Evening all,

Real name: Ben, and the Polo is mainly for my partner Amy

Age: 23

Location: Peterborough

Polo owner, if so which? Or looking to get?: 6n 1.4 CL

Previous car history: I own an MG ZR 1.8 160. Previously had Clio 1.2, Saxo 1.4 Furio, Fiesta 1.25, Fiesta 1.4, MG ZR 1.8 120, Saxo 1.1, Peugeot 206 1.1

Hobbies/interests: Cars mainly.. Currently making custom lights for the MG ZR

Occupation: Network Analyst

How did you hear about us?: Googles top result, looked the best forum

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My partner has just bought a 1998 ® Polo CL

I will therefore be the one to 'maintain' the car, etc

Few issues we have, that if anyone can shed some light on, would be great

- Battery has the fuse box directly on top of the Pos(+) connection, and when snooping around under the engine bay I touched the top of it and the alarm bleeped a few times

We were then unable to start the car. It wouldn either just be completely 'dead' and no lights come on at all on any ignition, OR it would light up as normal to 2nd ignition and with turning the engine on would just set the alarm off.

Immobiliser? Battery in key?

- Very juddery especially at low revs. It sounds like an old motorbike. I know its by no means a 'quick car' but it does not have any go in it. It has been stood for a few months (I imagine, turned over once a week to keep it alive). I checked the air filter, and it looked like a newish one (halfords) that has probably seen less than 200 miles.

- A lot of movement from the engine and a deep rattle noise from the engine itself. This stops when I lean on the engine

Could this be an engine mount? Or what else could be checked?

I can't think of anything else, so hopefully that's a good thing!

Things I intend to change/upgrade for her:

- SMD Sidelights

- 4300 or 5000K HID

- Clear side repeaters

- Clear front indicator panels

- Maybe convince her into coilovers, as its probably cheaper (and easier for me to fit) than lowering springs

Look forward to hearing back from you! Cheers

Ben

Not had a clean since we bought it this afternoon so be kind

Edited 19 October, 201411 yr by beneaton6n

I have also signed up to VOC forum, had some replies from that.

Polo sounds like it may be running on 3 cylinders, so will checking spark plugs, vacuum leaks, and plugging her in to OBD
Battery issue, I've been advised it may be a loose terminal or corroded

Any other things you guys can think to check, fire away and any help will be appreciated :)

Cheers

When I bought my 1.4 CL it had been left for around a month and for the first week the battery would not hold a charge, and it could be quite juddery on start-up. Since running it in a bit, getting it in to some daily use, it's picked up and the problems have eased back.

Before I read your second post I was going to suggest the cylinders, so that's definitely something worth checking.

In regards to the battery, definitely check for corrosion as I know a few people who've had problems with this. Shouldn't be a huge job.

Ahh, that's "good" to hear
I am going to drive it a little every day whilst sorting the issue outs

My dad's mate owns his garage so taking it there Thursday for a once-over, so hopefully any major issues are found then

How do you remove the front indicator unit? I have bought clear ones and would like to fit as soon as they've arrived. I have googled it, and strangely enough, cannot find anything??

Cheers

Assuming you mean the side repeaters, here's a useful link within the forum.

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=280787

There are a few common issues (mostly small ones) that you'll probably discover as you go along. Not normally anything too big though!

No, sorry. Probably bad description.
Circled in this pic below. I can probably work it out later but was wanting to be ready with whatever tools I needed, haha. I will take a look tonight and should be ok to change :)