I've been having this problem for a while. Car is 99.5 1.8t quattro. AEB engine with drive by cable throttle body. Have done the adaption by turning the ignition to on and letting it sit for a min or two and no results. Car idles good but will not go past 4000 rpms while driving. If I am in park I can rev the engine to any rpm but while driving the car feels sluggish after hitting 3000 rpms and will not go past 4000 rpms. Also doesn't shift correctly sometimes. I can't do TBA with vag com as I do not have the licensed program. I have a cable that connects with VCDS Lite but I cannot do the alignment without having a registered version. So do you think I need a new throttle body and if I did get a new one would I need to do an alignment with Vag Com anyway??

 

Did you disconnect the battery for an hour or so to put the ECU into relearn mode?

 

No but I will try it.

 

Yeah in order to do an ignition-triggered TBA, the ECU has to be in learn mode.

 

Ok that makes sense. Is the correct way to do an ignition triggered TBA to just let the car sit with the ignition on and leave your foot off the gas for a min or so or do you hold the throttle at WOT for a few seconds? I've heard it both ways..

 

Don't touch the gas or you'll mess up the calibration. Just turn it on and let it sit til the him from the throttle stops. Then you're good.

 

Sounds good, I have to wait about 45 more mins then I'll reconnect the battery and give it a try. Thanks a lot for the info.

 

Left battery disconnected for over an hour and tried the ignition TBA again and still same results. Won't rev past 4000 rpms and feels very sluggish from 3000-4000. Guess its time for a new throttle body unless anyone else has any ideas...

 

In case anybody was wondering the problem turned out to be the MAF sensor. I unplugged the maf and started the car up and what do you know... idles perfectly and will go past 4000rpms with ease. Will be getting a new maf soon for now just going to leave it unplugged.