My dads '6 has been idling badly for a couple of weeks now, until friday where it would not idle at all...

It just stalled whenever you let off the throttle... I took the ICAV out and gave it a good clean so it was spotless (was black before) and it made no difference...

Then I took the butterfly out, cleaned that until it was spotless too, that made no difference either!

Then the car developed a ticking noise coming from the fusebox by the battery... I opened it up and it was coming from a little black electronic thing (5 pin, about an inch long) so I took it out, started the car and wallah! It idles perfectly now even after blipping the throttle...

What is that little black 5-pin plug thing? It idles perfect without, so what the hell can it be?

Thanks,

Luke.

Yes, I disconnected the battery for about half an hour and left it idling for about 10 mins after.