Hi folks

I was driving home today and doing about 50mph down the A-road in 5th gear and I gave the throttle a little tap just to coax it on a bit and there was no change at all in engine note. The car was still going, the engine still running, no warning lights on the dash, but nothing from the pedal. So I pressed it again, harder this time, and still nothing. By this time I was doing less than 40mph and realised it was not going to respond.

I coasted to the side of the road and put the hazards on, and the engine was still idling, but the pedal did nothing at all. I thought maybe something had snapped. Anyway, having an attack of the fannying about panics, I let the clutch out and it stalled (I was still in 5th like a moron). It would not restart. The starter motor was going, but obviously there was no fuel going anywhere, so I waited about 3 mins and tried again. It started first time and revved like the best of them. I got another 100 yards, and the same thing happened again!

I have got the thing home (in three stints!) but now I'm too scared to go out in it in case I don't make it as far as the garage!

Anyone else ever had this happen, or more importantly, know what to do?!?!

Thanks in advance.

Just an update...

Went down and turned the engine over a couple of times.

It starts and sounds great and idles perfectly, then after about 2 minutes it dies, and won't start, until you wait 2 minutes and try again, then it runs for 2 minutes like a dream and then stops again.

I'm sure there's a whining noise coming from the top (near the ECU?) when it cuts out.

It's starting to sound expensive...

So nobody has come across this problem before???

I had something similiar but on my 8v 1.4. You push the accelerator as hard as you like and it doesn't accelerate, the action of pushing the accelerator actually makes it worse. Turned out one of the plugs near the TB had come loose, I can't remember which one but as soon as I plugged it back in (reseated it, must have been dirty contacts) she was fine.

Well I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but I left the battery disconnected overnight so that the ECU would lose everything and be reset, and this morning I started up and left it running for 10 minutes with no cut-out. It only stopped when I had had enough and turned the engine off myself.

A month or so back I had a problem with the idling, where the revs constantly went from about 1000 up to 1500 then back again, repeating a persistant gentle revving. This was caused by the ECU which was cured by leaving the battery disconnected for three hours.

Maybe my ECU is on its way out!

Anyone know how much they are?

Just had a look here http://www.volkswagenspares.co.uk/page.php?page=ECU and you won't see much change out a £100.

Thanks for that - I found one on Ebay for £95 - looks like I will have to bit the bullet!

Thanks for that - I found one on Ebay for £95 - looks like I will have to bit the bullet!

I would get a garage to plug it in first or you may be stuck with an ecu you dont need, plus its the cheaper option.

Well, here's the twist...

The guy at the garage took the lead of the ECU, sprayed it with cleaner, then put it back together and now it won't cut out. So dirt may have been the problem!

Still don't trust it though!