Hi folks,

 

My 2001 vrs which I recently bought is acting up on start up and I'm asking for advice on what to try first before I waste time and money on the wrong things.

 

Upon start up revs rise to 1400rpm when cold and sometimes even when warm, when the revs start to drop to normal idle speed, sometimes the idle bounces and the car loses power and has stalled on one occasion.

If I keep the revs above around 1500rpm then the car does move off normally and seems fine but as soon as the revs drop again it seems to lose power and feel like its about to stall.

When the car has warmed up it seems to run better but low revs are still a bit hit and miss.

 

I have also noticed an intermittent power delivery where usually I get decent response at around 1800rpm when the turbo kicks in but sometimes it feels dead and doesnt seem to kick in till about 2200rpm and seems to deliver it all at once especially if ive changed gears.

 

Engine temp virtually never goes above the 1/4 mark about 60 to 70 degrees even in traffic, the coolant temp sensor is green on my car, dont know when it was fitted.

 

Y piece breather hose is split and taped up (by previous owner   ) where it joins the lower section.

 

Engine management light has now come on.

 

I'm going to order a cheap code reader and report back some error codes and had planned to clean the throttle body and maf to see if this helps?

 

any advice greatly appreciated,

 

cheers, Kev.

Sound like your temp sensor and thermostat, plus you need to sort the pipe out.

My car used to idle badly on start up, staying around 750rpm but car used to shake. Then when warmed up, would go up to 1400rpm. Cause was breather pipe under inlet manifold which was completely ripped to shreds. Engine management light also came on at the same time and that turned out to be oxygen sensor bank one.

cleaning the throttle body can help if it's oily and dirty... Mine used to idle bad and feel like it was going to stall at times... cleaned throttle body and it now idles beautifully. Worth a go and there's a thread on here How to do it properly like ignition on with something on the throttle so you can clean around the butterfly valve

As said, temp sensor (assuming there isn't a thermostat fault) sounds like it's gone west.

 

These cars should fairly quickly rise to the middle of the gauge (90) and stay there. I've had my 51 plate for 4 years and the guage has never deviated from this reading once.

Thanks for the replies, I'll get on top of this asap and report back the results 

Thanks for the replies, I'll get on top of this asap and report back the results 

Kelty... not too far from me.

 

Mind and have a rummage around all the breather pipes. I found that when the y piece had split, the others of same age and wear were on the way out too. My new silicone bits arrived today.

 

I take it youll be going to western skoda dunfermline for a throttle body gasket? If you do, let me know if they carry them in stock or if they "have to order some in". 

Kelty... not too far from me.

 

Mind and have a rummage around all the breather pipes. I found that when the y piece had split, the others of same age and wear were on the way out too. My new silicone bits arrived today.

 

I take it youll be going to western skoda dunfermline for a throttle body gasket? If you do, let me know if they carry them in stock or if they "have to order some in". 

Hi mate, where in fife are you?

 

I'm going to replace all the breathers with silicone hoses and all the various turbo and intercooler ones too, I might just do all the deletes that everyone suggests on here also to rule out more leaks.

 

I'll be going to western for the temp sensor, thermostat also so I'll get back to you on the gasket, it might be a couple of weeks away yet as I've got a list of stuff that needs to get done to the car as well as this problem  :'( the wife's ready to kill me already 

Hi there I'm actually in kelty,you may have seen me going about,I have a black vrs,maybye not as I only do 2k a year in it,probably see my works van more bridgeway autopoint?

Hi there I'm actually in kelty,you may have seen me going about,I have a black vrs,maybye not as I only do 2k a year in it,probably see my works van more bridgeway autopoint?

Hi mate, small world, I think I may have seen you about, my vrs is red.

A couple of months back I had a black vrs behind me travelling from cowdenbeath back road to kelty which pulled into a drive on cocklaw street, was this you?

Yeah that's me,small world it is,think you stay next to my m8,s mum,Christine Gonzales?

Thats right, Christine's a great neighbour, the wife and I talk to her and the family all the time.

I used to work beside Brian (Gonzo) who I owe big time, he helped save the use of my left hand after It got pulled into a set of rollers at work.

Feel free to stop me for a chat anytime you see me kicking about mate 

Hi mate, where in fife are you?

 

I'm going to replace all the breathers with silicone hoses and all the various turbo and intercooler ones too, I might just do all the deletes that everyone suggests on here also to rule out more leaks.

 

I'll be going to western for the temp sensor, thermostat also so I'll get back to you on the gasket, it might be a couple of weeks away yet as I've got a list of stuff that needs to get done to the car as well as this problem  :'( the wife's ready to kill me already 

 

Kirkcaldy myself.

 

Just did the y pipe and the one connected to it plus the t pipe. What a pain.

 

On the way home I noticed my mpg was lower than usual... hope it was just from me booting it a bit more to see if there was a power difference without split pipes. I'll take a gingerly drive to work to see if it gives me the usual mpg reading. if not, I guess I've *******s up somewhere.

Kirkcaldy myself.

 

Just did the y pipe and the one connected to it plus the t pipe. What a pain.

 

On the way home I noticed my mpg was lower than usual... hope it was just from me booting it a bit more to see if there was a power difference without split pipes. I'll take a gingerly drive to work to see if it gives me the usual mpg reading. if not, I guess I've *******s up somewhere.

 

Fingers crossed for you mate, did you notice much difference in performance?

Small update, the car was becoming dangerous to drive at normal slow speed so I did a little tinkering, I removed the throttle body and it was caked in carbon and there was gunge on the butterfly, so I spent about an hour cleaning it to a now mirror finish ( wish I'd taken pics as it was minging ).

The results are positive as the car idles a lot better than before and pulls away fine even at low revs, still not 100% as there's a little blip now and again but at least its safer to drive now.

 

I had the car scanned for faults using a mates sealey fault reader, the only one stored was p1296 17704, error in mapped cooling system, failure of coolant temp sensor or thermostat. Engine management light has been reset and has remained off for now.

 

I'll nip to the dealers to buy them this weekend and hopefully get them fitted.

Fingers crossed for you mate, did you notice much difference in performance?

 

Seems the mpg is as per usual, tbh I never really noticed a difference in performance as I've generally got a light foot so didn't know what to expect. I know it goes well when it needs to!

 

Next job is the temp sensor. Should be a doddle in comparison.

Thats right, Christine's a great neighbour, the wife and I talk to her and the family all the time.

I used to work beside Brian (Gonzo) who I owe big time, he helped save the use of my left hand after It got pulled into a set of rollers at work.

Feel free to stop me for a chat anytime you see me kicking about mate 

Yeah gonzo is a good guy,I see him quite a lot as were usually out on the mountain bikes,sorry not replied sooner but on Tuesday afternoon my dad was rushed into the Victoria hospital,he has suffered a massive stroke so it's been a bit hectic.

Yeah gonzo is a good guy,I see him quite a lot as were usually out on the mountain bikes,sorry not replied sooner but on Tuesday afternoon my dad was rushed into the Victoria hospital,he has suffered a massive stroke so it's been a bit hectic.

Sorry to hear about your dad mate, hope he's better soon, and sorry for the late reply I've not been online for the last couple of weeks due to work commitments.