VW Polo 1995 Mark III 1.3 L- Wont catch when trying to start

[coffee_king]

Hey All
Ive got a VW 1995 Mark III 1.3l Polo that wont catch when I try to start it.
It just goes r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r and wont spring into life.

Its not the battery as its new, its not a loose sparkplug cable
Any ideas? It will EVENTUALLY start, but one of these days I fear its not going to, so I'd like to get it sorted before it gets too cold outside.

It seems to start better when its kept in a garage as opposed to outside.

Any help?
Thanks guys

[fonzooorooo]

Comment:
It's not a mk3... 94-99 cars are 6n's which "we" refer to as mk4s. Confusing, since VW do refer to them as mk3. "we" refer to each "new" model with a new mk, hence VW's mk2f is a mk3 to us, and the 6n2 (mk3F) is a mk5. Fun, 'eh?

Ideas:

Temperature sender. (blue?)
Fuel pressure.
Dirt in throttle body.
Clogged air filter
Spark plugs.
Poor earth connection to engine.

I'd look at thee stuff in that list that might be dirty first, checking the state of the plugs. If the plugs look ok, pop them back, otherwise, clean or replace (especially if it's been a while!) Whip the top off the air box (it's an SPI on the 1.3 isn't it? - oval airbox on the top of the engine) and a good squirt of carb cleaner down it. (Available at some pound shops!) Certainly won't do any harm. Look at the earth strap(s), loosen, clean connections and tighten.

I can't remember if you can see the fuel going in on these if you've got the airbox off... If you can see fuel going in whilst someone else turns the key, I'd assume all is well with the fuel system.

Then, you're looking at replacing temp. senders. Failure to start from cold could be due to a temp. sender "thinking" it's hotter than it is, hence the mixture's too weak. Check which senders feed to the ECU. There's no need to change the one that runs the temp. gauge!

It may be worthwhile to remove the senders, clean them and re-fit. Depends how they look when removed. I'd expect that to be more valid if it fails to start/run properly when hot though!

A good dose of WD40 round all electrical connections isn't a bad idea in winter either - keeps the moisture out.

[jonboy]

mk4s are known for having shonky ignition switches. car will appear to have same syptoms as a flat battery. sometime it will fire first time, other times the starter wont turn over at all

[coffee_king]

Hey all
Well, its been fine for a while but last night it stutered/spluttered and stopped while I was driving it (Luckily down a hill).
It wouldnt restart with a bump start, and no matter how many times I tried once it was stationary it wouldnt start again.

It just wont catch, as before it just goes a really healthy r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, but wont catch.

So I had to call the AA out. The guy spent about an hour checking everything over. He said the electrics etc were fine, but he's pretty positive that the Fuel Pump has gone.
Does this make sense to you guys that it could be the fuel pump?
Ta

[coffee_king]

Hey all
Well, its been fine for a while but last night it stutered/spluttered and stopped while I was driving it (Luckily down a hill).
It wouldnt restart with a bump start, and no matter how many times I tried once it was stationary it wouldnt start again.

It just wont catch, as before it just goes a really healthy r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r, but wont catch.

So I had to call the AA out. The guy spent about an hour checking everything over. He said the electrics etc were fine, but he's pretty positive that the Fuel Pump has gone.
Does this make sense to you guys that it could be the fuel pump?
Ta

Bump! I really need to get this sorted.
Lets say I'm looking at buying a secondhand one off eBay, do I need to search for a Mark 3 or Mark 4?
Any help anyone?

[fonzooorooo]

Makes sense - my 2nd suggestion was fuel pressure!

Look for polo 6n on ebay. That saves any confusion. Looks like the part number's printed on the top, so you don't even need to remove it from the tank to check it.

[coffee_king]

I finally got a fuel pump off eBay for about a tenner. Fitted, now fully working. MOT tomorrow. Wooh-hoo!
It was hard work getting hold of exactly the right one though. Seems I always buy cars that parts were put in for just 1 year before they were "Updated" with newer, different versions.

[fonzooorooo]

Glad it's running. Good luck with the MOT.

I know the feeling about the "awkward" cars - I've known staff at my local motor factors to actually hide behind the counter when they see me on my way to the door. ... The King of Awkward so far seems to be '91 mk1 golf cabrio with JH engine. That's a real nightmare!