So long story short, decided to keep the '01.5 wagon (got rid of the Mk4 GLI instead, for a Toyota Sequoia). However, this is my daily driver and it's getting annoying... it wants to surge forward at idle at stops (idle climbs unexpectedly and I have to throw it in neutral to avoid feeling like I'm 'hitting switches on the hydros'). The turbo is leaking oil (has been since I bought it, haven't replaced it yet) and the coolant has a slight leak some-where (since I had the system flushed right after I bought it). This would make me guess head gasket. BUT, there is 0 smoke, 0 smell. Power is slightly lacking, but it's a big car for a 1.8T, and with the turbo leaking oil I'm probably not getting as much boost as I should. So what could be causing this idle-surge?
Have you had your battery changed? I was reading and also heard from my friend whom works for VW as a tech that the throttle position sensor may go out of wack and will need to be reprogrammed exspecially if you have lost power or changed the battery without keeping it alive during the change. I am not sure if that is your case but it does not sound like a head gasket problem to me. Hope that helps. Good luck!
Agree this is most likely a throttle body issue. Head gaskets troubles are not common; do you suspect this only because of a coolant leak?
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