UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Right for about 2months now ive had the engine check light on my dashboard however i refuse to go to VW and pay £50 just so they can stick their computer in the diagnostics port. A couple months ago the light was on but there was no acutal problems with the car. But for the last two months problems have started. Basically when im stuck in traffic and the car is just idle for about 5mins the car is drained of all its power, it feels as if it is misfiring and is unbearable, takes me almost 20secs to reach 40mph with my foot planted to the ground on the accelerator. However ive noticed that if i turn my engine off and back on again even for just a mili second it goes back to normal again and I full power returns however it will still feel a lil bit sluggish. I took it to a garage last week and they said they cleaned out bits of the engine and changed the plugs but the problem is still there and I have no idea what the problem could be. Has anyone ever experienced this before? or does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be? I have finally lost my patience with it today whilst being stuck in traffic for a long time and havin to switch the engine on and off too many times.

but the thing is i had my coil, ht leads, and spark plugs changed by vw about 6months ago because of misfiring problems! and now its even worse so i dunno if that is the problem? really dont want to take it to vw because they always do a s**t job no matter what they do! i thought it could be the lambada (sp?) sensor ? maybe not. its quite an annoying problem 2 b honest, and i dont understand why it goes back to normal when i turn the engine off then on again? surely it had to be a electrical fault like a sensor burnt out or timing problem other than a spark plug problem because i doubt it would reset itself after turning the engine off/on

You need to reset the ECU settings for the throttle body.

I had this crap, and it went on and on for ages, check engine and EPC light and basically it was every now and then particularly when low RPM. Went to VW three times, no help.

Eventually, spoke to the diagnostics doctor from Car Machanics magazine, who has fixed about a dozen polos like mine. Basically he cleans the throttle body and sets the ecu to basic settings, it then recalibrates, and you back to driving a new car feeling again.

I did it myself, bunged on the VAG-COM and off you go.