Please Help!! Engine wont idle and stalls. Now it wont start at all :(

[flex]

On my way to work today i was sitting in 4th gear when all of a sudden i took me foot off the gas and the revs dropped straight off and it stalled, i then put it into 3rd and give it some gas and it came back to life, i then realised it would drive fine but not idle at all! I drove it for as long as i could while fitting with the brake and the accelerator to not let the revs drop too much and managed to get just round the corner from where i work where i then broke down and i couldnt get her restarted! I sat there for a few mins and kept trying when all of a sudden she fired up and was idling again!

The idle has always been ruff since i bought it and not as smooth as i thought it should be. However not bad enough for there to be any drop on the rev counter or to be that noticable.

Can any of you guys please help me out with some advice as to what the problem might be, as im worried im not going to be able to get home later!

[boneybradley]

check the relays..ecu and fuel pump
its also worth getting the throttle body cleaned up....

[flex]

ok sounds promising, without sounding dumb because im not near my car and i have not owned it long where are the fuses and relays located on this beast?

[Len]

Breather hoses and ISV.

See my reply in the Garage section.

[flex]

rather than cleaning the ISV would it not be better to buy a new one?

Is this the right part:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-MK3-Golf-Vento-Corrado-VR6-ODB1-Idle-Stable-Valve_W0QQitemZ190210008140QQihZ009QQcategoryZ9889QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Dont think im going to bother buying this one but is this the part im looking for? How does one clean it? I have some carb cleaner stuff in me boot as it goes do i need to take the thing apart completly to clean it?

[Len]

ISV - buy from Eurocarparts or GSF

Fuses/relays under dash far right hand side (drivers right knee)

[flex]

HELP!

I didnt make it home in the end, took me a good few hours with the help of the RAC as well  :embarassed:

Engine started and was idling ok when i pulled out of work car park, got 5 mins down the road and whenever i took me foot off the gas the revs drop straight to nothing and the engine stalls. Managed to get her started again after some time and then broke down again about 2 miles down the road by which point i gave up and had to get RAC out to have a look.

RAC mechanic could not get the lead from the coil pack to create a spark even with another coil pack he had from his van, after a while he gave up and reckoned it could possibly be the ignition amplifier module (does such a component exist?) so it looks like the problem is electronic.

Im gonna work from home tommorow as i cant drive in so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys !

[tim145tim]

if its doing it wen cold, it could be the coolant temp sensor, or the fuel pump relay

[flex]

ok it doesnt matter if the car is hot or cold it still has the same problem. It wont start at all now and im running out of things to test.

Would the ISV stop it from starting? There was a small split on one of the breather hoses that i have now patched up (could explain the slightly ruff idle i had). But nothing that would cause the car not to start.

I can tell that relay 167 is definatley working as i can feel it switching and can hear the fuel pump being primed when u turn the ignition on, when i remove the relay i cant hear anything.

Relay 30 also seems ok and feels like it is operational when i turn the ignition, i have removed them and the contacts are all clean and look like new.

I had the main ignition lead from the coil resting against the head and as I was turning the engine over it does not spark. I get one small spark sometimes as soon as i turn the ignition on, but as the engine is cranking there is nothing. I managed to damage one of the HT leads during my testing so will have to go and buy some new ones later on but its not going to help getting it started though  .

I have purchased one of them VAG-COM leads and software from ebay hoping that this might help me find the source of the problem, just waiting for it to show up now.

Does anyone know of any decent VW specialists or even just a decent garage in general that could take a look at it for me within the essex area (near chelmsford). I have found one but they cant look at it until next wednesday!

[jamie snow]

Breather hoses and ISV.

See my reply in the Garage section.

where can i find the isv on my mk3 8v gti