06 VW 1.4 auto

[JohnDG13]

I've followed Blinky123's lament re his VW Polo.

I now face sorting a similar problem with VW as our 1.4 is misfiring on no 3 cylinder.

Compression is down to half normal (120psi cf 220) and my mechanic thinks it has a valve problem.

Engine vibrates on tick over and we have some loss of power on long slopes.

Petrol comsumption is higher but there is no smoke in exhaust and no water in the oil to suggest head gasket or piston ring problems.

Basically it needs the head off to see what is wrong at 15,600 miles - which seems entirely wrong.

I can't drive it as my eyesight is too bad - any advice welcome

John

[JohnDG13]

Passed straight on to VW UK who dismissed any hope of goodwill.

Then surprise call from manager at local dealer who will talk to someone and ring back tomorrow.

See what happens.John

[heliosuk]

Passed straight on to VW UK who dismissed any hope of goodwill.

Then surprise call from manager at local dealer who will talk to someone and ring back tomorrow.

See what happens.John

 

Hello John,

 

Can you give a bit more detail as to what went on with regards the above post so I can gauge how you need to handle this and advise accordingly.

 

This is a known problem (there are 2 of them) but has to be handled in a certain way to get the best result.

[JohnDG13]

Thanks Heliosuk

As posted I tried to ring the local dealership and was passed by their switchboard on to customer care at VW UK. They were very pleasant but denied any problems on their system with this model. Thay also stated that management policy was that goodwill could not be shown if there was a break in VW servicing.

I asked how many Polos they expected to sell if the engines failed at 15,000 miles and bid them farewell.

I was then surprised to be rung by a manager at the local dealer who wnated to know whay my problem was - presumably requested by VW UK who had ascertained the registration number of the vehicle - but not my phone number!

Now I was told this sort of problem was not his area of expertise and he would talk to someone tomorrow - and call back.

John

[JohnDG13]

Car with VW Modern who toe the party line that there is no problem with these cars but were very keen to investigate - albeit with no firm offer of nay goodwill.

Wait and see what we find then we can email photos to VW UK! we 'might' be able to make a contribution then!

John

[heliosuk]

Hi John,

 

I presume the car is with VW Morden and not Modern?

 

Anyway it seems so far so good but you've got to be careful how you play it. Essentialy they will back out if you are not the original owner with a full service history. However, it is irresponsible for them to try to claim this as since 2004, block exemtion rules apply. The big thing is the service history though how this has any relevance to the fault is beyond me. Their argument is that it is goodwill and as such can insist on this. If possible, from now on restrict communication to e mails in the early stages.

 

Now there are 2 possible faults with this engine. One was piston failure which affected a certain Vin range, the other was weak valve seats. The latter is the common one as most of the piston affected cars were caught.

 

The material for the valve seats was soft so burnt them out. VW's preferred fix is to remove the head, fit new seats and valves. This is the cheapest way out for them. However it is a very risky repair as far as I'm concerned as the tolerance between the valve seat and the cam follower is only 4 thou.

 

The easiest thing to do from a customer satisfaction and get it right first timepoint of view is a replacement head and valves, but this costs them double their prefered route.

 

The test procedure is a quick ECM check for fault codes and then a compression test followed by a leakage test. This confirms where the issue lies but I'd put money on it that it's the valve seat issue. Then the head comes off and the fun begins. It's important that you get VW's buy in on this before hand as if they want to reject the goodwill claim then to a certain extent you are committed at this point so make sure you control VW and not VW controlling you.

 

You could PM Blinky to see if she could send you sample e mails etc but it would be up to her.

 

Take VW's comments at the moment on face value as their customer service dept can be more slippery than a Thames eel!!

 

Let us know how you get on.

[blinky123]

I've followed Blinky123's lament re his VW Polo.

John

 

Blinky is actually a she lol. But of course she would be more than happy to dig out some of the old emails that helios and I put together to help you! PM me your email addy and I'll send some over for you to have a look at.

 

In the end VW did rebuild the head initially but ended up having to replace the whole thing anyway, confirming helios's point- ended up costing them more in the end.

 

The VW customer care team are a laugh aren't they? I distinctly remember feeling as though I was banging my head against a brick wall with every conversation I had with them.

[JohnDG13]

Latest situation is that after having the car all week I was finally told y'day that it needed a new cylinder head due to carbon build up on 'the valves'.

VW UK are adamant that they owe me no good will as it was serviced outside franchise.

VW Morden's service manager is avoiding me - I will chase him after the weekend.

VW UK say that as there was a possible fault mentioned at 2 year service - dismissed by Morden - then it is up to Morden to sort things out!

[heliosuk]

Has this advanced with regards VAG UK?

 

As said before, there is a set way that this needs to be adressed. Step outside this and kick off will mean you get nothing. With this fault it's like playing a game with VAG UK.

[tiaposy]

As far as I know VAG have to prove that the lack of dlr servicing caused this problem. Bit like chicken and egg, but might be worth you mentioning it to them. Good Luck

[DesignTime]

If you have always had it serviced at VW they will help. if you went to a outside franchise then you will get nothing.

[heliosuk]

Design time,

 

You are not adding anything of value to this forum so suggest you climb back into your play pen.

[DesignTime]

Thanks, But been down the same road with a 35, 000 mile Sharan blown turbo blown engine full S/History Had VWs for 40+ years and they said tuff! and unless you it serviced at a dealer 99% sure you will get jack all.

[gary1]

As allready said on Blinky123 thread my daughters polo can probably be added to the long list of compression issues with this model her car has done 40K miles, have VW improved the replacement cylinder heads or is just a case of pay up and wait another 40k to see if it goes again

She is checking service records

 

I will probably do the repair myself but will pay a visit to local VW dealer for thier comments

Edited December 31, 2010 by gary1
missed some information

[heliosuk]

have VW improved the replacement cylinder heads or is just a case of pay up and wait another 40k to see if it goes again

I will probably do the repair myself but will pay a visit to local VW dealer for thier comments

 

I believe the heads have now been modified to get over the problem. If you take the job on yourself using a new head from VW it's straightforward.Use new valves though. The problem you might have if repairing or using a reconditioned head as ( and mentioned previously) the tolerance you get with valve seat to cam is only 4thou and this aint a lot to play with given all the other manufacturing tolerances. With a recon head you might just find there is no valve clearance let alone at full oil pressure.

 

It's worth pursuing VW though as this has been a major issue on 1.2 and 1.4 models for some time. Forget the call centre though, you need to go head on into VW in Milton Keynes. The customer service line VW have is I believe subcontracted out to a bunch of numpties who wouldn't know a cam follower to a seat belt, only that "we have no problems" with this fault sir.