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A friend of mine bought one of these from a garage a few months ago and has returned it a couple of times due to an "emissions light" coming on repeatedly. She has taken it back and after replacing the lambda sensor they maintain that they can'f find anything wrong. I live 60 miles away so any advice to her will be by e-mail. Any ideas please?
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Have the garage done any diagnostics tests or have they just guessed it was the lamdba sensor?
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Firstly she needs to know what were the "fault code" numbers that were stored in the ECU memory, and then what are the codes now? A code for a lambda sensor CAN just be due to a defective sensor, but can also be for other issues that make the lambda sensor signal look bad.
I'd would also want to know how often and how far the car is normally driven each month.
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This is my latest news.
Well i drive to college and back which is about 100 miles and then about 50 miles to and from work and around at college. so around 150 miles a week. I drive it nearly every day, it will be stood for 2 days at the most. on a weekend i drive it a few times a day to and from work. The garage didnt say much about what was wrong just that it had gone on the diagnostic machine and that a fault wasnt coming up but they updated the software as it had a recall on it and they are now on about it being the catalitic converter i think. They said they could change the censor but it would probably come back on 200miles later or so so would be a waste of money (that was the VW garage that said that).
Thanks Emma
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Emma,
I'm a bit confused. Pauls original post said that the sensor had been replaced, are you infact saying that the VW dealer is/was recommending that it was replaced, but this had not yet been done?
I'd still love to have that fault code number/s. Any chance of contacting the dealer to see what they were? (It should have been written on the mechanics job sheet, or printed out.)
The reason I asked about your driving habbits is that is that had car had only been used over very short distances, this could have been some of the problem. looking at the information that you have suplied, this is obviously not the case.
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Thank you Tony. I have forwarded your message. Lets see what comes back.
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Latest info.
No the sensor was not replaced, the 1st garage cleaned it and the light went off for about 1000miles but then came back on. I then took it to the VW garage who did a software update on the system as it had a recall on it, i was told this would solve the problem but then the light came back on about 200miles later. The VW garage are now saying they could replace the Lambar sensor but the light will probably come back on in about 200miles. They are also saying it could be the catalicit convertor but i dont want to spend all that money to find the problem carries on. I will be home at the weekend so i will look at the paper work from VW and see if there is a fault code on it.
Thanks
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Latest news:-
Hi
Sorry havent been in touch been busy at college and havent had chance. The other day the light just went off on my car, it was still there when i started it up but went off with the other lights but then i was driving to college on monday and the light came back on. I had filled it up with petrol on the sunday night. do you think this has anything to do with it? Because it was suggested that it might just be senstive to the pertol I put in. I use to put supermarket petrol in but recently i have been using garages but then on sunday it was the same garage as i have been using the past few weeks. But the light has never gone off before so its very confusing!
Emma
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It is likely that it could be the EGR valve. I had a 1.4 Polo that had an intermittent fault (light comming on). When I spoke to VAG they said that it was likely to be the Lambda probe. There were 2 on mine - Pre and post cat. After replacing the front probe, the light stayed on. VAG suggested that I come down and they would reset the ECU.
Instead of paying the main dealer I reset the ECU following a link on the internet (could probably find it again if you need it). This put the light out for about 2 or 3 weeks. When the light came on again I took it to a friend that works in the motor trade to use his diagnostic machine and it said that the EGR valve was faulty. I removed it (couple of alan keys) and cleaned it to stop it sticking. This cured the fault.
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I am having a similar issue on a 2003 1.4 Polo petrol. Clicksean, pls can you give me an idea of where the EGR valve is located so I can try remove it. Also, what should I clean it out with, any special solvent you recommend? Thanks.
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I have the same problem: 52 reg Polo 1.2. The lambda probe has been replaced, but the light still comes on intermittently. The warning codes are always the same; I can't remember the codes, but one is for the lambda sensor and I the other is reporting that the catalyst system something-or-other efficiency is below threshold. When the light is on the car fails an emissions test at 2500 rpm, but is fine at idle.
Have you got any further?
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you'd need the codes to see what was going on - lots of potential problems that "could" be the solution.
Sounds possible at least that the cat is gradually dying and the second O2 sensor (after the the cat) is reporting this - thus changing the sensor won't effect the outcome.
James
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