Hi everyone!

Let me introduce myself. I am in Australia and am used to working on Japanese cars. Aside from the odd service I've done on a Bimmer or two, I'm without experience on European or British cars.

I apologise in advance for the length of this opening post. I'd just like to provide all the info now, to avoid questions later. If you have the patience to read on, thank you!!

So on that note, I now have a Polo to repair and restore! It belongs to a mate of mine. It is a 1998 VW Polo MKIII (Mark 4) MTX with the 1.6L AEE engine. It has about 90,000Km (55,000 mi). He purchased it new in '98. He drove it regularly until about '07. At which time he took it into the VW dealer and had a whole slew of work done on it including head gasket replacement and all kinds of other servicing. I've asked my friend why he needed a head gasket changed and he says that they told him it hadn't been changed once since he bought the car. I explained to him that a head gasket is not a regular service item, that they go until they blow, and then only if something is wrong. Fact is, he's extremely unfamiliar with cars. I checked the work order and, sure enough, a head gasket job was done. In any event, he says it drove like a champ for about a year after and then started having issues such as a random overheat on startup and an occasional engine miss. At this point he parked it on the street and has spent the last several years simply shifting it around the block once per week to prevent getting ticketed. He now has a Mazda 2.

Regardless, that's the history. Onto where I come into it! He's recently moved house near to me so we went and hauled the Polo up to my place. First impressions: paint is atrocious. The clear is almost completely gone and the ruby red has faded to a dull pink. He went to start her up and, although a bit sluggish, it did fire up on first go. He carefully watched the thermometer as he said it can sometimes overheat right off the bat. He says if it doesn't overheat within the first 5-10 minutes, then it'll be fine. It didn't sound to be running very well and I was unimpressed. Although once it warmed up, it really sounded quite good! I did notice that it blew smoke quite a bit until it was fully warmed up. Upon driving it, I felt it was severely lacking in power. When I later checked, there was a bit of light soot on the spark plug electrodes, but nothing bad, although with the number 2 plug electrode it was completely fouled in dark and thick oil. The valve cover gasket is solid and intact with no signs of leaking into the plug wells or otherwise. Upon pulling the oil fill cap, there is evidence of sludge in the head. The current oil seems clean enough and has no obvious signs of water fouling. As well, I see no obvious signs of oil in the coolant. In fact, all the fluids seem pretty decent. He says oil was changed two years ago but he hasn't even put 100km (60mi) on it since then. When I pulled the air cleaner box up top (the air filter ring inside looks quite clean), I found signs of oil/grease all around the breather port on the floor of the housing, with the thin little rubber/plastic flap over it, the underside of which is connected to a thick hose/pipe leading down to under the intake manifold somewhere (I believe this is the port to the PCV valve, however I can't be sure), and oil film spreading around the base of the air cleaner box and back into the air intake tube which runs to the exhaust/outside. As well, it looks to be fairly dirty in the throttle body. One thing to note, it actually seemed to start much better from cold having the entire air cleaner assembly removed. It is my estimation that the entire engine has sludge buildup and things like PCV valve are completely gunked up. I am concerned that the piston rings in cylinder two are blown. Also, where is the air flow/air volume meter? I see nothing resembling a MAF/VAF sensor between the air intake and the throttle body. How does the computer know how much fuel to inject?

- I would like to do a compression test but I would like to remove the fuel pump fuse/relay to avoid fuel spray during the test. I'm not sure where that fuse is. There's three fuses in a little box over the battery, all unmarked.

- I would like to check the PCV valve and possibly clean or replace it but I'm not sure where it is.

- I am considering doing an aggressive flush/clean of the engine internals using a flush chemical product. I would like to know how these engines fare with such a treatment and if there's anything to avoid.

- I would VERY much like to have the factory workshop manual in PDF or paper format for this car. This would be essential. I know with Mazda, after 10 years, the manuals are available for free online from enthusiast forums and other places. Is there anywhere I can acquire such a manual for this poor little Polo?

The goal here is to restore the Polo to her former glory. My mate absolutely loves the Polo and would be thrilled to have her going again. Time is on our side as the car is not currently needed as a daily driver.

If you in fact read this far, I commend you!

Again, sorry for the tl;dr aspect of the post.

Thanks for reading.

Edited 2 April, 201313 yr by Roritor

The throttle bodies do tend to get gummed up but are easily cleaned with a can of spray carb cleaner and an old tooth brush, The PCV is a plastic box on the rear of the block, a bit tricky to get at as it's under the inlet manifold and again they are prone to getting blocked up with old oil deposits, as to an oil flushing compound there are differering opinions as to whether it should be used, as one thinking is it's likely to dislodge flakes of cacked on oil and these could block the oilways?? personally I've used a "Wynns oil flush" and never had any problems.

The fuses on the battery are for the big current items like the internal fusebox, ABS, Cooling fans etc, the fuel pump fuse is in the internal box # 32 15amp

As to a manual you have two options a "book of lies" the Haynes manual or to get a copy from ebay of a computer program called ElsaWin, it's basically a copy of the main dealers manuals and it covers all VAG models from 1995 to date it covers all the mechanicals inc body repairs, service schedules and full wiring diagrams

Oh and welcome to CP

Edit: Fusebox layouts have a look at this http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?...p;#entry1879606

Edited 2 April, 201313 yr by nige8021

Nige8021 thanks for the super fast reply!

For cleaning the throttle body, do you recommend removing it and opening it up? Or just opening the throttle, spraying downwards into the body and stuffing a toothbrush head down it?

Any word on the location of the MAF/VAF? Is there a MAP sensor within the runner or something?

Thanks for the info on the PCV location. And I do believe I will flush the engine. I'm familiar with the standard pro/con approaches to engine flush and I suppose there's always that threat of dislodged, hardened oil blocking oil galleries, etc. but I also know that certain engines seem to be very prone to that issue, whereas others are very resilient. I suppose I was wondering if this engine is known to not like an oil flush. In general I avoid aggressive flushes of anything and promote preventative maintenance instead. But having seen the sludge under the oil fill cap, I am wanting to clean it up.

Do you have any thoughts of other things I might check, given the history and situation of the car?

Thanks again!!

It is preferable to remove the TB to do a good clean, just so you can get to both sides of the butterfly, there's no user servicable parts in it according to VAG. Some people say you will then have to do a throttle body re-alignment proceedure which entails the use of the diagnostic program Vagcom/VCDS again when I did mine I just refitted it and it worked straight away with a lovely stable idle where as before it was all over the place.

A common fault is with the thermostat housing cover, there is a bridging piece that is supposed to hold the thermostat in position, these are prone to breaking and causing the thermostat to stick open or just not work at all, If it's giving poor mpg then sensor in the stat housing is a prime suspect as it gives info to the gauge and the ECU, The waterpump can also be a bit of a weak point as some were fitted with a plastic impeller and these have a habit of shearing off from the drive shaft giving rise to overheating problems so I'd change the cambelt to be on the safe side and replace the waterpump at the same time and refill the water system with genuine VAG coolant G12+ I doubt you'll need the antifreeze side ofit but it's also a corrosion inhibitor

The MAP sensor is at the left end of the manifold as you look at the engine, it's also the IAT sensor, also can be prone to getting oiled up if the engine is breathing heavily.

The other big weak point on these are the gearboxes, the crownwheels were rivited onto the diff cage and they shear off and punch holes in the casings and the bearings are aslo make of chocolate so make sure the oil level is OK, the filler on yours should be on the front face by the reverse gear switch 17mm hex it's a fill/level 75W/90 Synthetic around 3 litres for a complete fill, the drain plug is at the bottom of the diff casing by the passenger side drive shaft

Once again, thanks for the prompt and informative response. It is very much appreciated.

I shall have a look into all the things you have mentioned.

If the engine is "breathing heavy" to you reckon a clean of the throttle body and PCV valve would help that? Also, what think you regarding the smoke from tailpipe until the engine is warmed up and the heavy heavy oil buildup on number 2 plug electrode?

I'll surely report back with diagnostic info and test numbers as I attain them.

Do you think the occasional overheat on startup could be caused by the stat housing and/or water pump impeller?

Thanks again.

personally I've used a "Wynns oil flush" and never had any problems.

Just curious, where you've used that engine flush, was that on a relatively clean engine? Or one that's all caked and gummed up with sludge?

If the engine is breathing heavily I'd do a compression & leak down test to rule out any piston/bore wear issues and it might also be the cause of the oily plug with a leaky valve stem/seal If the PCV is blocked it would also cause a build up of pressure and could cause problems.

Regarding the smoke on startup what colour is it?

Regarding the overheating intermittant problem, personally I'd check the thermostat/housing for the problem I mentioned and if that was OK then unless you have proof of a recent cambelt change I'd get that replaced asap and replace the waterpump while your in there.

I used the oil flush on my 1.4 when I bought it, as the oil looked more like tar on the dipstick, there was no service history with it and it had 178,000 miles on the clock!! so I flushed it out twice and it suffered no side effects

Ok, ran a compression test:

.......Cyl 1 Cyl 2 Cyl 3 Cyl 4

Dry: 170 175 175 175

Wet: 190 195 195 195

These figures are averages taken from each cylinder being done 3-4 times for each test. I'm not sure what the figures are meant to be, as the ElsaWin is still downloading (49GB ouch!!).

I still haven't pulled apart the throttle body or accessed the PCV valve. Would like to have the manual in front of me.

I ran a detergent engine flush through the oil system. The oil came out pretty black but no solid or goopy chunks. Perhaps the sludge I see under the oil fill cap is left over from before someone did an engine flush before hand. Either way, new filter and some cheap 20W-50 which I'll change out again after 500-1000km.

I ran a fuel injector cleaner and some 98 octane fuel through the tank but I can't drive it around much as it has no current rego. So I've just let it idle for a few hours in my drive.

Anyway, it still doesn't seem to run very well. It *feels* like it's idling kinda low or maybe missing or stumbling or something. According to the tacho it's sitting at about 925 +/- 25. I still haven't had the chance to pull apart the timing belt cover or look at the t-stat housing.

I noticed a very slight oil leak which seemed to be coming from around the base of the oil filter. I've replaced the filter so we'll see what happens now. The old one was on pretty damned tight tho. There was oil around and on the filter. Perhaps this would explain the slight smoke which seems to originate from around where the exhaust part of the air intake connects to the manifold. At first I suspected a faulty manifold gasket. But that air hose connects pretty close to where the oil filter lives so perhaps it's just smoke burning off of where it's leaking oil. Who knows?

Checked the cabin air filter. Doubt if its ever been changed. Horrendous. Ordered another. Aircon is totally dead. No response at all when turned on. I won't bother looking into that very much for now.

I reckon all the fluids and filters could use a change. The air filter looks ok though.

The steering wheel does this weird sort of clicking when I turn it. It's not a continuous or repetitive click. Even with the car lifted and the wheels stationary, I can feel a light click/clink in the steering wheel. It will click/clunk maybe four times from a complete lock to lock turn and they happen at uneven intervals in the turn. This is with engine on or off, car moving or still.

Would like to scan for error codes. I have the blue VAGCOM to USB cable off of eBay. My regular OBD-II program won't pick anything up. Do I need a special program? Would love it if I could pick up some codes to point me in the right direction.

I guess in the meantime I'll keep downloading ElsaWin and maybe pull apart the throttle body.

Compressions look OK the book figures are between 101 ~ 217 Psi or 7 ~ 15 BAR.

The "stumbling" idle could be the dirty throttle body or it needing the throttle body adaption proceedure? The idle speed should be 880+/_ 50 rpm

It will not respond to OBD2 software, only to Vagcom/VCDS free to downloadfrom the ross-tech.com site

The clicking steering is possibly the universal joint at the bottom of the column a spray of wd40 or similar might fix it.

I'd definately replace all the fluids and relevant filters inc fuel filter.

The A/C probably just need a gas recharge??

There is often a slight oil weep from the joint between the block & head just above the alternator

101 - 217 PSI range? Wow, that's heaps. Glad to know my numbers look pretty good, at least. Obviously signs of a slight wear of rings due to slightly higher numbers with a wet test. Not surprising though and nothing I can't live with.

Perhaps you could steer me towards some more info on that throttle body adaptation procedure you mentioned? Was going to pull apart the TB today but I'll wait until I read up on that procedure.

Will download VAGCOM software today. Will report back with any codes.

Thanks again.

You know you've stayed up way too damn late when an Australian is posting.

^ LOL!!!!

Perhaps you could steer me towards some more info on that throttle body adaptation procedure you mentioned? Was going to pull apart the TB today but I'll wait until I read up on that procedure.

Will download VAGCOM software today. Will report back with any codes.

Thanks again.

Here's a link to the TB adaption http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/throttlebody.html

There's no user servicable parts in the TB you just need to clean the inside of the body and the butterfly, especially in the area where the butterfly is at the closed position and the edges of the butterfly.

Thanks again! Will read up.

:-)

Say, which VAGCOM software should I download from Ross-Tech? There's a couple different kinds...?

Did an easy clean on the throttle body today (didn't pull it apart) just by jamming the butterfly valve open and spraying a torrent of throttle body and carby cleaner down it and jamming a toothbrush down there and scrubbing. Didn't seem to do a whole lot...

Will do the proper pull apart but I'm a bit concerned that if I pull it apart that the old gasket will not hold up. A new one is going to cost me about $25-35 dollars. I can only find this one on eBay which would need to post to Australia. My local parts guy insists that there is not a gasket, but simply an O-ring, VW part number 030133073D. He says I'd need to order it genuine. He insists that's the only gasket at all that I would need to replace. There is no other one for IAC motor or anything else. Is this true? This is what comes up when I do a google image search on that part number:

There isn't any sort of something like this?

I'm assuming that o-ring he mentioned is part 3. What are parts 5, 21 and where 11 sandwhiches up?

I am about 60% through the 50GB ElsaWin and I'd prefer to have an idea of what parts I'd need for reassembly before I tear apart the throttle body.

Also, is there any point in checking out the EGR? ARe they a common issue on these cars? I've had other cars run like crap until I cleaned out the EGR...

Thanks.

That diagram is for the 16v inlet not the 8v

This is the 8v manifold & TB

7) 030133073D seal 52X2,5X5,35 / 4.8 €uros

The idle control motor is integral in the TB behind the black plastic cover allong with the butterfly position and idle position sensors and in theory nothing is user servicable parts ???

There is no mention of an EGR system on this engine??

The software used to be called Vagcom 409.1 it can still be downloaded from other sources (google search) It has been replaced now with VCDS and from the Ross-Tech you'll need the VCDS lite

I've had similar problems with my AEE after cleaning the thottle body, removing and cleaningthe pcv and replacing the hose I noticed a good improvement, but changing the temp senders and rotor arm and cap it got even better. But the best thing I have done is fitted a stronger battery, I found this by using a huge battery to jump stat it and it ran and ifled great while it was connected and as soon as it was disconnected it ran badly.

Also, after replacing the lambda sensors (2 of them 4 wires type) it was back to normal. Fuel filter is a must also especially if it's been standing.

Thanks for the feedback, dixy!!

Did you pull apart the throttle body or did you just give it a clean while it was attached the the intake manifold? If you pulled it apart, did you need to replace the o-ring/gasket?

I pulled off the distributor cap and and inspected the inside of it. It looked intact and all, but there was a definite deposit of carbon or something on all the brass tips. I took some sand paper and scuffed up all the contact points and cleaned them up. It doesn't look new, but definitely better than before. Do you reckon I'd still be better off with new ones?

The PCV is definitely my next project. Still waiting for ElsaWin to arrive...

What made you change out the temp sensors? Did you test them and they tested poorly? Or did you just replace them for the hell of it?

What are lambda sensors and again, what made you decide to change them?

The car hasn't been standing, per Se. Like I said, it was turned on about once per week and moved around the block. Would you still recommend I change the fuel filter?

Also, the manual states really explicitly that only the VW coolant should be used. It says it is paramount that regular coolant isn't substituted. It says the proper VW coolant is red in colour. Mine is actually sort of a blue-green cross. Which is strange. I'm used to fluorescent green and also red. Not blue-green. Anyway, how important is it that I use the actual VW coolant?

Again, thanks heaps for your comments.

I took the TB off the manifold to clean it, so you get to both sides of the butterfly, I just had a look at the "O" ring it looked fine so just refitted the TB with the original O ring.

Most people on here will swear you should only use the VW G12+ coolant antifreeze, I've used a universal antifreeze with a corrosion inhibitor from a reputable manufacturer, with no problems, although there is'nt much difference in the price between a good universal and the genuine G12

Checking frost protection

Notet Because of its positive characteristics only coolant additive G 12 Plus according to TL VW 774 F should be used if possible. Identification: coloured lilac

t G 12 Plus can be mixed with previously used coolant additives G 12 red and G 11.

t G 12 Plus is suitable as a filled-for-life filling for cast iron and all-aluminium engines and gives optimum protection against frost, corrosion damage, scaling and overheating.

t G 12 Plus raises the boiling point to 135 °C and ensures better heat dissipation. The coolant concentration must be at least 40 % (frost protection up to - 25 °C). It should not exceed 60 % (frost protection up to - 40 °C), otherwise frost protection will be reduced again and cooling effectiveness will also be reduced.

A new rotor arm and distributor cap would be a good idea as you might have micro tracking inside the cap causing a weak spark.

The coolant temp sensors are prone to failures, normally this will show up as poor starting with erratic idling untill it warms up and high fuel consumption.

On your engine there will only be one lambda sensor just after the catalytic converter, it measures the quality of the exhaust gases for any unburnt petrol, and signals the ECU, which will then alter the injector pulse time to allow more or less fuel to be injected and when it fails it normally shows up as poor fuel consumption, some times as poor idling when the engine is warm and high exhaust emissions at the yearly MOT test.

The signals from both of these sensors can easily be checked with vagcom/vcds

So a lambda sensor...just another name for an O2 sensor? Sounds like it serves roughly the same purpose. Asmwell as the fact that when i called, my parts guy had never heard of a lambda sensor and his parts catalogue for the Au spec '98 Polo AEE shows a listing for an O2 sensor but nothing for a lambda sensor.

So a lambda sensor...just another name for an O2 sensor? Sounds like it serves roughly the same purpose. Asmwell as the fact that when i called, my parts guy had never heard of a lambda sensor and his parts catalogue for the Au spec '98 Polo AEE shows a listing for an O2 sensor but nothing for a lambda sensor.

Yes O2/Lambda same thing

From the VW parts listing

032906265 lambda probe / F >> 6N-V-350 000 / AEV,ADX,AEA AFH, manual- gearbox: AEE

032906265C lambda probe / F 6N-W-000 001>> / manual- gearbox: AEE

Ok some updates.

I've ordered a few parts. Dizzy cap and rotor, fuel filter, cabin air filter. Waiting on ordering coolant sensor and/or lambda sensor until I have definitively ruled them out as faulty.

In other news, I've kinda got ElsaWin going. It's v4.0. It's a bit bulky and my Deutsch was a bit rusty, which I needed to get the program going LOL. I'm still kinda feeling it out. It's hard for me to tell which bits it'll let me use offline and which bits it wants me to connect to central database for. In fact, I can't get it to give me much of anything without trying to connect and authenticate. Pretty frustrating as I know that the program is holding 46.6GB of data. But it won't let me have it!!

I also got my code scanner up and running. When I first plugged in the VAGCOM cable to my laptop using the Ross Tech VCDS-lite software, it gave me two engine codes and one airbag code.

Address 01: Engine Labels: 032-906-030-AEE.LBL

Controller: 032 906 030 AB

Component: MARELLI 1AV 2227

VCID: 4AE7E12B65A7

2 Faults Found:

00529 - Engine Speed Signal Missing

03-10 – No Signal – Intermittant

01249 – Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

31-10 – Please Register/Activate – Intermittant

Readines: N/A

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Address 15: Airbags Labels: 1J0-909-60x-VW3.LBL

Controller: 1J0 909 603-E

Component: AIRBAG VW3 2227

Coding: 00069

Shop #: WSC 00788

VCID: 2B2984AFCA1D

1 Fault Found:

00532 – Supply Voltage B+

07-10 – Signal too Low - Intermittant

I felt this was strange as, to the best of my knowledge, none of my issues involved these two areas. My speedometer works fine (or is that engine speed sensor not the same as the vehicle speed sensor?). On a website which compares VAGCOM codes to OBD-II codes, it says that the 529 code is equivalent to the OBD-II P0725 code: Engine Speed Input Circuit (RPM Sensor) - No Signal. So again, kinda confusing. I went ahead and cleared those codes and they didn't come back. Even after running the engine for a while. I do not have any CEL/MIL equipped in the car, I don't think. But I AM equipped with an airbag light and it comes up for a few seconds on startup and then goes out. As it should. So now I'm thinking those codes were perhaps related to old repairs or issues and were never cleared out of the system.

Error code 529 is clearly defined on the Ross-Tech site. On the other hand, I had a much harder time finding any info on the 1249, as the Ross-Tech site doesn't list it. I think they want me to give them money for that info. On that same website which compares VAGCOM codes to OBD-II codes, it says that it is a P0201: Cylinder 1 - Injector Fault-N30 (einspritzventil cylinder 1 -N30). Now this is very strange. As far as I could tell, my cylinder 1 was just fine. It was my cylinder 2 that had the spark plug all gunked up. So I fired up the engine and started playing around. If I pulled the plug on the fuel injector of cyl 1, 3 or 4, it was immediately noticeable in terms of engine performance. As well, the computer immediately threw a code of injector cylinder "x" open or short circuit (where "x" is the number of the cylinder who's injector harness was just pulled). If I pulled the harness on cylinder 2, the computer threw the code like all the other ones. However the engine made no discernible change in operation whether the harness was plugged or unplugged. Again, this makes sense in that it's cyl 2 that has the gunked up plug electrode. So obviously it's not igniting whether it's being fed fuel or not. It is definitely cylinder 2 which is the misfire. So again, the presence of the cyl 1 misfire code in there was confusing. Another reason why I chalked it up to an old repair that never had the codes cleared.

But my question is, what's the deal with cylinder 2??? Could the electrical portion of the injector be intact insofar as the computer can definitely tell whether the circuit is opened or closed, but perhaps the mechanical part is buggered? Thus causing no combustion in that chamber and allowing oil to collect on the electrode? Does that even make any sense? I was thinking to perhaps swap the injector with another and see what happens. Is that difficult to do? Will it require new gaskets or anything? I cleaned off the oil from the #2 plug a while back but perhaps I didn't clean it well enough? This is all relatively new territory for me, diagnostically speaking. I can swap out a part, if I want/need to. But knowing which part(s) to swap and why, well that's where the skill lies...

I tried to perform the throttle boddy alignment procedure however, once again, they want money from me. It tells me that the VCDS-lite that I have is only a trial version and won't run any tests. Grrr...any advice on that score...?

So, the ElsaWin doesn't want to work. The Ross-Tech VCDS doesn't want to work and won't even define all my DTCs for me, let alone run live calibration and testing...

Starting to get frustrated here. I feel like I'm up against a brick wall. I understand the benefits of doing all that stuff we talked about earlier, swapping all fluids/filters, the dizzy cap and rotor, etc. But it's all moot if I can't even get the engine running without a misfire. And dixy, I get that you got great improvements from swapping out the coolant sensor and the lambda/O2 sensor. But clearly those are not my current issues. Basically, if I can sort out the misfire, then I'll happily pour all the TLC I can pour into the Polo. But until then...

Thanks guys...

Here's the engine fault code 01249

This is the Airbag code, I would'nt worry about this one, most likely caused by a flat battery at some point

So you did the right thing erase them and start fresh

See if you can find a download of vagcom 409.1 you might have more functions, As to elsawin it took me a couple of attempts to get it to work, I think the problems was down to something with a SVG veiwer?? I've never had to connect to any central database to get any info??? It just runs as a stand alone program

The injectors are held in with a clip and there are two O rings 035906149A round seal 7,52X3,53 / you could do the old school trick of a long screwdriver held against the injectors and listen for the click as they open/close

I got impatient and just did what I needed to do to get the VAGCOM software to give me all the functionality. Sorry, RossTech...

Performed the TB alignment. But that's not my issue. I really need to sort out that Cylinder 2 mifire...

I got ElsaWin to show me certain manuals but a lot of the suite still wants me to provide the VIN so it can connect to Berlin or something and get specific info on my car. If I fill out all the car info myself, it still won't let me click OK without providing the VIN. If I provide the VIN and click OK, it then opens a built-in web browser and browses to a database website where it wants my dealership username and pass. Whatever. As long as I have some manuals, I'm relatively happy. Just wish you could get a PDF download of the manual, like with Japanese and American cars...

Trying to figure out where the damned fuel filter goes...the browser only talks about a filter for the diesel engine and emptying water from it and stuff. Online, people mention that filter as being all over the place: behind the petrol tank, in front of the petrol tank, above the petrol tank (need to access the fuel pump area to get to it, under the car along the chassis, in the engine bay, behind the headlight. Ugh. The only thing I can find that looks likely, is behind the drivers side headlight (RHD vehicle) where there's a plastic housing. I can only see and access the cap of the housing. There's two hoses that connect to the top of the housing. One clear one and where it connects to the plastic cap it says TANK. Then next to that there's a black hose where, at the point where it connects to the plastic cap, it says MOTOR. But then the hose that comes from MOTOR goes immediately up to the strut top, where it connects to some sort of valve or solenoid, the hose on the other side of that solenoid goes straight to the throttle body. So I'm very confused. And if that plastic housing IS the fuel filter, then the actual filter which I would replace must be inside that housing. But I can't figure out how to get the cap off...

Gonna go mess with spark plugs and injectors. Will update later...

Ok, found the fuel filter. Duuuuh. I feel stupid. I kept crawling under the car from the front. As soon as I slipped under from the back, it was staring me in the face, just on the rear of the petrol tank, under the car.

From my estimation, the hose off to the left (when looking at in head-on from the back of the car) is the one that goes off to the engine and the hose on the right is the one coming from the pump?

My question now is, how on Earth to I loosen those hoses off of the filter nipples????? I don't want to damage them and there's no extra length in the hoses for me to get the filter out of its' bracket and do it in an easier position. I have to do the entire thing at a very awkward angle. Any tips? The fittings are covered in road grime so it's very difficult to tell if need a certain tool or if there's release clamps or whatever.