This is a problem that I discovered while looking around under the bonnet of my wife's Polo 9N. Where the wiring harness passes down from below the front windscreen wiper motor into the engine bay, there is a split grommet - to protect the cables while passing through the firewall. On this Polo, the split grommet had either not been fitted correctly or had slipped out of position - not very likely if it had been fitted correctly as it is merely fixed to the harness by cable tape. Through time this could have lead to some of the insulation being chaffed through with possible nasty results. It might just be that the guys at Palplona? are not doing a good job - so just a Polo problem - either way you have been warned! The engine compartment rear cover needs to be loosened off to get this grommet back in - in fact I think that the flat front face of this gommet is meant to be trapped by this rear cover as it is located in a "U" hole in the firewall - if your one is still trapped then all is well otherwise it needs looking at. The flat front face of this grommet on my wife's car was visible below the soundproofing and was at an angle - so I knew all was not well. By the way, one of the rear cover securing screws is hidden behind the ECU (BBY Petrol engine) - can someone tell me how the ECU is removed - its the one with the black metal screening - Haynes only shows the one without the screening and says to remove the top clip then the bottom one - I could not find any or any way to remove this cover - does it come off with the cable ?- I didn't want to go to that bother, so reseated the grommet without removing this final screw.

The ECU should just pull out of its bracket.

I have had a very similar problem on a Fabia causing the washer level light to come on all the time.

Thanks Lummox - "pull out" - what exactly do you mean as I was not getting a good feeling about "just pulling" the ECU out when I tried this afternoon - what sort of fixings are used.

With regards to the "low washer level" - unfortunately that will not be a problem, I tried "switching it on" with VAG-COM after I got the car home - its an import and my Passat did not have its warning "switched on" at factory or PDI in NL, but that indicated a fault or something so I disabled it again - then had a look for the low level indicator switch - there wasn't one - I was just being optimistic (car has winter pack so I thought it might have low washer level indicator - no such luck back in late 2002!).

I've removed the ECU abut 3 times so far - the ECU box has a little plastic clip above - just release it (pull it away from the firewall by about 5mm) with gentle pressure, and the ECU box comes out. To dosconnect the ECU there are two tabs above and below that have to be pulled all the way out.

If you dont mind a few scrapes can remove the ECU even with a strutbrace in - just open up the airfilter box.....

HTH

Bas

I've removed the ECU abut 3 times so far - the ECU box has a little plastic clip above - just release it (pull it away from the firewall by about 5mm) with gentle pressure, and the ECU box comes out. To dosconnect the ECU there are two tabs above and below that have to be pulled all the way out.

If you dont mind a few scrapes can remove the ECU even with a strutbrace in - just open up the airfilter box..... HTH Bas

Bas, correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not quite perfect, my wife has told me this!), but you have a PD thingie and my Haynes book shows "your" ECU as an alloy box - mine, a petrol engined car has an ECU that has an extra outer black steel cover - could be an enviromental or EMC or heatsinking addition. The cable looks like its part of this screen and I was trying to avoid losing this units working memory as it runs okay. My screen is bigger than the ECU so would conseal any fixings.

Of course you're quite right mate - sorry, just trying to help out, not to confuse things more:D

Good luck

Ahhh, the VW has a Thatcham sheild on it doesnt it. Should be a couple of shear bolts that need to be chiseled off first, sorry forgot about that.

Ahhh, the VW has a Thatcham sheild on it doesnt it. Should be a couple of shear bolts that need to be chiseled off first, sorry forgot about that.

Ahhhhh - I thought I saw a couple of things that could be pop rivets - OR - as you have just said shear bolts - Grrrr. So the shield is just for keeping bad boys away- dashhhhh!

Thanks for that, just as well I managed to solve my problem without needing to take that final bolt out.

Shear bolts, people like Ford etc use them to increase the security of their cars - my wife's old 1994 Fiesta seemed to have them on the steering lock - its just a pity that one fell out when the car was only two years old - obviously it wasn't tightened fully so the head had not sheared. The other bolt could be unscrewed by hand!! Maybe a Friday job - the connection between this car and my wife's current car - the Polo, is that they were both built in Spain - hmmm!