Urban mechanics, whats up with my car?

[Detroit City]

Personally Id check the air filter...

Have had it before where oily mush sprays back into the air filter, this in turn blocks some of the air mixing with the fuel and can lead to loss of power/stalling.... I know its a problem in VW's around the R/S reg, but it might be worth checking.

a clogged air filter would cause problems at all speeds, not just at idle speed

 

[djbombscare]

what do you reckon to recon ECUs or having existing ECU re-programmed.

I've never used or replaced a recon ECU. I have however had aftermarket chips installed in and had my ECU's reprogrammed My car at the moment is running one.

Careful though as it can void warranties.

TBH I dont see why there would be any problem with it. It would only be case of replacing any faulty chips etc and resetting it back to factory before reprogramming it. A bit like resetting the PC, mobile phone, computer etc. So how much cheaper are they ? and any warranty with em ? It all about weighing up that with how long you think your gonna keep the car innit.

It cost me £350 to get mine done. BUT I get wicked performance AND now 60+ mpg. (its a diesel)

everytime I've tried that the stupid car refuses to play up I've even left a car with a garage for a week once, they drove it every day and still it wouldn't break down!!

Thats always the case innit I had a Fiesta RS Turbo that did exactly the same thing. Spluttery all the way to the garage until the mechanic jumped in. Then it was perfect

It used to happen loads when I was in the bike shop. But on a plus point if its broken it will be easier to find the fault

 

[Chz]

ECUs are pretty bomb-proof, to be honest.

The problem is usually that they're being fed bad data from somewhere. An oxygen sensor or temperature sensor gone off, that sort of thing. Loose wire, even.

Or it's a valve of some sort sticking. I'd put my money on a dead sensor or a sticky valve. Chugging/dying at idle suggests a fuel/air mixture issue.

 

[Fuzzy]

can i jump in with my mechanical question on my car at this juncture.

i've got an 11 year old VW polo. runs fine until we have a damp or wet night. sometimes in the morning it takes a while to spark up and get the engine running. once it has sparked its fine after about 5 mins. is it a case of there being moisture in the distributor cap and if so how do i sort it out.

 

[djbombscare]

can i jump in with my mechanical question on my car at this juncture.

i've got an 11 year old VW polo. runs fine until we have a damp or wet night. sometimes in the morning it takes a while to spark up and get the engine running. once it has sparked its fine after about 5 mins. is it a case of there being moisture in the distributor cap and if so how do i sort it out.

Its an old trick but see if a quick squirt of WD40 in the cap sorts it. If it does then part of the answer is yes.

It could be duff battery, terminals, electrics, gaskets, lack of compression there's a myriad of stuff it could be.

But if you want to try that its a cheap quick fix that will tell you if there's damp getting in there.

 

[ice-is-forming]

Thanks loads.

The cutting out and loss of power steering etc is the reason I've come to sorting it out.

Is there any significance in the fact it seems to be doing it more now that its cold and damp?

Gonna try and get on top of it all this week, on me bike for now.

when i have disconnectected the battry on mine..eg to fit a new starter moter this week, a new alternaor last year _ welding etc = stalling = loss of power steering etc ..ime my vehicle has taken about 100'k to reset itself....other than that i'd listen to djbombscare specially re the damp in yer battery... etc...

 

[zoltan]

Im going for Fuel Filter on this - simple is first & best with fords of this vintage

Change it for a few quid and see what happens

 

[zoltan]

Its an old trick but see if a quick squirt of WD40 in the cap sorts it. If it does then part of the answer is yes.

It could be duff battery, terminals, electrics, gaskets, lack of compression there's a myriad of stuff it could be.

But if you want to try that its a cheap quick fix that will tell you if there's damp getting in there.

Miost breakdowna re leccy based innit

I have been running decent cars for the past dew years, but usually when I get something a bit older, the first thing I do was replace ignition lectrics incl HT leads & rotor arms/ caps ( if it has one )

never had any damp running problems

worth spending manbe 30-45 quid on for peace of mind
at the start of ownership

 

[Part 2]

I know this is ages ago but I thought I'd share the solution with those who helped out, especially bombscare who seemed to have gone out of his way to look into the problem.

I never got round to sorting it out until last week, reluctant to pay for someone to plug the car into a computer so spent a lot of time reading up on forums.

I finally found the answer here:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28249&page=9

My pipe was the same as the one in post 107 but the holes were much worse.

Garage charged me £20 to sort it. By all accounts I could have easily spent 20 times that much getting the runaround at a dealers and still not got things sorted.