starting car VW polo help please

MaXXeH · 5 Nov 2006 at 17:09

Hi all

my dad has a problem with his car. it has troble starting some times it just happens every now and then it is odd, so far i have changed the, air filter, spark plugs, fuel filter and changed the oil.. ok this is the problem

It will start on a cold day fine, it gets hot and sometimes it just wont start you can here it turning over the engine but nothing happens if you leave it for say 30 min it will start again???? it makes the rev limiter go arouns to 2k and fly back again even though the engine is not started??

i have never seen nothing like it and my dad cant just turn of the car to pop in the shop because it wont start again (most of the time)

any ideas??? it is a vw polo 1.3cl

beast20vt · 5 Nov 2006 at 17:12

check the water levels in your battery for a start.
what model of polo is it?engine size spec ect

MaXXeH · 5 Nov 2006 at 17:21

the battery is fine it can turn the engine over for like 6min non stop.

1.3cl polo 1995 m reg.

Mickey_D · 5 Nov 2006 at 19:01

I'm not intimately familiar with that exact car, so please excuse my ignorance when I ask is it carb'd or injected?

If carb'd, check that the choke is operating properly. It sounds like the engine is flooding out when warmed up.

If it's injected, check that the temp sensor in the thermostat housing is working properly. If it's registering hte engine as still cold when it's actually warmed up, it'll be sending too much fuel in when you go to start.

MaXXeH · 5 Nov 2006 at 19:41

it is carb i belive, it has the round fiter at the top. so how could i stop it doing this?

Nedved11 · 6 Nov 2006 at 00:37

This used to happen to my Micra all the time. Had to carry a can of WD40 in the glove box.
Mine used to suffer because of the dampness in the cylinders or there was a tiny crack in the dizzy cap, which i couldn’t be arsed changing. For a quick fix i just used to spray over the HT leads, dizzy cap etc, once the moisture was out it would start straight away.

If its flooding (with injection models) remove the fuel pump fuse and turn it, if your feeling brave remove spark plugs and turn the engine, this will spit out the excess fuel from the cylinders. If its damp plugs, whip them out and heat up with a blow torch that will get rid of the moisture!

Had to do a mixture of the above before figuring out that the WD40 is the quickest of the quickest short term fix!