Need Help, Car keeps cutting out??/ What could the problem

Mk2Ibiza

Wrench Pro
Points
56
Location
West London.
Car
Ibiza Mk2 1.4 8v
Well heres the problem,i start up the car, and it idles funny, then out of no where the revs drop and the engine would cut out UNLESS i keep my foot on the gas keeping the revs up. Ive got the 1.4 8V APQ engine in a 99 Ibiza. Any ideas on what it could be???
 
Could that be why my radiator fan seems to be kicking in more often? Any chance i could link it up to a diagnostic? Only happens ever so often, so if i got to a garage i doubt it will happen then...
 
it might show up on diagnostic but i dont know if it will show on your run of the mill error code ones.
could well be, when its running are you getting poor economy at the minute as well



also worth checking the MAF airflows as well
 
I had the very same prob with my old Primera and all I did was spray some carb and choke cleaner into the throttle body. Never cut out again.
 
it could be a couple of things, i would personaly check the coolant temp sensor as suggested, look for any leaks on the vacuume hoses, or unlikely but possible the tps (throttle position sensor) or quite possibly the air flow sencor, usualy a good spray with carb cleaner sorts the sencors out
 
altonator, im sure, the revs droping down past the norm at 800rpm indicates its faulty and the battery is not holding the charge,

or else you could have a faulty fuel pump,
try what tn said, it could be something stupid
 
i wouldnt have thought it would be the alternator, as if it wasnt working, the battery would not be charging effectivly, and would result in a flat battery, this will only effect the electrical items which run off the battery, in fact the engine can still run with out a battery connected, but will not start!
if you wish to check the battery the best way to check would be to put a multi-tester on the battery with the ignition off and it should read around 12V
get a friend to start the car andf you should see the voltage drop and then return to over 10v
then get said friend to hold the revs at around 2500 revs and you should get a reading of around 14V this will show you that the battery and alternator are working correctly, the 1st to readings are the battery and the last one is the alternator, as a rule of thumb,
 
I doubt it would be alternator or battery, recently changed to handle the audio. My Fuel economy is normal. Changed the spark plugs and everything seemed to be working fine, idling fine with the airbox off the inlet. But i will be testing in the morning again. Looks like i should go for some carb cleaner then? and probably go for some redex fuel injector cleaner perhaps?
 
would def agree its not alternator or battery
alternator shows as a fault on the dash - plus battery wouldnt charge so car wouldnt start
battery - car would struggle to start or nothing would happen, when it does start the alternator takes over

away back to your original thread it seems the same as what the wife had when hers went ( was a 1.6 golf but the 1.4 and 1.6 engine are pretty much identical )although it wasnt cutting out fully. economy was slightly lower. that was the coolant sensor, its a very common fault on VAG cars

take the throttle body off an give it a clean out using carb cleaner. its your cheapest option to try. only takes around 1/2 hour to remove clean and refit.

is it electronic throttle ? if so you need to be careful not to force the butterfly valve open other wise you will damage the stepper motor - good couple of hundred to replace brand new

failing that i would look at the coolant sensor next. bout £10



did you check out the
 
How would i find out if the engine is running off electronic throttle? I might have to buy a Haynes manual to sort out the throttle body because i haven't taken it off before. Simple job? When im looking at the throttle looks like a carb as its got the throttle cable and everything there. This damn engine makes me want an engine swap now.
 
you can see a throttle cable then its cabled.
electronic throttle DBW - shows as EPC on the dash when you switch the ignition on.

iirc its only 4 cap screws (requires allen keys) to remove. as it sounds like you have a cable one then you can open the butterfly valve up to clean it out properly at least.
 
OKay good stuff, i will see how it runs for the moment with the new plugs then if its still being a pain im gonna clean the throttle body. If i remove it i won't mess anything up will I? I dont want to make anything worse than it already is.
 
not unless you mess it up ill see if i can find the infor on how to remove it on the APQ engine.
could be that the crud is blocking the vavle when its at idle thus not enough air is getting in. hense why it runs ok when ou give it some revs
 
ok cant find my haynes manual and theres nothing about removing the TB on elsawin.
this really proves that its an easy job as it contins just about everything else
 
Crud? The car was running fine when i had the airbox off, better than with it on. revs now seem to be holding. but im going to clean it all up now, and hope and pray that it doesnt cut out/idle funny anytime soon.

My airbox is completely tatty btw, any ideas? performance intake? or get another airbox with only a performance filter?
 
carbon / oilly deposits from the exhaust. the egr valve passes some of these back into the intake to please all the greenies.

your saying its running better with it off, what states the filter itself in ?

ohh and VAG diesgn is pretty good a performance panel filter would be the best
 
i would just replace the filter with a performance one fella and it might be worth checking the air flow sensor, if thats clogged up/ dirty then the ecu will be thinking there is not as much air going through as there really is and can sometimes cause an idle problem.
i would imagine the filter is filthy or the sensor is dirty if it idles better with out the airbox fitted....
 
Its literally a brand spanking new circular ring filter. I must say there is quite a bit of oil/soot around the inlet. Yes Pgarner it works better with the new filter off. aswell as its housing and everything. Im gonna spray it with the carb cleaner then if that fails coolant temp sensor. I dont think its a air sensor because theere isn't a sensor located anywhere on my airbox or anything.
 
what solved the problem ?

yeah the problem with the gearbox most likely is the fact that they are rivited together rather than bolted. issues with the pre 03 1.4 and 1.6 you can get repair kits which drill out the rivits and replace with bolts
 
Well as i did before i changed the plugs and ran a bit smoother, sprayed the carb cleaner and now its running like a dream. Where can i get these repair kits from?
 
not sure where to get the kits just seen alot of people complaing that there gearboxes have been leaking.
might be worth giving seat or VW a call
 
Yeah definitely, i will give that a check when i get the chance, but i can imagine them saying " Bring it down to your local dealership and we'll sort it all out for you " thus meaning ( Im going to empty your wallet and max your card out.)
 
ok done a little research abet quickly and turned up this
would strongly advise against getting a second hand gearbox as it is likely to have the same weakness, also they are hard to find due to failures.

As the 1999 year cars are now out of warranty, I would not get a new gearbox as they are very expensive, and require a surcharge if the old gearbox can't be returned with intact casing.

Best option is to get the gearbox reconditioned at a gearbox specialist - not a VW dealer (which will be about 50% more expensive).

The main problem with repair is getting a new gearbox casing, it is possible that the old one can be welded depending on where the hole is.

The differential can be fitted to the final drive gear using a repair kit. The remaining rivets have to be drilled out and replaced with bolts and nuts using washer plates. Repair kit part number is 02K 498 088 for DUU, DUS, DUW, DUV, ERT gearboxes or 02A 498 088A for other 5 speed gearboxes.

Usually some of the gears are damaged by the loose rivet(s) and all can be damaged if ran for a while after the oil has leaked out.

The gearbox specialist I got mine repaired at said it was a common problem with these gearboxes, and that earlier year models had rivets made of a harder material, on later models the rivets are a larger size.


as part numbers are mentioned i checked ETKA (im now only a couple of months out of date instead of a couple of years)

02K 498 088 - £57.11
02A 498 088A - an eye watering £123.96

both prices from VW

prices from Seat Skoda and Audi

02k498088 -£57.35
02k498088a - £124.49


think i would go with the advise quoted above and get a recon box, if the rivits have seared then there may be damage to the actual gearing
 
Ouch, for a 1.4 gearbox. I might just have to leave it as it is, and when it dies on me then sort out this engine swap, surely much better time saver and money saver in the long run? But will future gearboxes or engines have the same issues?
 
Oh ok pgarner, thanks for all the help. I will start a new thread when i finally start my engine swap...but for the moment i will be spraying my alloys matt black ;) wish me luck.
 
Oh ok pgarner, thanks for all the help. I will start a new thread when i finally start my engine swap...but for the moment i will be spraying my alloys matt black ;) wish me luck.


Good luck youth but you'll be fine as long as you do plenty of prep work and throughly clean the wheels before painting.
 

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