UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all

I can't get my car to start.

I have just replaced the AEX engine in a 1997/1998 6n Polo with another second hand AEX engine (because the original threw a rod and burst a hole in the side of the block at about 98000 miles).

This involved removing the battery (which had gone completely flat while sitting around waiting for me to do the repair), charging the battery out of the car, removing engine and gearbox, transferring intake manifold and injector rail, distributor, throttle body, alternator, putting in new clutch, oil, antifreeze etc etc to the secondhand engine then refitting to the car, taking care to connect everything back up to the way it should be.

I then connected the battery and tried to start the car.
(LEDs below the speedo are flashing Service INSP).
Engine turns over on the starter but doesn't fire.

I have run VAG-COM and can see a couple of minor faults (533, 524 and 1087)

According to

www.airbagnews.com/PDF/Fehlercodes%20VAG%20english.pdf

01087 means Basic Setting Not Performed

Is this stopping the engine from starting?

ross-tech talks about doing a throttle body alignment at http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/throttlebody.html
but when I try this, I find out that I cannot follow the steps (because I have not registered/paid ross-tech).
I really dont want to pay ross-tech 99 dollars for something that will probably only use once in my life (I hope)!
Is this software useful for routine maintenance or mainly for performance tuning?

(I have tried disconnecting the battery for a while, then reconnecting and leaving with Ignition on for 5 minutes, but that doesn't change anything).

(The starter motor is turning the engine over fast enough and there is fuel in the tank).

Any suggestions?

Many thanks,
Steve

I presume you have checked the spark plugs are firing, and are firing in the correct order?

Hi all,

OK I looked into the spark situation and noticed that I hadn't connected the LT lead to the distributor. The empty socket was right in front of me the whole time, but I was looking everywhere else.

Doh!

Once that was connected, the engine started right up.

Over the next few days, I'll use VAG-COM to investigate
01087 Basic Setting Not Performed
and see if that error has gone away.

That would make sense to me because a connection to the distributor is fairly basic.

Thanks anyway,
Steve

Hehe we often overlook the simplest of things!