Throttle Body potentiometer?

Apr 26, 2004 7 Replies

Evening all



I visited a friend in Gosport (Hampshire) this yesterday afternoon which allowed me to clear the cobwebs out of my mk3 1.8GL on the M3 and M27, which i think did it some good as i've only been doing short journeys of late. On my return up the M27 and M3 all was going well until i came off the motorway and drove at a steady 30mph, and after about 10 minutes of travelling at this speed it started to "Kangaroo". I managed to pull over and turn the engine off hoping that this would cure the problem, which it did the last and only other time this happened which was over a year ago.



After allowing the car to cool down a bit i checked the fuel injector connections and almost all others whilst i was at it, started the car again and it was still idling erratically which to passers by must have looked like i had just passed my test or had stolen the car. The car is serviced on a regular basis and was last done about 3 months ago with the timing being adjusted and a couple of other things as well, and has nothing serious go wrong with it todate.



I was stumped and 2 miles away from home on a Sunday afternoon, so the only thing left for me to do was to call the RAC and hope that they can give me a hand. I was informed that it would take about 45 minutes for a mechanic to arrive which is the norm, but it took more like 10 minutes which was a pleasant surprise. I explained what was happening and after a number of things were checked it was determined that the Throttle body potentiometer was the probable cause of the erratic revving.



Is this something which i could personally replace if so where can i get one as GSF don't seem to stock them, or do i need to visit my local stealership.



Cheers guys



Antony


No help at all, but just a thought I had when I read the subject line:

All over this country there must be little old dusty greasy garages run by little old dusty greasy men. Probably wearing flat hats. If you were to break down near one of these garages and say to the fine chap therein: "I think it's the throttle body potentiometer", I do believe his reply might be "f*ck off son". And rightly so.

Bloody letricks! Too clever by half...until they go pop.

Si

I don't know what a mk3 is, but most throttle pots/sensors are fairly easy to change. But if a pot, it will require accurate setting afterwards.

You're talking in code Dr Gonzo!

What *IS* a mk3 1.8GL and who *ARE* GSF?

Well that would be a VW golf mk3 1.8GL & German Swedish & French motor parts.

Hiya Paul

It's a Mk3 1.8GL Golf (M Reg 1995) with only 135k on the clock, and GSF are German Swedish and French carparts

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In the light of this, Haynes Engine Management says no adjustment is possible, and if it is defective the lower part of the throttle body must be replaced. Ouch.

Just paid £70 for a full throttle body which includes the potentiometer + throttle servo, and well everything else. It was from a 1.8cl N reg Golf with only 80k miles, apparently the car had a slight disagreement with some gravel and a brickwall, the car lost. Should be here tomorrow morning which means that i can take the dam car to the garage on Friday and get them to install it and sort out the ECU.

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