VW polo 2006 engine management light issue

Cobra496

Hi all,

Bit of a dull read but would like to know what you'd do..


I got a 56 plate 1.2L polo 1 year ago. After a few weeks of driving, the engine warning light came on. I took it back to the dealers, they cleared the fault and said it was because the sensors are old. This happened again, they cleared the issue again.

The light came on again. I took the car to a mechanic because of another issue and mentioned the engine light. They said it was due to a faulty lambda sensor. Because I got the car less than 3 months ago, they managed to get the dealer to pay them to replace lambda sensor.

After a couple of weeks the light came on again. I took it to the mechanic. They said it was probably because I was using supermarket fuel. Since then I've used esso instead. It came on again, they said it was this time a problem with the other lambda sensor. This time I paid for a new lambda sensor (I wasn't able to get warranty for this as after 3 months).

After a couple of weeks the light came on again. This time they replaced the other lambda sensor.

The light came on again. They replace the recently replaced lambda sensor with a new one.

The light came on again. They replaced the lambda sensor that was initially replaced (at this point they have replaced the lambda sensors 4 times!! (2 times each)).

The light has just come on again, they think the fuel in the engine could have been contaminated when I bought the car so they've offered to clean out the fuel tank and engine system for free (I don't understand the method exactly but apparently involves using a special fluid).

All in all, out of my pocket I've paid for 1 full lambda sensor but it seems to me like this never needed replacing.

I don't think the mechanic is malicious as he's clearly getting frustrated with this issue, it's been on and off for about 6 months. He's had to pay for 2 lambda sensors out of his pocket to replace the 2 that I originally replaced the original ones with.

Should I be asking for a refund however as replacing the lambda sensor clearly hasn't fixed the issue?

My preferred choice is no as there's been other issues he's helped me with, for example he managed to replace the clutch for free after it wore out within the first 3 months - he negotiated with the dealer and insurance, he didn't have to.

I think the fair thing to do is to see if this fuel cleaning process fixes the issue, if it does then I'll leave it at that. If not then see what he suggests. I'm not used to dealing with these types of issue so any help appreciated.

Thanks :beer:

reeac

I've been having the same problem with my 13 year old Honda Jazz for some months now. I can detect no change in the car's performance. Currently the light is off and has been for a few weeks now so I'm just continuing to use it. Once it came on immediately after refuelling but when the light last went off after maybe 3 weeks of being on I happened to see it out of the corner of my eye and I was driving at moderate speed ....not doing anything special such as accelerating or going fast or slow so I have no idea why it went off. I see that lamda sensors for the Jazz are very expensive to I'm just hoping that the effect goes away.

angrycrow

Garages seem to love replacing the lambda sensors whenever their output does not suggest perfect combustion. The problem is most of the time the lambda sensor is functioning correctly and is indicating a problem elsewhere.

The garage is being lazy or incompetent.

There are loads of faults that could throw out the lambda readings just a few are:
Inlet leak,
Faulty plugs,
Faulty catalytic converter,

May be time to try a different mechanic. If car runs fine I would be looking at the cat first. Does the car use a lot of oil.

reeac

Coming back to my Jazz, I read that a common cause of the light coming on is an imperfectly fitting fuel filler cap as the fuel tank is supposed to become slightly pressurised during use. I checked and. cleaned the seal etc on mine but it made no difference. Worth having a look, though.

Goudy

You need the DTC or diagnostic trouble code for the engine's ECU when the fault occurs.
This will more than likely point any competent mechanic in the right direction.

It's possible to have faults with the sensors themselves, wiring faults to/from them or as already suggested, they are just doing their job and reporting a problem elsewhere, perhaps a fueling or cat problem.