Hello new to this forum, just wondering if anyone can clarify a few things for me. Sorry this is abit long - a lot has happenned since i bought my new car 2 wks ago - aaah!!! Bought 1.9 sdi polo estate (2000) due to expanding family for usual reasons of reliability, resalability etc etc....Ended up getting a car without much SH but seemed sound and drove well.
First problem one week into new ownership was car was seriously slow (not just sdi slow) and has distinctive surges just before you go to change gear. I had this thing off and foind it has a broken seal inside it - could this be cause of my troubles overtaking the clios and puntos of this world? Am I right in saying on the 1.9 sdi engine (2000) there is no MAF meter but something called a throttle valve adaptor - comes after air filter? Would this be an MAF under different name?

Secondly and far worse the wife was driving back from work and engine took on new sound level and pumped out black smoke. 2 days and a parking ticket later got the thing towed to our local garage and watched what seemed to be post-mortem. Timing belt still intact and tensioned right, lots of oil in engine but on inspection of camshaft, camlifters cracked, and below valves damaged and cylinder head burred. Wasnt particularly happy when my mechanic said he'd never seen anything like it in 27 years and couldnt really work out what had happenned. End result need new head and head set, bolts etc...Has anyone heard of this before?

I would just like to know if i fork out 600 squid to get this fixed - is it going to happen again???

Any ideas much appreciated


Hugh