UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi,
I have a 1997 Polo Classic 1.6 petrol engined saloon. During recent cold spells the engine has struggled to turn over and this led me to connect a charger to the battery over the last weekend to give it a boost. The engine now turns over fine but will not fire at all and I can see no spark at the plugs. (Before the charge the car started on the buuton despite sluggish turn over)
I have since read in my hand book that I should have disconnected the battery while charging like this, it does not say what might be affected.
I am assuming that I have caused the problem by connecting the charger but can anybody tell what I might have damaged or what I should check?

My apologies if this is a common thread - I have been browsing through the site but have not found this problem discussed elsewhere.

Problem solved - car back to normal.

What was it?

Hi Tris,
The garage reported that the ignition coil had been connected with terminal wires reversed and that it had burned out.
The leads to the coil terminate in a plug which I assume can only be connected one way round so I do not see how this could have happened. I have owned the car for about three years and the coil has not been disturbed during that time. The car has always run well and started easily.
However, it has a new coil and runs as normal.
My fear was that I had messed up the imobiliser system.

Regards Bev