UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi to everyone,
I am Greek so you will excuse any grammar/syntax errors in my posting.

I own a 2003 Polo 16V 101PS (36000 km till now) and from the first day I bought it I had a random engine cut out. Basically, at random times while cruising (it has done it in 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear) the engine cuts out for a split second, the revs drop to 0 and then it comes about as normal (At first it gave me the impression that it happened soon after a gear change, as soon as the clutch was released - but then it happened without a gear change, right on while accerating for an overtake).

At the first service at VW, they plugged it in and found no error codes.

Second year, the problem reappeared 4-5 times. At the long life service, the VW dealer mentioned that is a known problem but they do not have a clue how to fix it.

Problem reappeared 5-6 times more, and last November I was going for 1 month abroad, so I left the car at VW and told them they have 1 month to find out what is wrong and fix it. They replaced a broken servo pipe (not sure about the exact translation) and cleaned up the throttle body (and butterfly ?).

Since then the car is more reliable but the problem has reappeared another 3 times. Left the car yesterday for the second long life service and they cleaned the throttle body.

I searched through the forum posts and saw 2-3 people mentioning the same problem and because I am getting the feeling that the real problem is not fixed (and it will happen again) and because it can happen while overtaking (very dangerous) I would appreciate if anyone has found a permanent fix or can suggest other parts that might need checking/replacing.

Thanks,
GhostVE

Edit : Also to add that a couple of times, when stopped at traffic lights the idle RPMs seem to jitter and once the engine stalled.

I have this exact same problem (and I leave in Greece as Ghostve): For a fraction of a second the motor seems to stop (I feel a "kick"), the indications fall towards zero and then they quickly go back to normal again. The problem happens randomly (at least I think) mostly at high gear (but it also happened once when the gear was at neutral). If the car is in motion and the speed is adequate, this motion will "revive" the engine. But the one time it happened when the car was stopped the car went dead but there was no problem restarting it. If I had to quantify I would say it happens 1-3 times per 100 Km.

I always mention it to the service people and so far they have come up with nothing. At first the gas and air filter were blamed (and changed) then the gas (butterfly) valve and then nothing... no clues from them. The car seems to log no errors. What drives me mad is that I cannot reproduce it. And it is important since you cannot really rely on such a behaviour.

Are there a directions I should ask the service people to look at??? Anyone? Please???

Other problems (seemingly unrelated but still...):

Occasionally I get the engine light on - with no other symptoms. The service people advised me to ignore it (!!!) It typically goes off after some Km or after a refuel.

I have the car for just over 4 years and haven't used it much (about 25000 km). The car has definitely not proven reliable. I already had problems with the camshaft gears and with the electric window system...