Exhaust emission warning light

J4K3 M · 25 Jul 2011 at 01:12

Hi all.

I need some of ocuk's motorist's knowledge. Just been driving home from work and my Exhaust emission warning light came on and started to flash. Now I am not the best with cars, especially mechanical problems. I only know its this light because I looked in the manual.

The car I have is a 1.4 polo and a 52 reg. It has 88000 miles on the clock.

Does anybody know what this means? Is it important?

My engine felt jumpy when I was driving home. Didnt really want to stop at this time of night on the road I drive back so felt the need to carry on.

Thank you for any responses/help I receive

Jake

West · 25 Jul 2011 at 03:25

Could be anything unfortunatley. Exhaust emissions normally indicates that the emissions are above what they should be, meaning that it could be a CAT Problem, or could be just a sensor problem.

Best to get it taken to a VAG Speicalist so they can have the code on the ECU Read

pronkie · 25 Jul 2011 at 03:59

I have just replaced the coilpacks and sparkplugs on my daughters 1.4 2005 vw golf and the symptoms were exactly like yours.
I do not know if you have the same four coilpacks as in her model but they do tend to wear out /fail after 80/100k her car was fully transformed after this. And seems faster and better on fuel. Oh and thumbs up as well for ngk iridium power sparkplugs they do seem to perform better and get good reviews. They are about £35 to 40 for a set , the coilpacks for her car where between £28 and 32 each .
good luck , dude

floatindolphin · 25 Jul 2011 at 06:49

Lambda sensor's dying

pronkie · 25 Jul 2011 at 08:54

oh to add to my post , the engine management light came on on her car also and the engine started running rough/misfiring like yours is doing it normally did this on cold start up or when the engine was hot /working hard . At high speed down the motorway its shows up more.

Captain Chaos · 25 Jul 2011 at 10:16

9 times out of 10 its somthing to do with the ignition system,

Im going to say one of the coils are goosed

Matt82 · 25 Jul 2011 at 10:37

car felt jumpy

my bet goes on plugs and coils, unburnt fuel = lambda warning

MikeHiow · 25 Jul 2011 at 10:41

It's worth noting that a lot of VAG cars have been subject to a free Coilpack recall recently. If yours are OEM ones, it's worth popping to you local dealer to check if you are eligible.

J4K3 M · 25 Jul 2011 at 10:54

Ok thanks for the help guys.

I will get it to a garage as soon as I possible can and get them to have a look at it.

pronkie · 25 Jul 2011 at 10:57

MikeHiow said:
It's worth noting that a lot of VAG cars have been subject to a free Coilpack recall recently. If yours are OEM ones, it's worth popping to you local dealer to check if you are eligible.

not on a 52 reg polo i wouldnt think that nearly 10 years , my daughters car wasnt included in the recall only the older gtis and much newer smaller engines i believe

pronkie · 25 Jul 2011 at 11:00

J4K3 M said:
Ok thanks for the help guys.

I will get it to a garage as soon as I possible can and get them to have a look at it.

its an easy job to do yourself , if you have checked it is that , just a sparkplug tool and screwdriver and few sockets needed we got our coilpacks /sparkplugs with the europarts discount that was on last month , knocked seventy pound off the bill.

MikeHiow · 25 Jul 2011 at 11:16

pronkie said:
not on a 52 reg polo i wouldnt think that nearly 10 years , my daughters car wasnt included in the recall only the older gtis and much newer smaller engines i believe

There are '99 Octavias included in the recall, so I wouldn't instantly dismiss the possibility. It costs nothing to ask, either.

J4K3 M · 25 Jul 2011 at 12:06

pronkie said:
its an easy job to do yourself , if you have checked it is that , just a sparkplug tool and screwdriver and few sockets needed we got our coilpacks /sparkplugs with the europarts discount that was on last month , knocked seventy pound off the bill.

I have no idea about how to fix cars. I think my knowledge limits to changing a tire and putting oil, screenwash etc into the car.

Went down to the garage where I bought the car from and because they said its recent all I need to do is pay for the part and the labour will be free so its only costing me £30 anyways.

Oh and it was the cylinder 2 coil that was at fault. Others seem to be fine at the moment but when I can afford it I will be getting the others replaced just so everythings sorted.

Thanks for the help guys.

Jake