My Mk3 Nightmare

[dan4d]

Hi there guys,

first post for me, have used this forum for troubleshooting for months but require some personal advice.

bought a M Reg 1994 Mk3 1.4 8v for £750 a few months ago.

Immediately after i bought it it started leaking oil seriously, was told by a mechanic it required a new top and bottom end, (3 cylinders f**ked)
which cost me £300.00 inc labour.

everything was sorted until a month or two down the line she is now running like absolute sh!t.

1.) she judders at idle ( i have tried adjusting the throttle cable and setting the idle slightly higher but doesnt seem to do any good.

2.) when going around corners the brakes create a sqeuaking sound that is the most annoying noise ever, and i believe this is causing her to pull badly

3.) she leans to the left slightly, a had a wheel alignment for wheels that are no longer on there, so that could be resolved with a new front and rear wheel alignment.

4.) she doesnt seem to have any power, even for an 8v, and she also makes a slightly loud ticking noise (seems to be coming from the air filter not the tappets or engine)

can anyone suggest anything other than going to a garage/ selling the car? Perhaps a few suggestions as to things i could check to resolve these issues, i would greately appreciate any help as i do love this car, cant afford a gti yet but considering an engine transplant and car upgrade  in the near future, isit worth keeping the car or not? she has only done 710946 miles which was the number one reason i bught her for the low mileage.

Any replies much appreciated Grin

Dan4D

[Dom Mk3]

don't know about the 1.4's, so going to suggest the generic stuff

1) Have you tried cleaning the throttle body and air flow metre?

2) Do the brakes squeak when you use them? Do they brakes seem to apply when you turn a corner?

3) How slightly?

[dan4d]

No I havent tried cleaning the throttle body and air flow meter, but someone yesterday suggested I change both of these and obtain new parts from the scrapyard.

Brakes do sqeuak as i use them, then as braking sharply the noise dissapears altogether and yes on corners, I believe there is alot of debris on my calipers, took my wheels off to clean them with a wire brush and the thread on the bottom screw to remove them is fully knackered and i cannot remove it.

She leans very slightly, sometimes not at all but it is definately the wheel alignment.

Thank You

[doghair]

i would clean the throttle body ,it works like a charm.

mine was cutting out everytime i stopped or my revs went low,cleaned them out and it was as good as new

try it first

[rubjonny]

Try a new blue temp sender from VW if the free stuff doesn't help, if that doesn't help then you may have to get a new lambda probe!

[Rich 2]

okay, the idling can be sorted by adjusting the air flow sensor on the right of the throttle body, that's what will be causing that, basically it's trial and error.

the lambda will do nothing to the running of the car, only the emissions. If you want to test this and see if I'm wrong or right, it's on the bottom left of the engine, unplug it and since there will be no reading the ecu will reset itself to a safety mode in regards to that.

pop off the top of the throttle body and spray it with carb cleaner, the butterfly bit should be sparkling.

The brakes squeak when you release, that's because whomever changed them didn't use the anti squeak stuff, happened on my old 1.4 every time. Suggest you get a louder stereo.

The leaning to the left is the alignment, it's natural because if you fall asleep at the wheel you don't veer into the right and kill everyone in the other lane.

The power issue is wierd, some 1.4's seem nippy, some don't. I always thought mine was good till I got a GTI and now I realise it was actually pretty slow. Just depends on what you've been driving before. Remember it is a heavy car.

Also to note an engine transplant into a 1.4 is never worth it.

Rich (need more? PM)

[rubjonny]

sorry no, a knackered lambda WILL effect the performance.  If you unplug it, the ECU resets to a default map so it 'seems' to be fine.  however a lambda sending incorrect signals will mess up the mixture and make the car sluggish.  Trust me, I drove a 1.3 polo with a faulty lambda and it was terrible, massive lag when opening the throttle and rubbesh economy.  Fitted a new lambda and the problems were instantly solved!

As for the 'some 1.4s feel nippy & some don't' its probably because some 1.4s hade MPI injection and others were SPI.  The SPI system is pretty rubbish, even a carb will run better!

[Rich 2]

actually I've only ever driven a spi 1.4 and they do tend to differ in how they run.

a four speed will actually seem faster than a five as they have more torque through the ranges.

Rich

[rubjonny]

yeah i imagine the gearing is a fair bit different on a 4 speed box.  Cant wait to bin the spi system on the gf's polo and get a gt multipoint system on there with a MK3 1.4 bottom end