throttle delay

gamerdude1989

gamerdude1989

gamerdude1989

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hi guys

bought a VW golf 1.6 a couple of days ago.. (x reg, 2000),
because it is mint condition and was cheap..

been driving it the past couple of days, very smooth car to drive.. especially for its age...

now, 1 thing i dont like about it..

im at a junction, i put my foot down on the throttle for revs to pull away, and there is a delay for like a second or two, before it actually starts revving..
is this a common thing??

its annoying, because if you want to quickly pull out... you cant!.. you have to wait for the revs, before you can pull away...
and i mean, its literally like a second or two delay..

is this common or is it an issue?
anyway to resolve this??

if it was a fraction of a second delay, thats livable.. but i mean, literally a very noticeable delay.. and really stops you from being able to pull away quickly!

its a petrol btw
 
Yeah that's just how they are. What car did you come from? I went from a Jap car to Golf and noticed the same thing. You get used to it after a few days until it's just the norm.

I believe it has something to do with the fact that cars now have electronic throttle control rather than the throttle cable in old cars!

Or I'm completely wrong!
 
There certainly shouldn't be a 2 second delay - cableless throttles do have a little bit of delay but you're talking tenths of a second no more

Does it run OK otherwise I.e no , revs dipping, hesitation etc?

If so I'd probably have a look at the throttle body (clean it) pedal position switches first.
 
thanks for your replies guys

other than the mentioned "issue"... the car is faultless..

2000 X-reg.. and not a scratch or a scab of rust on the entire car!
interior is mint..
1 owner from new.. my father in laws friend, full service history..
always serviced professionally on correct intervals..
no expense spared on it.. Quality brand tyres, etc etc

its got 160k on the clock... but if i was to cover that up and let you test drive it..
you would never guess!

gearbox is still silky smooth, had a brand new clutch 4k miles ago..

all previous MOT's to show, not even 1 advisory on any of them!

the owner always had seat covers, and steering wheel cover.. so no wear marks..
never been smoked in...
never been in prang..
engine so clean, you could eat your dinner off it..

literally like brand new...

i got a call off my father in law, seeing if i knew anyone who would be interested in it..
i popped by to take a peak.. and had to throw the cash at him!

£500 is what i payed!

when people say "160k is nothing".. this is a prime example...

I have a mk7 vauxhall astra 1.7 cdti ecotech.. which, suprisingly, for a diesel.. costs a ***ing fortune to run!!!
i travel 50-60 miles each weekend to pickup my son..
i put in £20 when i leave mine (BP garage is just around corner from me)..
and on the way home.. it beeps with "low fuel" warning!
and thats a 12plate, with 37k on the clock...

this golf?? put £20 in it when i bought it... gave me half a tank... ive been driving round for two days, id say about 150-170 miles... still quarter tank remaining!!!

thats why i bought it :D
just wish i could stop that throttle delay..
yeah your right, id soon get used to it.. if it was my daily vehicle.. but its not..
i go from the golf with throttle delay.. to my astra thats responsive..
very hard to get used to, when your swapping between cars haha
 
Ehhhh ok...admirable passion for an old golf!

Anyway, clean the throttle body and find someone with vagcom (or whatever it's called now) to run any codes and do some tests on the pedal switch(es)
 
Electronic would be as quick as cable. Spark plugs are electronic and think how perfect the timing and response is. Don't think it would be electronic due to the age. Throttle cable very slightly loose?
 
Pretty certain they aren't cable and tbh every vag car of that age with electronic throttle i've driven has a slight delay (very slight). If it's any more than that something needs sorting.
 
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the delay is quite long and very noticeable.

yesterday evening, i was at a round-a-bout, so a chance to pull out. ended up having to wait for a much bigger gap, so that i would have enough time for the throttle delay!
i can record a video of just how bad the delay is, if you like...
its really annoying!
 
Brocky120 said:
Electronic would be as quick as cable. Spark plugs are electronic and think how perfect the timing and response is. Don't think it would be electronic due to the age. Throttle cable very slightly loose?
Click to expand...

No, on some cars it really isn't. Having come from a 2.2 51 plate Astra Coupe with fly by wire throttle to a 02 plate MX-5 with a cable the difference is night and day. Just because electricity can be made to be very quick it doesn't mean all the various processors and components that go into electronic throttles actually are.

Though I will admit, it certainly wasn't a delay measurable in seconds, but you could move your foot down a decent distance before the revs actually started to rise in the tenths of seconds the delay way probably lasting for.
 
Is it just when you try to rev from idle or is there a delay in response at higher revs? Does it happen in neutral?
 
Electronic systems are almost always less responsive and have less feel. That's why people hated it when BWM started using them on the M series :/

It shouldnt be THAT bad though.
 
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Brocky120 said:
Electronic would be as quick as cable. Spark plugs are electronic and think how perfect the timing and response is. Don't think it would be electronic due to the age. Throttle cable very slightly loose?
Click to expand...

An electronic throttle is an electromechanical device, it has a motor and gears and an ECU to control it. A spark plug has no moving parts, in what possible way are they comparable?

The electronic throttle mechanisms themselves are pretty fast, but delays can be introduced by the ECU for various reasons. One reason is that by avoiding violent throttle changes, torque reaction is reduced and softer engine mounts can be used to improve NVH. However, there should never be a delay of seconds, that would make the car almost undriveable.

That said I'm pretty sure a Mk4 Golf of that age would have a conventional cable operated throttle. My wife's Octavia of similar age does.
 
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Dogbreath said:
An electronic throttle is an electromechanical device, it has a motor and gears and an ECU to control it. A spark plug has no moving parts, in what possible way are they comparable?

The electronic throttle mechanisms themselves are pretty fast, but delays can be introduced by the ECU for various reasons. One reason is that by avoiding violent throttle changes, torque reaction is reduced and softer engine mounts can be used to improve NVH. However, there should never be a delay of seconds, that would make the car almost undriveable.

That said I'm pretty sure a Mk4 Golf of that age would have a conventional cable operated throttle. My wife's Octavia of similar age does.
Click to expand...

Only MK4 Golf was the early GTIs with the AGU engine code IIRC
 
You could remove the inlet pipework and observe the throttle action/response via a helper putting their foot on the pedal, with the ignition on. If you are very careful, do it with the engine running. I find a ladies knee high sock (or the leg from a pair of tights, stocking etc) over the throttle body, secured with a bit of tape, is perfect to stop any potential foreign matter being drawn in to the engine by accident.

If it's obviously slow then you know there is a problem.
 
theres a device called a pedal box made by dte that supposed to get rid of this delay. have seen it mentioned quite a bit on American forums but doesn't see as popular in the u.k. might be worth looking at this
 
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