Servicing

rusty-london · Post by **rusty-london** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:25 am

I've just picked up a 97 Mk4 1.4 on Friday and I'm planning on giving it the mother of all services at work this week before I leave my job (I'm a mechanic so all oils and fluids etc. are free

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I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether the Polo would have a pollen filter and a fuel filter fitted?

poloecosse · Post by **poloecosse** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:47 am

Does it have Air Con? if it does its possible it will have a pollen filter/ not sure about the fuel filter. do you not have autodata on a computer at work? you will be able to find out on there

rusty-london · Post by **rusty-london** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:11 am

I looked on Autodata and it only said change if applicable for the fuel and pollen filters. I suppose I should stop being so lazy and go have a look around the car to see!

jonnopolo · Post by **jonnopolo** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:28 am

Yes it will have a pollen filter - this is fitted under the passenger side cowl panel (beneath the wipers). This needs to be changed every 20K. About Â£10 from Halfords, but I'm sure you'll get them cheaper from GSF. It has a fuel filter fitted too and this needs changing every 40K. This is situated under the car, to the rear of the petrol tank. HTH.

rusty-london · Post by **rusty-london** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:31 am

Cheers for that jonno.

rusty-london · Post by **rusty-london** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:01 pm

I got the service parts today and had a good look around the car. When I removed the oil filler cap I noticed that the inside of the rocker cover is thick with oil sludge

What do people recommend with regards use of engine flush before I change the oil?

Is any particular brand recommended?

I've never came up against this problem in 12 years as a mechanic...I'm thinking along the lines of just removing the rocker cover and washing it out in the parts wash at work. Would I be better off doing this or just throw a tin of flush through the motor??

Coops · Post by **Coops** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:40 pm

use forte stuff mate, swear by it! use it on my missus mk4 when 1st got it, cleared ALOT of s**t out....careful tho as you can clear out the crap thats holding all the seals together if its been left too long!

jonnopolo · Post by **jonnopolo** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:21 pm

I'd advise against using flushing oil rusty - all sorts of muck can get dislodged & end up in narrow oilways causing blocking of them. Just get a decent oil & filter (Quantum Synta 10W/40). The sludge could partly be due to short journeys, so the cack in the oil is not getting burnt off. Give the car a good thrash every week or so. I read years ago that on average, it takes 8 miles driving b4 the oil is at operating temp. HTH.

Coops · Post by **Coops** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:41 pm

take little less than that in my clio, oil temp gauge gets up to 100 (operating temp) after around 3 miles of sub 3k rpm shifting! but its a wise idea to open her up from time to time if you granny shift like me most of the time! (petrol is still too expensive!

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jonnopolo · Post by **jonnopolo** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:44 pm

Coops wrote:take little less than that in my clio, oil temp gauge gets up to 100 (operating temp) after around 3 miles of sub 3k rpm shifting! but its a wise idea to open her up from time to time if you granny shift like me most of the time! (petrol is still too expensive! )

Yes, Coops, I think perhaps with the modern engine the oil would no doubt get warmer quicker than they used to yonks ago. I agree about the price of petrol too - esp. if you use Ultimate like I do, bit I think it's worth it!