Replacing the Throttle Body

[toddy98274]

Hi

I have been advised by a garage that I need to replace the throttle body after they were looking into an internittent stalling problem my mk3 gti 8v has.

They told me that for a refurbished unit id be looking at 180+VAT plus fitting which is quite a lot to spedn on a 10 year old car thats done 125k miles

Ive managed to source a throttle body from a breakers anyway that they tell me has only done 58k miles and the car never had any faults of this nature before it was written off

Theyll let me have this part for 20 quid so my question is, is it worth getting this and giving it a go to see if itll fix my problem or is a refurbished unit the only real sensible way to go?

Also I have heard mentioned that if you change the throttle body then the ecu needs to be reset so this doesnt sound like a job that I can do myself with little experience in mechanics despite the part being easily accesible and relatively simply replaced by just 4 bolts

Any advice would be appreciated

[Bazzer]

Mate, do a search on 'stalling' for mk3s on here. there's loads of info on it......

You reset the ecu by taking the battery supply away for 15mins I think...

[cs98sss4]

There are loads of people on here with this problem,
You could try your fuel and ECU relays, replace with newer ones from VW main dealer.
Cleaning out your throttle body and breather pipes as these can also become clogged up.
You can change the throttle body with the one you bought, as long as you disconnect the battery while changing it.

It would be helpfull to gain access to someone with VAG-COM, as this can re-caliberate it if required. There should be others here to help you with that, depending on where you are.
Hope this helps.

[AudiA8Quattro]

You DON'T need to match the ECU with the throttle body potentiometer, only if you have got auto transmission.
I would be interested to know why the garage said the unit needed replacing, usually they just need a clean.
Try cleaning the unit from the scrappy, then it is a straight swap if the car is a manual, just change the gasket for new.

[toddy98274]

Hi All

I have read most of the other threads on here about this and have tried various solutions but to no avail, such as cleaning the throttle body, using ecotek, changing vacuum pipes, ht leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, plugs.  The only thing I havent tried is the relays although that seems to be related to the oil light flashing symptom which i dont have, but seen as its a cheap option i may as well give it a go.  I have seen the part numbers on here somewhere so I will pay the local dealer a visit and pick some up

The garage said that a fault came up on the diagnostics related to the throttle body and said if i had already tried cleaning it then the easiest thing to do would be to replace it and if I can do this by buying a second hand part for 20 quid then its worth a try

Golf-vr6 - thats good to hear that I dont need to start messing with the ecu once the throttle body has been replaced and hopefully should save me a few quid too.  I will be sure to give it a thorough clean before I do the swap though to give it the best chance of working

I am also thinking that a new battery would be a good idea as I dont think mine has been replaced since the car was new 10 years ago, is it worth getting a higher amp rating than usual?  I think the normal battery is 45 Amp and I have heard its worth going slightly bigger to make cold starts and things a bit smoother, is there any truth in this?

Thanks