UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi All,

I have joined up as the amount of info on here is really good and the people that post seem very helpful, so looking forward to being an active member and helping others if I can.

I have recently purchased a black 2000 ARC 5 door polo GTi, got the car fairly cheap due to high mileage (147k) and it needing a bit of work, even though the previous owner said it was ready to go and had no faults, i have found a mountain of things wrong so decided to set about restoring it.

here is the list of things done so far and the list of bits to do (pics to follow)

Bits done already
Air Filter
Oil Filter
Fuel (Petrol) Filter
Engine Oil - Shell Helix Ultra 5W40v fully synth
Spark Plugs - NGK
Pollen Filter
Engine Oil Flush
Petrol Injector Cleaner
Replaced front wipers
Cam/Timing belt kit (both belts, guides and tensioner)
Replaced waterpump (also drain and refill coolant)
Remove clean and refit throttle body
Remove clean and refit inlet manifold
Replaced crankcase breather hose and heater
Remove clean and refit crankcase breather
Investigate central locking fault and resync remote key
- found to be drivers door wiring loom and door lock
paddle broken
- wiring repaired and door lock paddle replaced
Investigate slow window operation on N/S front door
- found to be plastic regulator guides broken
Both front seats not sliding on runners
- front sliders found to full of dirt and front seat slider (rubber) dry, cleaned and regreased seat sliders
Replace O/S rear door check strap
Side repeater lenses degraded
- replaced pair as N/S repeater mounting broken
Replace both front indicators
- replace both front indicator bulbs as discoloured
Headlight lenses degraded
- restored with Quixx headlight restoration kit (actually quite good but hard work as done by hand)
Replace noisy alternator belt tensioner pulley
Replace pre-cat lambda sensor from fault code in ecu
O/S rear brake light dim
-found to have the wrong bulbs fitted in both side bulb holders - all replaced for new
Refitted front brake pads as incorrectly fitted
drilled out and replaced brake disc retaining screws as they had been sheared off.

bits to be done
remove leafs from heater blower that fell down there when changing pollen filter
wiper arm bolt covers (find and fit)
engine undertray fixings (find and fit)
gearbox oil change
sort wobbly gear linkage
Remove rear wash wipe and delete
O/S/R shock absorber leaking
Rear door speakers as one is blown and one doesn't work
possibly replace oil separator if it still leaks
get a new spare key
Paint or replace rear bumper as paint is cracked and flaking
do a full body polish and detail


as you can see I have been a busy boy as I've done it all myself and only had the car 2 weeks.

only have one issue that I'm struggling with, and that is since I cleaned out the crankcase breather and changed the breather hose, the car now emits white smoke on acceleration, nothing on idle just when accelerating (or just revving).

Any ideas?

If anyone also has any ideas on how to fix any of the other bits I have left to do or knows where to get the bits or has any advise at all then id be very grateful for the help.

Kind Regards
Lee

first update : smoke has been sorted, i managed to contaminate the crankcase breather when i was trying to clean it. new one on its way that will sort that out.

also previously found the pre-cat lambda sensor to be knackered, so one of those is arriving today. got the old one out already so should be 5 min job to fit and delete fault codes

Check the wiring on the car side of things when you fit the lamda sensor. It's quite often the wiring that is at fault not the actual sensor.

Thanks for the heads up stan, i will check over the loom while im under there later. Will need to dig the multimeter out and some probes

Plugged in the new lambda sensor and bingo no more fault code and all is well. However next job remove inlet manifold in order to change crankshaft sensor which is buried under the starter and snap goes the plug on injector number one and it sends fuel everywhere!

So now have an injector on order, an expensive night

But changing the crank sensor requires removing the inlet manifold and the starter motor! What a nightmare, no wonder the previous owner didnt want to do it.

Now just waiting for parts to turn up ......again.

Anyone in south brum got vcds/vag-com that can do me a throttle adaption for some beer once its all back together please as my delphi unit wont do it?

You can do it without the inlet manifold being removed. I've done it twice. It's possible with a long extension with relative ease

Fair play mate, with the starter back in i cant get any hex key on mine, can barely see the bloody thing lol.

Just waiting for my new injector to turn up (hopefully.this week) and she might be a bit closer to going back on the road.

Cant wait as i havent even driven it yet lol!

Oh, the starter has to be out too lol. It's impossible otherwise

So.... the new crankcase breather is on and the inlet manifold is back in place.

I dremel'd open the oil one as i was curious as to how it works, to find that it had all sorts of oily muck in it and me filling it with brake cleaner certainly didnt do it any good at all, so a new one was just the ticket.

now just waiting for the replacement injector to turn up and she should be running again

Ive done a few more bits and the car is now on tne road

My next question is about the one way valve in the vacuum pipe from the servo to the throttle body. Is air supposed to be hissing out of this valve? My instinct says the answer is no, but im not sure. Any ideas and if so any idea where i get a replacement from and how to you remove it from the servo and hard plastic pipe?

no its not and you cant remove it. you have to replace the pipe as one unfortunately. last time i bought one it was around £30

Thanks Alex

that pipe from the servo is now £40! got one on order from TPS next day delivery, any tips on how to remove it from the servo?

It just pulls out firmly with a bit of wiggling

You'll need a new clamp for the throttle body side. Ideally a CV boot style but a fuel hose clamp will do