why does my car do this?

Question

it will be fine for some time, then it will start to play up and keep conking out. when it idles, it is very lumpy and the car shakes, it will often conk out when i stop in a traffic queue etc but when its not playing up it idles nicely and doesnt conk out. wot causes this and is it easy to fix yourself, if so, how?

my car is a VW polo and its getting on a bit, its a H reg. ive taken it to the garage before for this problem and when i tell them about it they look like they havent got a clue! i dont know wot they do to it but its ok for a while then starts playing up again, also, its not long been for its MOT and it came back like this. i havent got the cash to keep going to the garage and how do i know they are not ripping me off cos im female and know nothing about cars. thanks to all for your help. i appreciate it.

Answer 1

I suppse there are several things that it could be. Have you had your sparkplugs checked? Have you replaced your air filter recently. Did you put the right kind of gas in your car? Perhaps you let your car run too low on gas and there is sediment in your gas tank. Best way to find out is have it checked out by someone you trust.

Answer 2

All car problems are educated guesses.and process of elimination. My guess is fuel contamination or ignition probs. Dirt in your fuel line can occasional interrupt the supply of fuel. If it gets to the carburettor it can stop the needle from seating properly. If this is problem its fairly easy to fix. Stick an in line fuel filter to fuel line between pump and carburettor. depending upon how bad it is you might have to clear the line and check the carb. Don't dismantle a carb if you don't know what you are doing. Otherwise might be loose electrical connection related to ignition system (probably more likely). When did you last change the points, rotor arm, distributer cap etc. If they are pitted easily checked by releasing two clips either side of cap (located near to side of engine with 5 leads coming out the top) and look inside. The plastic bit in the centre with metal tips is a rotor arm. It spins round contacting the four contacts inside the distributor cap. The little thing that sits under the rotor arm are the points. They open and close as the shaft turns. If they are closed you can prise open with a small screw driver to check the two faces. Any pitting indicates they could do with being replaced. This also applies to the other parts mentioned (arm and cap) Points are a bit fiddly to replace and you'll need a feeler gauge. Caps and rotor arms are easier. Rotor arms slide off if you pull them up. Caps you have to be careful to check slots inside the cap so that you don't try and fit one 180 degrees out. Buy a replacement cap compare the old with the new and then pull off the old leads and attach them to the new cap in exactly the same position. Do this one at a time so you don't get confused. Get the wrong order and your car won't start. Get a friend who knows what they are doing to help set up the points. It's a simple enough job but can be fiddly. The little cylindrical thing attached to the side of the distributor with a short wire attached near the points is the condensor. You can't tell by looking at it if there is a problem. You just have to replace them and if the problem is resolved you know what caused it otherwise you've just wasted money. All the above things should be done on a regular basis depending on your mileage (along with other service items filters and oil change) so if you did replace all of them it should help with your performance and fuel consumption even if your current problem isn't solved. None of the above are that expensive. The cap is probably most around £3-5.Best of luck.

Answer 3

Two things,
1. Have you ever run an injector cleaner in the tank, Do this Run the tank down to 1/4 put in one bottle. Drive it until you refuel. at that time put another bottle of injector cleaner in the tank and fill er up. Do this for (4) four taknfuls.
2. Air Filter, has it been changed lately.
Do these two first and see if it doesn't straighten up.
If the car starts hard or milage has reduced you may have leaky injectors.
Let me know if these first two don't help. then you can proceed to the less obvious problems.....Oh ya one more thing. When were the plugs and wires changed last. If you have over 70,000 you might invest in plugs and wires also.

Answer 4

Can be any thing. first clean battery points. use some sandpaper works the best. if your car has a carb (not fuel injected) use some carb cleaner, it will clean the jets of any dirt and if that does not work, then its process of elimination. from plugs, leads, engine timing. oh if you mostly do town driving, try taking it out on the motorway for a while. it will remove dirt from the engine system that was built up when u where drive around town.

Answer 5

all cars are different, but i suspect yuo havent serviced it recently. change the air filter, and clean the rotor arm, and distributor contacts, theyre supposed to be shiny, not green and or furry. it may also need pplugs and Ht leads, but you wojnt know until you do teh first bits...

but before you do anything, check teh battery terminals are tight. then the dizzy cap. *its teh thing with five big thick wires that dissapear into the front of the engine. the ca has either two screws or two clips, undo them and youll see teh contacts inside, clean tehm with a flat balded scrwdriver or knife, put the blade at teh base of the contact point, and flick upwards. clean teh rotor arm on the edge of your tyre, just the leading edge face..DONT USE THE PAVEMENT. reassemble it, dont forget to put the rotor arm back on its locating peg.

take teh air filter out and look at it, and bash teh hell out of it against a wall, wiggle and waggle it to dislodge the built up dust and replace it. if this doesnt cure it...let us know, and please giove a few more details... a make and engone size would be nice...

Answer 6

Sounds like a fuel or carburation problem. If you are asking this question then no, you can't fix it yourself.

Answer 7

You could simply try changing the brand and the octaine rating of your gas. It sounds like you have water in the gas lines.

Answer 8

Sounds like somthing in the carb ,are you need to change your oil ,It might even be low on oil .

Answer 9

Sorry to say, but I would sell it off to some sucker and get something newer :)

Answer 10

check for a vacuum leak on the engine. that is usually the cause. also if it shifts rough...... that is definitely the reason.