1.4L 1997 Polo - engine cut out

[MikeJBro]

Hello folks,

Is there anyone out there who can help me?

Recently my Polo has started to cut out on a regular basis. The engine seems to be running fine and there is no problem with it idling when stationary. Its when I am slowing the car down and depressing the clutch to say turn corners or stopping at lights that it happens. I have just had a full service including new air and fuel filters, but that has not cured it.

Any idea of the likely cause of the problem and how much it is going to cost?

Anyones help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike

P.S. I've now had it in the garage. They replaced the distributor cap on the rotor arm. It didn't cure it! They checked and confirmed there was no air leaks. They are satisfied there is nothing wrong with the ignition coil and that there is no mechanical problem. They concluded it must be an electrical problem and they don't deal with those!

[s0niX]

dam... sounds alot of trouble.. id would go out and buy another one...

[MasterMickVW]

You need yr throttle housing cleaned out with carb cleaner and then re-adapted taht should solve it.

[dukla2000]

My vote is with MasterMick. The Haynes troubleshooter reckons for engine stalls:
- Vacuum leak @ throttle body, inlet manifold or associated hoses
- fuel filter choked
- fuel pump faulty
- fuel tank vent blocked
- fuel injection system fault

The last 4 strike me as problems that the stall happens when idling, whereas the first one could cause a stall on overrun. Presumably it restarts immediately?

[midiwife]

Sounds like my prob with my Golf mk 2 Driver. I'm thinking it's got to be the Pierburg carb as that's what most other folk with this problem are being told. But I'd like to read a post from someone who's fitted a new carb and solved their problem totally!

[lennylegs]

Hi
I just registered on here because i'm after the service intervals for my polo. I came across your thread, my polo did exactly the same for the last year, the distributor cap was replaced, it kept on happening. Eventually the whole distributor was changed (a reconditioned one) and it hasn't stalled once.

Not sure if that helps you at all but thought i'd reply because i know how damn frustrating it is. (and how much of a muppet you feel when everyone looks at you like you cant drive a car cos yet again it stalls!)

Good luck
Lennylegs

[midiwife]

Hi,

Thanks for the tip. I'm getting to the point where it looks like I might have to change everything. I do know the distributor cap looks like it's been 'tracking' (mechanic friend used the word with a shake of his head) but it is still working apparently. I'm going to book it into a veedub specialist - thank heavens I've got the use of a T4 in the meantime. And yes, the sitting going nowhere bit is truly and frustratingly embarassing.

Kind regards.

[conrad100]

I have a polo that as just the same problem ,
looks like it is a very common problem with all vw
cars and no one knows how to cure it .
I would never buy a vw car again after reading this site .

[midiwife]

Hi Conrad,

Yes, it's very frustrating. I'm having my golf looked at by a VW specialist this coming Friday but he's not confident of finding the fault... unless it plays up on demand which I doubt it will. Just to spite me though I took it out a couple of days ago and it behaved faultlessly.

But I previously had a Mk2 golf which was a wonderful car and now, I'm sorry I scrapped it when I did. I also drive a T4 transporter which is solid as a rock.

So sad for all of us with this intermittent problem though.

[conrad100]

It will be interesting to see what they find on friday ,but like them
i have not a lot of hope ,because the car will be stationary when they run
it though the tests ,and as you know it will only stall when slowing down at junctions .
But please let us all know how you get on and good luck