Volkswagen Polo 1.4 Fuel Injection (2005) - Oil and Air filter change

Secrets

After my car got its 90 000 km service, which cost a gazillion bucks, I decided that I shall service it myself the next time. Why does it seem so expensive?

D-day

Staring at my gauge showing 105 000 km, I realize that the time has come. Feeling a little nervous for what lay ahead of me, I bought the basic spares: air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, oil, oil waste bin, copper compound, 32mm socket, 16mm deep socket and hand cleaner.

To make sure I am going to go through with it, I threw the receipt away, negating an easy return of the goods to the store.

Research

Let me "google" that for you - I almost always find what I want using it. Take this blog for example: Bombs have nothing to do with it, but the mere fact that it contains the right words, you get even more visitors! Most people lure you like that, only to show you their adverts, which are bigger than the content of their site. I wish I could PVR some websites, and fast forward past the ads...

"vw polo 2005 air filter replace" yields few success stories. You either end up with crappy youtube guides in the littlest light conditions, or sites ridiculing you about the fact that you should not even attempt to change the filter, if you don't even know where it is.

Simply buy the "Haynes Service and Repair manual" manual and stop reading this.

Answer

A picture is worth a thousand words - here is a couple of thousand...

The oil filter needs the 32mm socket to unscrew it.

Oil filter location

This images shows you the upside down view of the air filter housing, and indicates that it can be pulled off without having to unscrew it. Don't rip it off - you need to undo a hose before you can remove it completely. Once it is off, you can unscrew the actual housing and replace the air filter. The 4 circled rubber mountings (that look identical) are the ones keeping the housing mounted. The big hole fits over the air intake. The arrows points to the air hose you need to disconnect before you can remove the complete housing.

Mountings

Shows the mounting points, air intake covered(no dirt should be allowed to get in there), and the air hose(circled)

Mountings