Golf MK3 16v starting and running problem

[laytonneil]

I have a n reg 16 v golf. Problem is difficult to start. on the rare occasion it starts will not idle and fluffy on throttle pic up. plugs and leads fine,good spark. fuel going into cylinders? everything computes,except i have a feeling that the ecu is on the way out, can anyone shed light on this or have experienced a similiar fault?

[towcestervag]

carry out a diag test
also check the earth points on the gearbox for corrosion(disconnect battery first)

[Crasher]

Change the ECU relay, position 3 on the fuse box with 30 printed on top VW part number 165 906 381 and about £13. Don't suspect the ECU, just because it is an anonymous black box that you don't understand doesn’t mean it is faulty. Many a £ has been wasted due to black box phobia. If a new ECU relay fails to help, do as Tow says and take it to a garage and get a fault code read done.