ive posted this in seatcupra.net but figured someone might have had some sort of experience with the 1.2 petrol 3cyl VW lump thats in the Gen4 Ibiza.

my wifes, work colleagues, son owns a 53-plate 1.2 he was complaining of it cutting out randomly and having difficulty keeping an idle when cold (it would cut out). he has very recently had it serviced and had a 'cat-back' mild steel exhaust system fitted. after the exhaust fitment he told me that it came out with the MIL light on... the garaged cleared it and 3 days later it came back on. its been in and out of numerous garages, incl. Seat, each one saying 'replace this, replace that' or generally not wanting to get involved without more in depth diagnosics costing muchos beer tokens

ive got Proscan on my laptop and had a quick look today and found a stored "P0106 Manifold Absolute Pressure/Barometric Pressure Circuit Range/Performance Problem" error. i cleared it and went out in it with him to see if we could get it it re-appear. as i suspected, it didn't . whilst we were out he mentioned that since he'd had it 'serviced':-
1) it makes a 'rattling sound' which at the time i put down to maybe a loose heat sheild (the engine on tickover does sound a little rattly almost like a diesel than a petrol)
2) it didn't feel as pokey as it usually did as if it was slugish like the handbrake had been left on slightly
3) it seemed to him that it was drinking more fuel than usual.
i thought it may have been a fuel related problem so when we got back to his house i hooked up proscan again and attempted to read some fuel trim data. turns out for whatever reason i couldn't get it to give me any live sensor values so that turned up blank :think: maybe its a TB issue... took the airbox off and peered down yep the throttle body has been cleaned very recently, maybe i can get it to go through a re-learn procedure... wrong.... as far as i know you can only do a TBA with VAG-COM... so tonight ive downloaded RossTechs VCDS-Lite in preparation for further diagnostics. (i have an ebay special blue K-line VAG COM USB lead that i use for Airbag ECUs on fiats)

i found this lil gem of info in another thread on seatcupra.net:-

16490/P0106/000262 - Manifold / Barometric Pressure Sensor (G71) / (F96): Implausible Signal

Possible Symptoms
Erratic Idle

Possible Causes
Wiring and/or Connections from/to Manifold/Barometric Pressure Sensor (G71)/(F96) faulty
Leak in Air Intake and/or Exhaust
Manifold/Barometric Pressure Sensor (G71)/(F96) faulty
Engine Control Module faulty

Possible Solutions
Check Engine Control Module Software Version (See Special Notes for Details)
Check Timing (See Special Notes for Details)
Check Wiring and/or Connections from/to Manifold/Barometric Pressure Sensor (G71)/(F96)
Check for Leak in Air Intake and/or Exhaust
Check/Replace Manifold/Barometric Pressure Sensor (G71)/(F96)
Check/Replace Engine Controle Module

Special Notes
On certain smaller Engines we've seen cases where a buggy Engine Control Unit Firmware can cause these fault codes, additionally there are known Problems with the Timing Chain Tensioners which can also result in these fault codes. Please refer to the related TPL/TSB for more instructions.

Click to expand...

SOOOO now i'm suspecting timing tensioner due to rattly tickover, unstable tickover, increased fuel consumption and slugish performance.

am i barking up the right or wrong tree with this?
what is this 'related TPL/TSB'?
does anyone have any 2pence to give?