[Closed] Weird car problem N0:389

Computers eh? Turn it off. count to ten. turn it back on again 😉

Or take it, and a massive bag of cash, to your local VW dealer

Computers eh? Turn it off. count to ten. turn it back on again

Or take it, and a massive bag of cash, to your local VW dealer

I'm hoping that maybe I've just spilled some screenwash somewhere and it'll sort itself out. I can live with it as long as it's not a classic sign of 'imminent car explosion'.

It won't be going anywhere near my local VW dealer 😆

I take by you saying Odometer, you actually mean the trip ? Either that or it's the lowest mileage 2000 Polo around 😀

Is the actual mileage going up correctly ?

My car did strange things when I spilled screenwash. Cruise control stopped working...

D'oh. Yes Simmy, the actual mileage is normal, just the trip thing that's going bananas. Thanks for pointing that out.

Edit: Not actually sure if it's [i]going up[/i], best nip out and check.

I remember also that I washed it the day before. That's a very rare occurrence. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but it was an excuse to get out of doing something else.

Three things to a car = car death.

Never wash it, fill it with fuel and pop a new tyre on in one day... It will die. Boom mechanically, or some rotter will run into you.

This is a fact based on the four student-car sudden death incidents in my house one year at uni.

Disconnect battery, wait reconnect? Worth a try..

You havent jet washed the engine or leaves/blocked up grill drains under the screen?

Had a similar thing with a Seat Ibiza, which ran fine but when you turned the engine off the power steering, handbrake and oil warning lights all started flashing and remained so even when you removed the key from the ignition. It sat at the local garage for a couple of days before they could look at it and low and behold when they checked it had fixed itself.The only thing they thought it may of been was damp electrics although it hadn't rained for quite some time.
I have since cleaned out a load of crud from inside the front windscreen scuttle panel which I believe may of been blocking the drain path and causing washer fluid run off to somehow get where it shouldn't and that was possibly causing the fault.

D'oh. Yes Simmy, the actual mileage is normal, just the trip thing that's going bananas. Thanks for pointing that out.

Edit: Not actually sure if it's going up, best nip out and check.

To be honest, if it's just the trip I wouldnt worry.

I've a 1997 Polo and I've just spent £270 on it for a power steering pipe. Tough call when the car is only worth £400 or so but it's been a good car so gritted my teeth and paid it but I've said that's it's yellow card. If anything else apart from normal stuff needs replacing, it's going.

Hora's post reminds me, check the drains under the scuttle panel, mine was blocked and ruined my wiper motor as it was sat in a bath of water when it was parked up.

My wife's old polos odometer etc used to play up in extremely warm weather or when the battery was getting low on charge. Never could get to the bottom of it, just ignored it and changed oil on mileage.

Disconnect battery. Touch pos and neg wires together. On my trucks this totally wipes the error memory. Can't do any harm.:)

If anything else apart from normal stuff needs replacing, it's going.

Then you buy another old car that isn't sound and explodes on the first outing.. you'll wish you hadn't sold your reliable Polo!

If anything else apart from normal stuff needs replacing, it's going.
Then you buy another old car that isn't sound and explodes on the first outing.. you'll wish you hadn't sold your reliable Polo!

I know, it's a difficult call with cars that have been reliable.

I've had the car since 2009 when it only had 48k on it, gave £1495 for it and it's on 98k now. Apart from that wiper motor, which I replaced off a spare I had, it's only needed servicing and usual stuff till this power steering pipe went.

£220, dealer only and the lad at the garage told me it would have been difficult to get one off a scrapper as it was very easy to damage getting it off. £50 for fitting it.

Update:

Just in case anyone else is searching for solutions for this problem.

As a few of you said, I investigated the drainage bit at the base of the windscreen and sure enough it was full of leaves. I removed the cabin filter housing on the right to find more leaves and a cable junction sitting in a load of wet mud. A good clean out, left to dry and a squirt of WD40 and it seems to have sorted the issue. Moral of the story: [i]Never[/i] wash your car.

Thanks everyone.

That was easy. If it had been a Landy you'd have discovered all kinds of horrors and spent the weekend finding scrap parts then fitting them.

Do you know if there is a battery in the clocks to maintain details if the main battery gets disconnected?
It cold be if it has one that it's due for replacing?
I've heard of it as an issue on other cars - not a Polo though.

Not sure alanf, it does stay on after you've removed the key so maybe. Can't remember offhand if it's still on when I get in the car.

Same as this.

[img] [/img]