rum4mo

It does sound a lot like the flap opening solenoid has failed - this is not unusual it seems right across the VW Group marques/models/ages, for me "so far so good"! I'd think that there will be a "how to" available online, to resolve this which normally involves replacing the solenoid assembly.

The "rolling radius" of the 15" steel spare with that tyre size will be the same or near enough as the 16" factory fit wheels, so no problem, also the "off-set" will be correct. Even with the bigger front disc brakes, the 15" steel spare will safely clear the callipers. Edit:- just remember that you will need to source the correct 15" steel wheel.

You'd need to bleed the clutch hydraulics system separately as it has its own fluid feed from the "brake" reservoir. Quite a few people don't feel the need to bleed the clutch as often as the brake system.

I used to fill in the customer satisfaction survey our VW dealership caused to get handed out, on behalf of my wife, a bit like p'ng into the wind, but it can make you feel a bit better for a few seconds. These surveys are well designed, no chance of any carp heading "their" way, just a pity that the same effort is not put into product design/manufacture.

EGR - on all cars, not true.

I handed in my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI for its 1st service from new, that car was bought with a 3 year service plan, which turned out to be a "dealership chain" version of the official VW Group new car service plan product. When the keys were handed back - but no paperwork came with them, I queried that and was told as it was a prepaid service plan there is never any paperwork handed over - I objected and was sent out a copy of the work sheet from their accounts dept a few days later, as said in an earlier post, the price of filter etc was "really dirt cheap" - I didn't expect to get that info handed over, just a statement of what work had been carried out on our property. So yes "self to self" pricing is peanuts which seems to be the same for new car warranty work, which is why main dealers are not jumping over themselves to get your warranty business - along with the fact that VW Group, like most other product suppliers, will tend to initially try rejecting any warranty claims.

I've been monitoring the ph level of the original coolant in my wife's July 2015 build VW Polo 1.2TSI as this should tie in with how the anti corrosion properties are "behaving", it was filled G13 at the factory and has no Silcate "boosting" package as probably VW did not consider that these small TSI engines would end up needing the Silcate levels boosting as there should never exist really high temperatures locally in their cooling systems to start degrading the G13, but I found that they were wrong there and the ph was heading towards being too acidic a lot quicker than the G13 in our older daughter's May 2019 build SEAT Leon Cupra that does have a Silicate "booster" in the coolant reservoir - okay that Leon Cupra, probably like some TDI with the exhaust gas cooler, can end up getting the G13 hot enough at certain points in the coolant system to start degrading the G13, and that Silicate booster seems to be still doing its intended task. I replaced the G13 with G12evo at the 10 year point in that Polo's life, using a coolant vacuum refill kit, a Draper version which cost a bit, I think that there are many (Chinese) copies out there for a lot less money and perfectly good for a DIYer to use now and again. When you look at the BASF specs for the old G12+, G12++, G13 and G12evo - they do tend to get called "long life" or "long service". When you look at the resellers version/offering for the same BASF based coolants, they all reckon that they should be replaced in 5 years - obviously that works well for their sales! I did the same for my old 2011 Audi S4 - it came from factory with G12 in it, it's coolant ph level seemed to be heading towards being acidic a lot slower than the G13 in the 2015 VW Polo, but I felt to need to replace it "just in case" - again using the Draper Coolant Vacuum Refill kit. Note:- even using the official workshop manual instructions, I found that you didn't get as much of the old coolant out as possible, if you only "drain and refit pipes - apply vacuum" once - old coolant appeared in the reservoir twice after applying a vacuum - so I opened the system up again and let more coolant out twice, I could have repeated that a few more times, but only only small quantities of extra old coolant dropped out each successive time - I did not have that issue with the 2011 S4 though - but it only had 2 coolant systems with few if any restrictions etc fitted like the 1.2TSI and other newer engines have.

Thanks for getting back to us with what you think was the root cause - lots of people would just have ran away and hidden!

The "air valve looks to be a "push fit", like snapped into place. That other pipe that has the black foam over it might even be a steel pipe, so I don't think that it will be causing a problem, I've forgotten what it's function is, maybe just the low pressure fuel feed to the high pressure fuel pump.

Having looked at an online parts listing, I've remembered that the crankcase purging pipe is the small one showing on your picture to the left (in that picture view) of the air filter tube you have circled in red that has the resonator/damper build onto it. That pipe connects between the rear of the air filter assembly and the "air valve" on the top of the cam shaft chest.

Ah, yes, "foam lagging" not "fabric", now that you've reminded me, it does tend to look distressed, but is that not just an intended bit of "shaping" so that it fits into the space that it does. From memory, that pipe is probably a crankcase purging pipe so it probably gets connected to the underside - or side of the air filter assembly - unless you know otherwise by your recent access to under there. Edit:- I bought a copy of the official workshop manual from easymanuals.co.uk who just grab a copy from eWin online and sell them on. That worked for me for a 2011 Audi S4 and a 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS.

@goatus , yes, it was the charge pipe you've circled in yellow that I was referring to, and now I can see and so remember, that that charge pipe is retained by plastic lugs which get eased out using a tapered U shaped tool - not that this should interest you now, but I'm just clarifying what I should have written in my previous posting - and so there are no rubber O-ring seals associated with the air tube connectors that you removed - and also lesser reason for what you did being to blame for the smell of fuel/oil fumes, unless there is a small air hose that connects to the bottom of the air filter assembly box - I've forgotten if there is one, but I think that there is a preformed one that has fabric protection covering it to prevent it chaffing on "stuff".

Maybe, from my experience, you should get a VW Group Indie to remove the CP - as they should be "okay" with doing that, Skoda etc official dealerships will probably hand out a list of reasons why they "can't" do this, or would rather not carry out this task for you. The proviso is always as long as it has not been logged as being stolen as Skoda etc mothership will not allow that change in status to be made - also bear in mind what @pab567 has written, from memory, a local VW Group Indie only charged my 0.5 hour labour to carry out that task, but I had made sure that the unit I was changing to should be acceptable to my car - a 2011 Audi S4, so I can't comment wrt your swopping unit part numbers. Just remember if this "new" unit is faulty or not fully compatible with your car after it has been allocated to your car, you will need your original unit's CP removed as it will now not be your car's one.

It sounds a lot like conditions are not being "set" for the starter motor to run/engage, and mainly I'd think, that will come down to the DSG selector assembly. Having an AGM battery from factory is unusual for a small petrol engine, the battery management part of a controller should have been configured to reflect that AGM battery being fitted, it would be useful if you had a suitable scan tool to check what the car thinks is fitted to it now in terms of battery technology and capacity. This will be a separate thing to the failure of the start motor to run - or be asked/enabled to run. Edit:- again having a suitable scan tool like VCDS would let you check if "starter enabled" was being "set" when you tried to start the car and it refused to activate the starter motor. I would have hoped a proper workshop would have checked this, I can understand why they would whip out the AGM and fit a "correct" battery - but again I'd hope that they would have checked which type and size of battery the car had already been set up for prior to them changing the battery.

The charge pipe that I was referring to is the one that is nearest the gearbox end of the engine. From memory, you are meant to use a bespoke tool to "spring out" the retaining bands on that pipe - as opposed to the usual "pipe clip" pliers or even water pump plier that get used to remove the tube associated with the air filter assembly. I just thought, when I changed the plugs the first time, that taking that charge pipe off would improve access and so minimise the possibility of any plastic bits getting damaged - so when I replaced the spark plugs the second time, I also replaced that charge pipe and so replaced the O-ring seal at both ends.

@goatus , did you take the "charge" pipe off to reach cylinder 4 coil and so plug? If so, maybe you have torn/damaged the sealing ring either at the turbo outlet end or the throttle body end. The workshop manual does state that these O-rings should be replaced if that charge pipe is removed. If there is a leak there, eventually some traces of engine oil/mist will start to build up on the end which is leaking slightly.

I was surprised to get just over 60MPG on our morning rush hour 10 miles commute to "child mind" our older grandson today, car is a 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT 58,000miles and E10 fuel, fitted with Michelin Alpin winter tyres, "winter support kit" in the boot and the ambient temperature was 4.5C. That figure is easily achievable in warmer weather when on summer wheels/tyres and no "winter support kit" in the boot - but not normally gets over/past the 60MPG in winter time.

Better not to try using Imperial taps and dies on Metric stuff as that would only compound your troubles. Note that I only ever use these taps and dies to clean up threads and never to cut new threads. If I need to cut new threads I use “proper” quality taps and dies.

You know what, it is at times like this that you might consider buying a suitable set of taps and dies. I've been there done that, but quickly thought "f' this" and headed out and bought a suitable set of taps and dies, in my case, from Screwfix, which is still all intact and very much in use. So that means that I tend to wire brush, then clean any exposed threads using a die before adding in release oil. From memory, is the partial blocking of the ARB link nut by the car "bits" not just down to whither or not you have the car jacked up or still resting on its wheels but with them on ramps? Edit:- I've even, before buy a suitable set of taps and dies, ended up with the Torx bit ending up expanding the section of the thread out beyond the where the nut starts from - and that really was a show stopper forcing me to chopping the end of the thread off and so trashed that ARB drop link. In my years of working on 2002 VW Polo 1.4 , 2009 SEAT Ibiza 1.4 and 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI, I've never ever found any of the drop links to be worn - which was a bit annoying for the 2002 car that I ended up chopping the end of one drop link and fitting new VW parts, the 2009 car got its original drop links refitted so the bought Febi replacements are still available, the 2015 car currently has its original drop links refitted to it, the new VW drop links are still available, but maybe I'm frightened to fit them as THEY COST A BOMB - warning, the VW Group drop links should never be bought if you can help it as buying them will hurt your wallet!

I feel that you are trapped in as much as you can't personally implement this change, which if you bought a suitable scan tool and swopped over to a AGM even an AGM "next size up" and acquired the knowledge, you could. I'm only guessing here when I say that I'd think that after the warranty had expired, a proper VAG Indie workshop would make these changes for you when you explained why you felt that "like for like" was not going to work for you for long. Also, I not sure how anyone could survive with a small EV town car, unless they had it connected to a charger while not in use, if they only used it for short journeys. The key in both cases is availability to an electrical outlet to get and keep the 12V battery in a good state of charge. Edit:- personally, every time that I've bought a new car or even a slightly used car with manufacturer warranty, I was keen for the time to pass so that I could do what I thought needed doing to my cars without any complaints or threats from the dealership.

I agree with what you are trying to do, I have done that on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT SEL, though ironically while that version of Polo is "fully loaded", the headlights, at least are lower power consumers as they are LED! Though at the 10 year/55,000miles point, I got bored waiting for the EFB to run out of life while the Bosch AGM "next size up" was sitting waiting for its service life to start. Anyway, I'd think that the main issue, in your case, is "new car warranty" and that rightly so, has sent the business(es) you have already contacted, running. In every case like this where "the owner knows better" the owner really does need to acquire the skill to make these changes themselves and live with any possible consequences - or leave as is - sorry, no sensible business needs the possible fallout from complying with your requests. Edit:- our younger daughter and husband bought a 2019 SEAT Arona 1.0TSI 115PS which is loaded with "bits", and only use that car when they need to as they live on the edge of London and use trains to get into town for work. It was no real surprise to me when she phoned me to say that they had needed to call the AA out to deal with a flat battery, ie the original EFB, the car was out of new car warranty but had a used car warranty. I had considered asking them to request that the AA sold and fitted a new AGM same size or next size up - but I quickly considered that the AA while being happy to sell a member a new battery and fit it at a slightly elevated price - they would not be allowed to sell a different type of battery or a bigger one, just in case there was an issue and that member was trying to blame AA for fitting a requested "wrong" battery. I gave them a solar charger, but I'm not convinced that they are re-fitting it as they leave the car to sleep for the next 10 or 14 days, so I'd think that they will end up once again with a flat battery over the next couple of years. Car gets parked outside their garage which along with the other resident's garages is behind the block of flats and so no power point available for a trickle charger.

I've just scanned my 2011 Audi S4 and yes, it stores TPMS warnings in the ABS controller, it has probably a leak around the valves on the front tyres - these wheels were refurbished maybe 3 years ago due to leaks around the valve hole - ie localised corrosion due to my powder coater using the valve holes in the wheels to hook the wheels up from while working on the wheels, a lot annoying as I'll need to get the tyres off and the valves out, then I'll take them home and clean up and apply paint to that area on both the front wheels. It is probably logical when you think about it, anything associated with the ABS function should get logged. I'd need to force a TPMS warning on my wife's 2015 VW Polo to see if it also stores these events in the ABS controller.

It might be marque/model/age dependant, but I found that "event" logged quite a long time after the event - and that surprised me as I'd considered that once "you" had sorted the pressures out and reset the warning, that no traces would be left as they are hardly relevant. It's not as if the "event" that happened to me was a system malfunction, it was a genuine lose of tyre pressure in one wheel. I only discovered that logged fault while checking at service time.

This reminds me that I should clear the logged fault that gets left behind after the tyre pressure warning has been issued have been corrected and reset, probably use VCDS to do that! I think that checking the tyre pressures once a week is a smart thing to do as "looking" at each wheel/tyre before jumping into the car, just avoids you driving with a completely flat tyre as low profile tyres do tend to conceal their "current status".

@joek666 that might just be a brake splash guard that has rotted enough to break free - a friend with a 2019 VW T-Roc has already had to replace both front brake splash guards due to them "departing" the car.