Gas pedal not working VW (no one in general talk has answered)

[brianB7]

I know this is supposed to go in general car talk and i tried but nobody seems to respond there so please help here
My buddy owns a 2001 vw jetta and recently called me to help him out.
He was driving down the road when his gas pedal stopped working. I went down to check it out and saw that his 02 sensor harness wires had drug on the ground and snapped. He had it towed and the shop replaced the 02 harness but the gas pedal still isn't working and this shop can't figure out why. Any ideas on what else I can tell these expert mechanics to check...TIA

[mr shickadance]

perhaps other electronics got ripped out as well as the 02 sensor?

[bman005]

Can you get a list of faults? Might help a little. Is it a 1.8t?

[doublezero30]

i believe these cars have a throttle position sensor which sounds like it could have failed. i believe you have to get the whole pedal to replace the sensor. fyi, the 02 sensor wiring has nothing to do with this issue as it is just there for emissions purposes.

[bman005]

There are 4 sensors, 2 in the throttle body and 2 in the pedal.


OP where in PA are you? I may be able to offer you some assistance in person

[brianB7]

thanks guys, its a 2.0 but the shop didn't give him the codes they got he said he'll call tomorrow I told him to let them know about the throttle position sensor it sounds like the shop he took it to doesn't really know much about german cars so i appreciate the feedback

[doublezero30]

There are 4 sensors, 2 in the throttle body and 2 in the pedal.


OP where in PA are you? I may be able to offer you some assistance in person

stand corrected. i would still suspect one of these sensors however.

[bman005]

There is a "chance" that it only needs throttle adaptation then

[brianB7]

I am in Philly , my buddy lives in scranton

[rarak69]

The ecu is fried, get a new one.

The internal circuits on the ECU are tied together (throttle drive and rear O2 sensor) The rear O2 sensor shorted thus frying the throttle drive circuit.

[Charles.waite]

^^^^ Not sure if serious? Get a new ECU??? That sounds a bit drastic for what is most likely a failed Throttle Position sensor... Easy to test for in VCDS by the way...

[rarak69]

^^^^ Not sure if serious? Get a new ECU??? That sounds a bit drastic for what is most likely a failed Throttle Position sensor... Easy to test for in VCDS by the way...

Dead serious mate.

I have been tuning these ecu's for 7 years almost, and i have seen this many times, if you dragged the O2 harness, or it was split and you get a non functioning throttle, this is always what happened in my situation.


easy test with VCDS like said, watch the throttle position sensors and watch them not do anything :)

BTW, ecu uses only one of those sensors(the 0 - 100%) for normal use, the other is a 100-0% percent sensor, its used as the backup, and for plausibility checks of the DBW system.

[bman005]

Unplug the MAF and see if throttle comes back. If not then I'd have to say that rarak69 is absolutely correct. I've run into O2 issues in the past that have in turn crapped out the MAF to the point where it bogs down and stalls out the car once you try to give it any throttle. That being said, none of those cars had the O2 harness rubbed through. And I have to agree that if the O2 wires touch together that it would most likely cause an ECM failure

[NODO-GT]

I had the same problem with my previous car passat b5.5, It left it at night outside in the rain and the ECU got wet, and gas pedal was not working.
I took it to VW dealer and they cleaned & dried ECU and everything started to work :)

[rarak69]

OP please make sure that you post solution for others to find! biggest mistake i see on forums, people ask help, 800 idea's are popped up, they get car working but never report solution! Help many others down the line please!

[Leo14]

I am in Philly , my buddy lives in scranton

Roflmao, my friend(s) are in philly/scranton U.

Sorry bout your buddies car, good luck!

[brianB7]

Thanks for all the responses guys, Ive let him know what to tell the shop and once they figure out what the problem is ill post it here...sucks that he might have to get a new ECU ...I told him to just buy an Audi

[rarak69]

Thanks for all the responses guys, Ive let him know what to tell the shop and once they figure out what the problem is ill post it here...sucks that he might have to get a new ECU ...I told him to just buy an Audi

ecu should be pretty cheap for that car, 75-100 then take the immobilizer off or match it over, 2001 probably immo2 so easier to swap in.

[bman005]

Too bad it isn't a 1.8t, I have a couple layin around

[Charles.waite]

Dead serious mate.

I have been tuning these ecu's for 7 years almost, and i have seen this many times, if you dragged the O2 harness, or it was split and you get a non functioning throttle, this is always what happened in my situation.


easy test with VCDS like said, watch the throttle position sensors and watch them not do anything :)

BTW, ecu uses only one of those sensors(the 0 - 100%) for normal use, the other is a 100-0% percent sensor, its used as the backup, and for plausibility checks of the DBW system.

Damn! I stand corrected then. Is that an issue isolated to VW models or could it potentially affect our Audis as well?

[tgf314]

I think I've got this exact same problem with a 2003 VW GTI, 1.8L turbo.

The throttle is dead with corresponding error codes after O2 sensors were replaced.

Anyone have additional details on the ECU damage ? I'm wondering if it might be possible to repair by replacing a component or something on the board. The ECU otherwise seems to be good since the engine runs and there are no other error codes.

It seems really strange that shorting the O2 sensors would damage the throttle circuit and leave everything else working.

[your daddy]

check all fuses 1st. you just shorted a bunch of wires together... and of course scan the ecm. if it even communicates (IE power to it)

[RAudiB7A4]

Wondering if this might be the issue with my car. I was driving along Friday night when all of a sudden I get a flashing CEL and the gas pedal stopped working, so I pulled over thinking I'd check the fault code with my APR Mobile but it won't pick it up. Car starts, idles, and runs just fine but when I push the gas pedal the tack blips but the engine has no response. At first I thought it is probably just a bad throttle position sensor or bad throttle body but I talked to a buddy of mine who owns a VW/Audi performance shop and he thinks it may be a fried ECU as he said he's had 3 or 4 B7's come in recently with fried ECU's.

I'll be getting the car vag-com'd in a couple hours here so hopefully that points me in the right direction.

[lesurfman]

Do you have APR anti-theft?

If so read this thread
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ar-Please-help!

[RAudiB7A4]

Do you have APR anti-theft?

If so read this thread
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ar-Please-help!

I don't have anti-theft. Just security lock out as far as I know. These symptoms are eerily similar to mine though. I'll try entering my security code (since it is locked out currently to prevent changing tunes accidentally) and changing tunes and then locking it out again tonight.

Otherwise I've heard it's possible I have a bad relay. I had the car vag-com'd last night with no fault codes found.

[RAudiB7A4]

So as it turns out APR Anti-theft somehow enabled itself while I was driving. I have no idea how, because emcs was locked out and the APR mobile dongle wasn't even plugged into the obd2 port. It didn't help that I didn't know I had anti- theft because before APR mobile I never had it but now I have it via the APR mobile app.

At least it was a cheap (free) fix! Hopefully it doesn't happen again. I guess even a product as polished as APR's has it's bugs.

[Traviss76]

Check gas pedal on vcds. Think my 2002 passat 1.8t is 054 in measuring block. I bought this car for 850.00. They bottomed it out tore off turbo rubber. I bend the clamp reconnected. Put synthetic oil. Sunroof leaked in back so it looked like a mold farm. Anyway, the throttle slowly failed listing epc codes. It fully failed I replaced it bolted it on wrong in dark tightened it down messed it up. Took entire thing apart used old case with new parts it drove got to a no code state. But these systems are sensitive and I bought a cheap one bosch 138.00 and I torqued it good with motor on a bolt leaving a quarter inch gap. 😄 so the new internal were probably compromised. However I'll order a new one and go from there. Highly recommend shop for some if these repairs especially if you don't have the patience and equipment but have money. It'll pull to 100mph guick. 108,000 miles.

[Traviss76]

Just saw the anti theft comment 👍

[EvolutionArmory]

Pretty sure they got it fixed by now or scrapped the car. This thread is from 2012. 6 years ago.

[Traviss76]

Yeah just adding in case anyone searches it. Plus I took mine apart to help understand these systems it's basically a vacuum cleaner motor with brushes kinda made me a little ill. [Img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoIYGcWU0AAu_xg?format=jpg

[Traviss76]

Yeah just adding in case anyone searches it. Plus I took mine apart to help understand these systems it's basically a vacuum cleaner motor with brushes kinda made me a little ill.

[Traviss76]

For intermittent throttle body electrical failure on 1.8t passat. Water had corroded controller connector cleaning with fine bristle brush and wd40.

[Traviss76]

Just basic info ecm fried from water in connector. (Long story) nice girl bad mechanic I think... anyhow vag commander and vcds on separate laptops windows 10. I could not interchange cables. Used ecm accessed pins adapted via vcds much easier, immobilizer good. Battery now dead it was acting flaky I'll prob get new batt to be safe but it holds at 12.20 too low. Throttle adaptation after battery then throrough testing in driveway first. May pull ecm pin apart and clean completely. Codes are good except throttle. Used ecm 74.00. It's rained so much here its unbelievable. Roads been flooded bout a week.

[Redryuu]

Dead serious mate.

I have been tuning these ecu's for 7 years almost, and i have seen this many times, if you dragged the O2 harness, or it was split and you get a non functioning throttle, this is always what happened in my situation.


easy test with VCDS like said, watch the throttle position sensors and watch them not do anything :)

BTW, ecu uses only one of those sensors(the 0 - 100%) for normal use, the other is a 100-0% percent sensor, its used as the backup, and for plausibility checks of the DBW system.

I’ve rallied my golf, broke the down pipe and burnt through the rear o2 wiring. Check the fuses there is one that kept blowing when the wire was burnt through and arcing

[Traviss76]

Basic update to my water infused ecu. charged battery to 12.20 it dropped to 11.40 after install. Replacing battery. Believe water shorted throttle body or wire connectors. Checking after battery install.

[Traviss76]

Electronic throttle body motor. I tested two throttle body motors using a twelve volt adapter. Remove gear before testing. Both work good I believe tps was shorted by ecu before it toasted. Used ecu shows good ground and five volts at connector. So now I have three good throttle body motors. Used throttle body in route. Also sealed and unplugged sunroof/switch.

[Traviss76]

On vcds if you unplug the accelerator pedal or the throttle body it gives same errors. It runs now. My opinion nonconductive water placed in an electrical connector (ecu) won't fail immediately. I can't place blame on how it got there but I think I know. They knew this girl could afford work and that's what I believe. The water corrodes pins and the green rust shorts over time causing multiple vehicle codes and failures.

[Traviss76]

Finished her just now. Took pedal off opened it put it back on. Started. Plugged in throttle started pedal response came back. Deleted codes ran throttle adaptation it took. However a clicking relay felt odd replacing it and used pedal in route will replace old one. Simplification off drive by wire 1.8t. All wires from schematic go into ecu from pedal and throttle they interact in the ecu. Unless wiring is burned or broken three thing could be wrong throttle, ecu or pedal. In my case I believe it was all of them. 😀