our 1300 f reg reg polo has started to play up big time seems totaly random , it runs perfect the all of a sudden looses nearly all power and refuses to go,the only way to carry on is by redlining it and driving like a loon , then all of a sudden it will be sweet again when its playin up , it doesnt seem to misfire, just sod all power and lots of kangerooing etc ive just brought new leads and a coil anyone any ideas...hall sender maybe
Dodgey fuel pump? Spark plugs? Distributor cap? I had some problems with the AUTOMATIC CHOKE on my mk2 polo, which meant to drive it I had to brake with the right foot in neutral and keep the revs up with the right foot when coming to stop.
fuel pump is new, plugs /cap/arm are recent and it had a new tank and filter last year not realy sure how to decide if its ign or fuel related
Fuel filter? I had a similar problem with my car and it turned out to be the fuel filter clogged up. Edited by: kirby
Carb icing? Check the warm air intake pipe that goes to the exhaust manifold cover is good and the temperature controlled flap is OK as well (you know that thing in the air filter intake pipe that has the vacuum hose to it)
Had a problem likem that on my 87 8v rocco found it out in the end(long time searching) to be fuel pump realy connections dodgy.
Sounds like a carb problem to me, have you tried blowing out the main jet with a compressor or similar and then running some Redex into the top of the carb with the engine revving? That always seems to clear any minor problems on my Polo.
fuel filter looks okay, was new a while back and also the tank is new so no crud in there carb icing...dont think so, it did it after standing half an hour in a car park mech fuel pump , so no relay stu..the carb looks a bit complicated, i think its a 2e3 does a dash of redex really get through the jets?? im thinking carb or hall sender
hall senders tend to work or not, nothing spluttery or only at high revs. Check for air leaks on the carb/manifold etc. and check the earth is good as well as sometimes the solenoid can play up with a dodgy earth. As Stu says, blow the jets out, easy done. 2e3 are quite simple as I recall, haynes has a bit on them I think.
i thought it could be that rubber spacer under the carb, but i gave it a good wriggle while it was running and it didnt make any leaks
Sounds stupid, but when my mk2 polo ran crap, I used some redex treatment shot from halfords (99p) with a full tank of Shell optimax and gave it some good revving. Seemed to smooth things out for the time being once we ran it back to normal fuel.
Yeah, can't recommend Redex and a good revving enough for sorting minor carb problems. My Dad and brother run aircooled dubs and swear by it, my Dad also used to have an F-reg squareback Polo and that responded well to the same treatment. If the carb is similar(ish) to the Solex ones you can unscrew the main jet very easily and drain out the float chamber into a little container. See if the petrol from the float chamber contains any particles or dirt which might be clogging it up. Blow the jet out and then get someone to run rev the car at fast idle while dropping some Redex in the top of the carb where it connects to the air-filter usually. You generally see a load of smoke from the exhaust then and the car will bog down a little so make sure to keep it revving. That should clear it out (assuming it's a carb problem) - also stick a bit of Redex in with some good quality petrol in the tank to be going on with.
had to buy one of those for my mk2 1litre squareback a few weeks ago. Pierburg carb type cost me 22 quid!
the tanks on those polos are prone to rusting so it could be gamming the carb up. strip the carb and rebuild it, clean your fuel lines, change your filter and check the tank
