Originally Posted by Nightshade
Sounds to me like your brother got some wires grounded really badly. As a result it may have sent a bad signal to the ECU and you may have a combo of bad wiring and an ECU that is on the verge of failure.
:werd:
one of the power wires, or positive terminal of a speaker wire might also be loose touching the chasis of the car...
as for the throttle, that wouldn't really be an electrical issue.. check the pedal area to see if the spring is still intact.. you might have to grease it.. or the cable might be worn.. even within the jacket and might need replacing.. also, remove the intake tube and with the car off, move the throttle plate fully open to see if it's getting stuck..