking at for the plate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Hi mate, how's things?It's good you have a reliable garage like that and you always know where you stand. Good luck getting it sorted asap.Fafnir, what price you looking at for the plate?Not sure yet - have to look and see what its worth. I *hope* they can fix my car easily.... but if not style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealie Posted February 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Very lucky with the cambelt mate!My starter motor has begun to over run... oh great, more money.s'weird......happened a few times.....turn key to 2......dashlights all come on as normal....continue to start position...nuffink. switch it all the way round back to 0.....the repeat it and it starts finewas going to book it in to them anyway to have it looked at.....then Friday morning after 15 mins of switching on and off....still nuffinks'making me think it's the key reader rather than the starter motor thoanyone else had this happen??Hi mate, how's things?It's good you have a reliable garage like that and you always know where you stand. Good luck getting it sorted asap.Mighty fine matey. Car was starting to feel a bit sluggish actually...so i guess the stretched cambelt would account for that! V V lucky!But....off to Thailand in 2 weeks...so dont care!!! hee hee heeany more problems with the GTI? VAG coughed up for the replacement pedal box as promised...wahoooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Not sure yet - have to look and see what its worth. I *hope* they can fix my car easily.... but if not style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />I hope so too. Good luck with it, but let me know if you do decide to sell. style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />s'weird......happened a few times.....turn key to 2......dashlights all come on as normal....continue to start position...nuffink. switch it all the way round back to 0.....the repeat it and it starts fineany more problems with the GTI?My dad has had this problem with the electronic key, although it's on his N-reg Polo but almost identical situation. He bought a new key, which didn't exactly fix it, but helped. Occasionally it just doesn't want to start.The GTi is fine, although a slightly annoying rubber (?) sweak from what sounds like the rear turret. Only happens in the cold. I'll take it to VW when I have a spare second!Lucky you and Thailand. I'm off to Japan later in the year, should be interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupo__sport Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 s'weird......happened a few times.....turn key to 2......dashlights all come on as normal....continue to start position...nuffink. switch it all the way round back to 0.....the repeat it and it starts finewas going to book it in to them anyway to have it looked at.....then Friday morning after 15 mins of switching on and off....still nuffinks'making me think it's the key reader rather than the starter motor thoanyone else had this happen??I had the exact same problem with my lupo...turn the key to 2 and all the lights would come on and then all the way and nothing at all. Took it to my local VW garage and it turned out to be a faulty egnition base switch. They said they had seen it a few times on polos of a similar age but never on a lupo although they do see very few of them seen as mine is one of the only ones around here. Hope thats a help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nealie Posted March 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Cheers matey.......i think that's the next port of call if it starts playing up again.Got the car back yesterday........they did a nice job on it. Even washed it too!£200 labour (plus £270 parts plus the dreaded VAT) for a new cam belt, 40k service, new front disks & pads, diagnostic testing to try and find the ignition fault and a new battery.DRives like a new car once again.....sooooooo pleased they spotted the cambelt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyGti Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 (edited) Sympathies - my Lupo is poorly too - it failed its MOT catastrophically with emissions way over on all readings. Its been putting black smuts out of the exhaust for nearly a year now, and I have been trying to get it fixed. The answer keeps coming back 'computer says no' - no error readings on Vag-com so I keep getting told that its perfectly ok. It isn't and the MOT failure has made the garage realise that perhaps there is something wrong after all... but they have NO idea what. They've got the car today for compression test etc etc... were talking last night about transplanting a second hand engine, but there is no guarantee that will be any better, because they don't actually know what's wrong with it. I'm fed up of spending all my days off with the car in the garage trying to get it fixed... I don't mind so much in the summer - I'll use my bike - but I tried really hard all last year to get them to fix the car so that it would be reliable during the winter. Its coming to the end of its life if they cannot get it sorted in the next week or so.... shame cos I love the car, but there is no point in throwing lots of money at it with no guarantee that it will work afterwards.So, the numberplate L16UPO could be up for sale very soon if anyone is interested!How old is it? It shouldn't be anywhere near the end of its life. If the garage can't find the problem take it elsewhere! If it keeps failing the emissions there must be an intake or exhaust problem. If they can't figure that out dont waste your money with them as they must be bloody idiots (ETA fcuking useless cnuts), or they are ripping you off. You don't need another engine you need a better garage. Get your Lamba sensor checked. That's a relatively common cause of emissions trouble.KennyGti Edited March 1, 2006 by KennyGti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 The car is 6 years old (today - it has its birthday today!). Its done 77,000 miles. The lamda sensor has been changed - its something more fundamental than that. The air temp sensor(?) was changed last week, and the throttle bodies cleaned - and the pipe was cleaned out of the gung that was in it. It still failed the MOT on Friday.They compression tested it/oil pressure tested it etc etc yesterday and it checked out fine, apparently. They are at a loss as to what it can be. Latest theory is that it could be the fuel pressure regulator or the oil separator - but they only think this because they've been trying to glean information about similar problems on the web. I'll get them to change these and see what happens. There is only a limited amount of cash I can throw at this car though before I have to say 'enough' and move onto something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arosa-beeftex Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 If the garage can't find the problem take it elsewhere!Sorry to hear about your cars problems Fafnir (you haven't said what model / engine it is) - but KennyGti has said the right thing. By the way, where are you - there may be a forum member who could recommend a reliable garage near to you.At the MOT, for the fast idle test, what readings did you get on the emissions for the CO Level, HC Level and Lambda? Has your car been maintained regularly - when were the plugs and air filter last changed? Have you had any starting / running problems prior to taking it for the MOT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hello style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />. I'm based in Bedfordshire - live in Leighton Buzzard, and work in Hemel, so anywhere around that area that you can recommend would be great style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />.The car is a 1.4 16v Lupo Sport. Its always been maintained according to the service schedule mostly by Wayside Towcester - an authorised dealer - and I don't drive the car hard, so its not had a particularly hard life. The problem started around this time last year when I took the car for the MOT - it was fine before then, but the problems started after. The only thing that Wayside did at the MOT (so they tell me) is fit a new radio/cd player to the car - I had a cassette/radio before. The new unit is a Blaupunkt. A month later the car started emitting a little 'vapour' - greyish wisps from the exhaust when I switched the car off, and fuel consumption went down, and the car started cutting out at junctions/roundabouts etc. I took it back to Wayside and they diagnosed the Lambda sensor as being faulty, and replaced it. I took the car home, but the next day it cut out again at the first junction I came to. I took it back to Wayside who said it was possibly a faulty sensor, but checked it and it was OK, so they cleaned the throttle bodies instead. This did stop it cutting out but it hesitated at 2K rpm and 3K rpm before picking up. I took it to the local independent VAG specialists who put it on Vagcom but could not bring up any faults. They cleaned the throttle bodies again (saying they were still dirty) and tightened the throttle cable, which was loose apparently. Wayside were expensive, and had not sorted the problem so I decided to use the independent. Unfortunately though, over the past year they also have not solved the problem. The car was serviced in September last year by them, and new plugs were fitted then. I asked them to change the HT leads and check the coil - they said the HT leads did not need changing and the coil was fine, also they checked the Cat and that was fine. No fault codes, but the car was still putting out black smuts. They said that maybe it just needed clearing out, that the problem was solved, and that the smuts would clear after a few good runs. They didn't. Two weeks ago it went back in and they changed the temp sensor and cleaned the throttle bodies, and de-gunked the tube from them. Then its failed its MOT with way-over emissions. At least now they have to admit there is a problem - but they don't know how to fix it.I gave the garage the read-out from the failed MOT so I'm not sure what the readings were for all the tests.I think the CO was 270 (should be 200?) and I know that the Lambda reading was 0.917 when it should be between 0.97 and 1.03. The HC was also reading very high (cannot remember the readings though, sorry).Any help or suggestions anyone has would be gratefully received!Sorry, should also have said, no starting problems, and the car runs fine. Still a very slight hesitation at 2K rpm, this is usually better when they have cleaned the throttle bodies, and gets worse as time goes on - never a huge hesitation though, its just that its not 'right'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyGti Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hate to ask a silly question but... Is it running on all cylinders? Any chance of one of them not firing? Assuming all are firing, how is the performance, does it feel like it's running right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hate to ask a silly question but... Is it running on all cylinders? Any chance of one of them not firing? Assuming all are firing, how is the performance, does it feel like it's running right?All cylinders are firing, and the performance is fine, it feels like its running right. There is this very slight hesitation at 2K rpm, but its minimal. The only problems seem to be the smuts from the exhaust/using slightly more petrol than it should - even that is not massive though - it does around 220 miles from full to the petrol light coming on. It used to do 230ish... but the car is no longer new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyGti Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 The hesitation sounds odd. I'll have a think about this. It's a 16v sport you say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 The hesitation sounds odd. I'll have a think about this. It's a 16v sport you say?Yep, 16v Sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fafnir Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Latest update: the fuel pressure regulator and oil separator were fitted yesterday and the readings were exactly the same as before. Today they have fitted a new lambda sensor - apparently there is some debate about whether the VW dealer fitted the correct part number last time, however, the CO is 6 (which is reduced from where it was) and it needs to be 3...Next steps are to try and swap an ECU from another car to see if that does anything, and they have finally agreed to try a new coil and HT leads (though they say this will not have any effect as the coil and HT leads are fine). I'm hoping one of these things fixes it... we are running out of avenues, and building up a rather large bill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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