1.2 Polo 55 55000 miles. - VW Polo engine mis fire cylinder 1...advice - Chris2013

Hi, for the last few weeks my car has been shaky when idle, if it idles too long the engine management light comes on, sometimes solid and sometimes flashing. generally a week later it goes out, if it has been flashing a simple engine off and on usually clears it up. obviously something is wrong so i took to the garage...things they did:

they found a mis fire on cylinder 1 so they swapped the coil pack over 1 to 3 and 3 to 1, a couple of weeks later 188 mis fires on cylinder 1 still. They now want to strip the head and send it off to be looked at. they also mentioned it would be worth changing the timing belt while the head is off etc which i have read it good advice.

1) should i ask for a compression test first? wouldnt it be silly to strip it all before doing one? they are pretty much VW specialists so i assumed they know what they are doing but as far as i know they didnt do a compression test.

2) is 188 mis fires a lot in 2-3 weeks? i drive it every day and it is fine over 1k revs, if i sit at a red light i just ease the gas and no more shaking. is the car at risk with these mis fires?

3) the car has only done 55000 miles but i heard it can be an expensive thing to fix (£1200 etc),

4) do you think it is worth paying to fix it? if this has happened is it likely to again etc?

much appreciated

Chris

Edited by Chris2013 on 21/04/2013 at 18:39

1.2 Polo 55 55000 miles. - VW Polo engine mis fire cylinder 1...advice - Chris2013

5) the car is fine at 1k revs with a little gas, is it possible to change the idle point of the revs? i heard on old engines you could basically twist a bolt that changed the idle point.

thanks again

Edited by Chris2013 on 21/04/2013 at 19:05

1.2 Polo 55 55000 miles. - VW Polo engine mis fire cylinder 1...advice - elekie&a/c doctor

Unfortunately you have joined the vw 3 cyl engine loss of compression club.These engines are notorious for this problem and timing chain issues.The official Vag advice on these,is to fit a replacement cylinder head ,timing chain kit ,and a software update for the engine ecu.This would probably make this job a write off on most cars.The idle speed is not adjustable,and will not restore any compression due to burnt out valves in the head.hth

1.2 Polo 55 55000 miles. - VW Polo engine mis fire cylinder 1...advice - Collos25

Excellent advice,I notice in the OP it refers to a timing belt I wonder were you fit that,