At 01:32 PM 2/27/2011, Don Hanson wrote:
>It's my understanding the ECUs seldom fail..so seldom that while I have one,
>(for diagnostic reasons) but I usually leave it home when I travel, to make
>room for other spare items that are known to be more likely to fail...

Was me, I'd carry it.  Subtle/intermittent ECU problems will drive
you mad.  Given an available ECU, swapping it in would be right up
there on my list along with unplugging the O2 sensor as things to do
before you even begin trying to diagnose driveability problems
(slight overstatement, but fixing it would make this a very long post).

Oh!  You're running an in-line engine, yes?  All my VW experience is
with WBX, so YMMV.

Yours,
David