Problems after cleaning Throttle Body

**MAF72** · 03-08-2010,05:08 PM

I cleaned out the throttle body on my 1997 Mk3 Golf GL (AFT) yesterday by removing the air intake and cleaning with the TB while still attached to the car.
After putting everything back it seems to be idling a bit higher than what it was before, it used to sit around 900-950 rpm before, but now when starting seems to hover around 1200 rpm before dropping to 1100 rpm. Is this normal after cleaning or will I have to have it re-set with VagCom. I read on another post that if the TB is not removed from the car i.e unplugged a re-set was not required. I was wondering whether the car has to be driven 20-30 miles to re-adjust itself?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

**SammoVWT** · 03-08-2010,10:14 PM

Sounds like the throttle body needs a fault clear and re-adaption unfortunately. But once you have it, its a very rapid fix and leaves you feeling much less stressed.

**MAF72** · 04-08-2010,03:34 PM

Any ideas on how much this would roughly cost?

**SammoVWT** · 04-08-2010,03:37 PM

At a garage no, but i bought myself a cheap ebay cable which worked fine (around £15). And got a copy of vag-com.

Im not sure if there any 'free' no longer supported versions though - the hardest part using a kkl cable for example, is getting the right serial driver for your laptop.

After that its easy lemons!

**MAF72** · 04-08-2010,04:03 PM

Thanks, I will ring the garage for a price in the morning. I will look at getting a cheap laptop & vagcom in the near future.

**MAF72** · 05-08-2010,03:51 PM

I rang my local VW garage this morning and explained that I had cleaned my throttle body and was having idling problems and that I need a TB re-alignment to which he replied it does not exist, he said that if I had cleaned it and I was still having trouble then the TB was faulty and a new one was required at a cost of £140. I argued that it was a well known procedure which is done with vag-com, his reply was I don't know what you are talking about it can't be done.
I think this guy was trying to con me into believing I needed a new one but I was not having any of it and just hung up!
The garage in question are well known in this area (Essex) although I have never used them but they claim to be VW experts.
I will try a few other garages and see what happens because my idle is still very high and its getting annoying!!
I read another article about throttle body cleaning on Mk3 Golfs saying that if you disconnect the battery it will clear any fault code relating to the TB and revert back to basic settings, this was relating to anyone with the symptoms I described i.e high idling/erratic idle.
Any help and advice would be appreciated

**Crasher** · 05-08-2010,04:44 PM

The man is talking out of his exhaust pipe, the AFT throttle body adaptation is carried out ignition on, engine not running in Basic Settings 01, Display Group 001. A garage that knows what they are doing should charge no more than £30 for this job.

**MAF72** · 05-08-2010,04:52 PM

Thanks for the quick reply, just what I thought I just needed to hear from someone in the know. I will phone around and see if I can get someone to do it. I take it there is no truth in the practise of disconnecting the battery to clear any faults codes to sort it, or that if I drive the car then after a while it will correct itself?

**Crasher** · 05-08-2010,04:56 PM

If it could be sorted that way, diagnostic equipment procedures to do it would not be specified. In fact, disconnecting the battery looses the adaptations of the throttle body to the ECU.