As title. Looking at one tomorrow as a potential runaround. Needs cambelt doing (not busted, just overdue) so would be at a good price. Reckon I'm probably brave enough to do that myself. Anyone have anything with a BBY code engine in it? Any common failings on a '53-plate Polo? Thanks for any thoughts.
Should be easy job, but would think good few hundred quid may have to do water pump but don't quote me on that"
Wife runs one. I did the cambelt(s) when we bought it. Strange arrangement, not the easiest I have ever done. One long belt to the back cam pulley and a second inter cam belt. One silly little small diameter idler that must do a million mph on the main belt near the top, and another two idlers Two more adjustable tensioning idlers. Need a pump also, and a V belt. Biggest issue I remember is getting the crank bolt slack, needs the biggest impact gun you can find. Cams are held in position using a couple of drills. 1/2 day should do it. 90 parts Jon
Yup, Mums got this very car. As Jon says, odd arrangement of belts but I was able to change them without too much bother. One thing to note, the cams are built into the rocker cover. So if that ever has to come off, the cams do too. It's sealed with liquid sealant only so some care required on refitting. Oh, and a tapping top end is very very common and annoying. Gurds
Yeah, not my fave VW engine. Wifey's is a one owner FSH cared for car and the engine is not the quietest on tickover. Drives fine though Jon
Thanks guys, all good stuff, much appreciated. Will have a look at that guide now, cheers K7aus. Will have my ears open while test-driving for ticky-tockiness. "Drives fine though" is probably all I need for this car realistically.
At the risk of highjacking your thread a bit (sorry); Wifey's will need an exhaust soon. Anybody know what make is best quality/VFM and where I should source one from. Thanks. Jon
When you have a look at the car pull out all the spark plug leads that liquid sealant gasket sometimes gives up the ghost and floods the spark plugs with oil, which result in misfires etc Mate had a 1.4 16V Skoda that did this
Thanks again. I made a little tool for hooking out those pencil-coil things a while back, so I'll take that along when I view. Not going to be today now though, I'm in bed sick. I helped the current owner fit a new battery a bit before Christmas, and remember being impressed by how quietly and smoothly it ran at idle, so I'm optimistic that it'll pass scrutiny.
Well I bought this, and I'm delighted with it so far. Smashing little car. Airbox/engine cover has a sad little fault whereby the warm-air / cold-air blend system thermostat has failed, and it defaults to all warm on these, which isn't ideal. If I can't find a suitable replacement wax thermostat bit, I may have to be more bodgy with it as we come out of winter-time. I have had one other fault (indicator fuse tripping) that had me scratching my head a bit, but I think I've now fixed and explained it. Will put it in a new thread later for searchability. Thanks guys.