Volkswagen Polo III (2000 - 2002) - 00 1.4 Starting issues

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Sun 19 Jul 2009 18:05
00 1.4 Starting issues - Hurricane
Hello,

I've got a 9yr old 1.4 auto Polo which is having trouble starting. It's an intermittent issue and it's been back to the VW garage twice with no faults found. I'm starting to loose hope this can be fix before it causes a more serious issue, so I'm looking for some help and advice.

The car turns over ok, but splutters and chugs until eventually it bursts into life, often it needs some help with extra presses on the accellerator. The car does few miles, probably 5k this year and is serviced properly, however a service is due soon.

I've bought some HT lead testers, which I'll try tomorrow... any other advice greatly appreciated.

Regards
H.
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Sun 19 Jul 2009 21:02
00 1.4 Starting issues - Javalin
Hiya

Have you had a compression test done?

Does it crank at a decent rate? Have the connections / battery been checked?

James
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Sun 19 Jul 2009 21:46
00 1.4 Starting issues - Hurricane
Hi James, it's hard to say what the VW garage actually checked however I'll get the battery seen to tomorrow somewhere else. I know they checked connections, spark plug tightness etc because they mentioned they had done that. Nothing came up on the diagnostics either. I think it's just a case of testing things individually until it's resolved. :o)
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Mon 20 Jul 2009 09:25
00 1.4 Starting issues - Javalin
once it starts does it run ok?

James
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Mon 20 Jul 2009 09:50
00 1.4 Starting issues - jc2
If it needs extra presses on the accelerator it sounds more fuel problems than spark.

Edited by jc2 on 20/07/2009 at 09:51

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Mon 20 Jul 2009 10:35
00 1.4 Starting issues - kiss (keep it simple)
I had a bit of starting trouble with a 1.4 Golf. It was only firing up on 3 cylinders. It turned out to be the head gasket which was letting coolant foul one of the plugs.
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Tue 21 Jul 2009 15:13
00 1.4 Starting issues - Hurricane
Just an update for anyone else who might have this issue in the future.

After having the battery checked I decided to return to the garage. They say it's now a problem with a temperature sensor in the engine that regulates the fuel & air mixture. So when starting from cold it's not getting enough fuel... fingers crossed this is the end of this. Thanks for all the helpful advice.

H.
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