Mystery Throttle Problem

I'm having a strange, but intermittent problem with my VW...

The vehicle is a 2001 Jetta TDI, 5spd, 178,000km (110,000 miles). The problem is that, every once in a while, the throttle stops responding. This seems to happen only when accelerating away from a stop. All of a sudden, engine speed drops to idle, and ignores the throttle pedal. Turning off the ignition and restarting the car restores throttle operation, but leaves the Check Engine light on, and the glow plug light flashing, but no useful codes are picked up in the diagnostics.

So far, the dealer has replaced the brake light switch and the ECM (ouch!$), and the problem persists. The car has been in the shop for the better part of a week being subjected to all sorts of inconclusive tests. They've experienced the problem once or twice, but never in a situation where they could throw test instruments on it. The shop is stumped and doesn't know what else to do, so they've turned the car back to me in the hope that I can break it in a more consistent fashion.

I sure hope someone out there has a clue, because my mechanic (and apparently VW Canada) does not!

Tom

-=-=- ... I have great faith in fools. Self-confidence, my friends call it.

Reply to
Thomas Koschate
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could be something as simple as a loose connection i suppose? you could try contacting VW in germany explaining what has happned and see if they have heard of this problem

Reply to
Nathan Lucas

I found another data point today - I noticed that the cruise control isn't working. FWIW, I normally leave the cruise control turned on.

Tom

-=-=- ... In the church of complexity, more is always better...

Reply to
Thomas Koschate

When the ECU is replaced it must be activated if needed with the VW scan tool. Maybe they forgot to do so?

Reply to
Woodchuck

Are you saying the cruise control needs to be explicitly activated? If so, I'll have to ask about that.

Tom

Reply to
Thomas Koschate

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