2011 1.2 TDi Copa Sticky Throttle?

orangep33l

Active Member
May 2, 2015
3
0
Hi chaps and chapesses,

I have a weird problem with my lovely wee 2011 Seat Ibiza 1.2 TDi Ecomotive

The problem is intermittent but seems more likely to happen when the engine is warm. Once it starts happening on a journey, it'll keep doing it while the engine is hot.

Basically, you're cruising along and you have to slow down because of corners, traffic, junctions or whatever, you press the brake and the RPM sticks at 1500. Depending your road speed/gear combination then the car can push forward. Obviously it's a wee bit dangerous, fuel inefficient and wasting precious brake life - slight sarcasm there :)

When you press the clutch in, you see the RPM stay at 1500. The only way to drop them back to normal idle is to take your foot off the brake which is a bit iffy during a braking manoeuvre.

Once the fault has started, if you just change to neutral and stop on the brakes then even when you're stationary the revs still stick at 1500rpm. When you take you foot off the brake they drop back to normal although the start/stop won't kick in at this point - even though it should.

It is driving style related in that if you engage the clutch as you brake the issue won't happen.

I bought it last September and reported the issue to the garage after about a month. It's been back to the garage, they can't find anything. It was taken to a SEAT dealership who also couldn't find anything. The dealership downloaded the logs and sent it to SEAT themselves who also found nothing. It's due to go to a different dealership in a week or so.

All the mechanics who've taken a look have driven the car and experienced the problem but not found anything in their investigations. Recreating it in the garage seems to be difficult if not impossible?

I'm crossing fingers that someone here has some ideas I can maybe pass on or look into. I'm not the slightest bit mechanical myself though, the bonnet is there to make the car look nice, what goes on underneath it is akin to magic as far as I'm concerned :)

thanks

peel.
 

krussel

Active Member
Oct 31, 2008
1,713
2
Hertforshire
Hi Peel.

Firstly you have posted this in the Mk4 section so help is going to be limited for your car.

One thing which effects the Mk4 Ibiza is a sticky electronic throttle mech which sticks the rpm at 1200-1500. This is easy to check by simply putting your toe under the pedal and push up. The rpm should reset back to idle. If not then its something a little more serious and would suggest you check for error codes.

If your rpm does drop back I found the answer to the problem was to carefully spray some silicone spray on the pedal hinge part (at the top). This cured it for me.
 
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orangep33l

Active Member
May 2, 2015
3
0
oops thought mine was a mk4 :) can a mod move the thread or should I create a new one?

hi,

thanks. I'll try it but I'm not sure the symptoms are the same from the search I did.

peel.
 

orangep33l

Active Member
May 2, 2015
3
0
It's not fixed yet no, but I think I might know what it is. The throttle potentiometer itself - i.e. I need a new throttle pedal.

As a test, get it doing the fault. Come to a stop, engage the clutch and take the car out of gear, while keeping the brake pedal pressed, swap you right foot on the brake for your left. Now put your right foot under the throttle pedal and pull up. Your rev's should die instantly back to the normal idle.
 

donw

Active Member
Apr 8, 2015
10
0
Thanks for the quick reply.I got a tin of silicon spray and sprayed the plastic mechanism at the top of the throttle pedal but it hasn't changed anything as yet.Will try again tomorrow. The revs drop to normal when the pedal is pressed up so you are probably right that it's the potentiometer.
 
Feb 19, 2019
1
0
Hi having the exact same problem on same model car did you get to the bottom of it??
I have no fault codes & only does it on 2nd or 3rd drive of the day
Thanks