2002 VW Polo Exhaust Emissions Warning Light

[natsgolf]

thank you for you helpful advice shall take my boyfriend with me as he knows a lot about car mechanics - shame he isn't one! will have a look around to see if i can find a local garage who do a lot of work with vws. cheers guys you are so helpful x

[carol hinds]

I had this problem October 2006 and had a faulty lamdba probe replaced for £90.78 and fault memory erased at the VW dealers. Has anyone heard of this. I also have a dog who is a doppelganger of the dog in the current Polo ad on tele. He barks all the time in the car, though is improving now, 3 replaced seat belts later.

[miln0039]

I was driving my 2001 Polo 16v in town earlier, and my Exhaust Emissions light lit up (for the first time!). I checked the manual, which naturally told me to give all my money to VW, so ignored that and drove the 7 or 8 miles back out of town. The car seemed to suffer no change in performance, and I couldn't notice any difference in the sound - and have had a brief look underneath and see no noticeable damage to the exhaust etc. I'm quite confused as to what the potential issues could be, but I would assume them to be minimal seeing as the car came through its MOT less than one week ago! The car has covered 68k miles and the cambelt has been changed, so other than that I'm pretty stumped as to which of the potential problems listed above it would be advisable to check first?! I'm on a student sized budget, so willing for any money saving techniques there might be too! I would be most appreciative of any advice possible!

Many thanks!

[Gidders]

Carol, did getting the lamba probe changed stop the light coming on? mine keeps doing it and is drivnig me mad. one garage told me it was the cam sensor, had it changed and light is still coming on with the same fault being recorded. Rubbish!

[eko]

Hi All

I've had the same problem with my partners polo. About a year ago, the light came on. I had the dealer run a diagnostic check on it (costs about £45) but they found nothing. This happened again just a month ago. Again, I had to pay £45 to have the diagnostics done again. This time they found a fault (temperature sensor in the engine had failed). I was charged £79 to fit a £25 sensor. I hope this helps.

Ed

[petrolhead]

Hey all,

My polo has the same prob, only difference is, I JUST get the light, no juddering or anything. Had the same prob a while back, took it in and "No Fault Found" Been fine since my gearbox seal and clutch went. Driving down the M62 to Leeds and off it went again. Started my car this morning, got to the Butty van at work and it disappeared again...Some what annoying....

[Happydays]

A belated catch up-

Have had quite a few more problems with this: I sent it in to the main dealer be looked at while it was still in warranty, got it back from them (with no paperwork - they were 'in a hurry'), got it one junction down the motorway, turned round and took it back to them: it was chugging and wouldn't go over 40mph! I inisited on speaking to the manager, threatened to phone Volkswagen and lo and behold, courtesy car and profuse apologies! It was unsafe to drive, apparently, but whatever they had done at it it had made it worse. I never really got an explanation as to what was wrong but it was OK for about six months or so.

The week after it was out of warranty (typical!), it happened again: the light came on, it was chugging and had no acceleration and didn't like starting. I took it to my independent garage who diagnosed the cam shaft position sensor was faulty, replaced it (50 quid all in) and, touch wood, all has been well since.

[Snave]

I bought a 2002 Polo 1.2 just after Christmas and noticed it would chug like hell when idle a few weeks later. Took it into the dealer (not a VW one) who changed the spark plugs and one of the coils after diagnosing a cylinder misfiring fault - but this did absolutely nothing. I was told that it probably wasn't doing any damage to the car so just to come back if it got any worse.

Today I was driving home and the engine emission light came on for the first time. I pulled over and checked the book and it told me to take it in to the garage - I did so but all of the mechanics had gone home and I was told to bring it back tommorrow morning.

Bit wary to take it in now it's out of warranty as I don't want them throwing parts at it if it's not going to fix it!

I noticed no lack of performance or any chugginess when the light came on but I would prefer it if it would disappear!

Has anyone had any luck getting rid of any idling problems similar to mine? I'd be hugely greatful if I could avoid a trip to the garage!

Cheers

Josh

[STEOGORMAN]

Mine comes on and off regular, but what i have noticed is the temp gauge goes up and down even when engine is hot,so car thinks its cold when really it isn't and it can affect tickover. Not sure what to do. I asked a mechanic but he thought the temp switch on engine looked ok as normally he said they go all green and furry and the two wired variety were more reliable than the previous four wires. Anyone got any ideas what course of action to take?

[darkwall]

Hi,

My 2003 Polo FSI has been running fine since I bought it (just over 4 months and 2000 miles ago) then yesterday it felt as though I was in the wrong gear when approaching a roundabout (the car was juddering) and the Exhaust warning lamp came on... I stopped and got towed home.
I was going to take it to VW today but after reading all the comments on here I'm not sure that is the best thing to do!

I'm happy to do any work on my car but I don't want to risk doing any more damage to it than there already is - the car seems to idle at very low revs (approx 550 to 600 rpm) and sounds very rough - as though its running on 2 or 3 cylinders instead of 4.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I live in the Preston (Lancashire) area and don't know a local garage who can do the diagnostics for me.

Cheers...