Knackered Engine

[BlueHave]

My VW Polo shuddered to a halt a few days ago, it's a 9N3 and from reading up has the 3 cyl 1.2 engine which it seems is prone to failure even at what would be considered reasonable miles on the clock.Did a diagnostic test and came up with cylinder 3 at fault. Further tests show there is no compression on the cylinder. The valve has effectively burnt out.

Car is in great condition and has been faultless up until now so I'm reluctant to get rid. Obvious solutions seems to be to replace the valve and skim the head or else find an engine for a few hundred and fit it.

What I want to know is if I can find a 9N3 1.2 engine can I just spend a day fitting it and it'll be problem solved or will it cause all kinds of issues with the ECU etc.

[Oldandslow]

Or just fit a new/recon/used but good head rather than pull out the whole engine.

[rallycross]

Common problem this engine I have had to get a few of these done, lowest mileage one was 30k.
You need to get the head off and then check to see if there is any damage to the head as this can happen. If the head can be saved budget £400-£600 if you have a good independent garage - they will probably send the head off to their local engineering shop.
If you get a second hand engine it may need the same problem fixing again later. There are plenty of these engines running well long after 130'000 miles so it's just luck if you get a good second hand one.

[Ron99]

I should add that my wife ran a facelift 9N Polo 1.2 (12v, 64PS) for over 10yrs/75k without any engine problems (it did have a few other problems but none resulted in breakdown at the side of the road).
One of our neighbours kids still has it 2yrs/10k later.

[DuraAce]

Blue Have said:

What I want to know is if I can find a 9N3 1.2 engine can I just spend a day fitting it and it'll be problem solved or will it cause all kinds of issues with the ECU etc.

You can replace it. As long you aren't replacing ecu etc it'll be ok.

However, surely it's easier to remove and assess a cylinder head than swop an entire engine?!

You might get lucky and find a burnt out valve and no damage to the head. In which case it's an easy repair. Worth a look inside with a borescope if you can borrow one, before you strip anything...

[PaulKemp]

DuraAce said:

Blue Have said:

What I want to know is if I can find a 9N3 1.2 engine can I just spend a day fitting it and it'll be problem solved or will it cause all kinds of issues with the ECU etc.

You can replace it. As long you aren't replacing ecu etc it'll be ok.

However, surely it's easier to remove and assess a cylinder head than swop an entire engine?!

You might get lucky and find a burnt out valve and no damage to the head. In which case it's an easy repair. Worth a look inside with a borescope if you can borrow one, before you strip anything...

I want to add to this after I fitted a secondhand Duratec engine to a Fiesta ST, the second hand engine came with a loom fitted so I fitted the lot, it would not start so fitted look off the Brocken engine and it fired up.
Fit the loom that is attached to the ECU

[BlueHave]

Appreciate the replies. It seems it's a common problem with these as every engine repair garage said they have fixed dozens.

Seems it can be fixed for about £150 which excludes removing the head which is fairly straight forward but takes a few hours labour.