car gets stuck in idle

[keti24]

I just bought a used 99 new beetle. We knew it had a bad heating core and we just finished replacing it. The car is still in safe mode, I'm getting the codes in the next couple of days. This mornohg when I went todrive it it felt like the front tires were spinning and ittermitently grabbing, resulting in a strong ehrking motion, as I went to put the clutch back in it started idling and was unresponsive, I could pull the clutch out and push it back in without giving it any gas and it wouldn't die, I could gas it and it wouldn't rev, it just sat there idling. I turned it off and back on again and it drove about 10ft and went unresponsive again. I reversed it back into its spot, starting and stopping, 10ft at a time and had someone drive me to work. What did I break? Can anyone tell me?

[red99]

Which engine do you have?

Was the car operating normally before the heater core was replaced?

Do you know if the timing belt and water pump have ever been replaced? It is possible that the problem with the heater could have been the water pump. The water pump is a known serious issue with engines of this vintage.