[makonyy15]

Back for more! Well, I originally posted this a couple months ago and the problem is still happening. Nothing in the search, so I figured I'd try again.

At low speeds at various times, my car will rapidly shut down/restart on its own. It will usually occur when I'm in a turn at 5-10MPH ie pulling into a parking space. All the interior electronics will flash from on to off, quite a few times, the engine loses power too. If I grab the steering wheel and turn, it will cause the failure if its in this mode. Power steering fails and I get a brake failure warning.

The problem will either right itself or will be fine with a simple restart of the car. Dealer has found nothing. Battery is fully charged and the terminals are not corroded. No CEL's.

This weekend, the engine stalled, however all electronics continued working properly. Coasted to the shoulder, restarted, and the car was fine.

Any suggestions? I'm stumped

 

[sanatarium]

Re: Random Stalling (makonyy15)

Hey Chris! Been a while!

Sounds like what I was having a couple weeks ago. Car would stall at low speeds only, and in neutral(I have a manual) Turned out to be something funny with the MAF, everything runs flawlessly after cleaning the MAF and the filter. Give that a shot and see if it doesn't help. You have a K&N intake right? I found a minuscule amount of oil on the blunt edges of my MAF and I believe that was the cause of the stalling.

 

[makonyy15]

Re: Random Stalling (sanatarium)

Thanks for the advice! I noticed the filter was looking a little dirty, so I'll definitely have to clean it out and see if that helps. http://********************/smile/emthup.gif

 

[x-omatic]

Re: Random Stalling (makonyy15)

A friend of mine recently had a similar problem with a different car. It ended up being a bad spark plug wire that was shorting out.

 

[makonyy15]

Re: Random Stalling (x-omatic)

Cleaned the filter as per the directions, and after doing so, the problem has occured 3 times in 24 hours.

Probably the most frequent occurence. Could this be a MAF Sensor Problem? Still no codes.

 

[sanatarium]

Re: Random Stalling (makonyy15)

Huh. Might want to have the dealer check it out if you're still in warranty. Mine has been fine since cleaning. Try unplugging the MAF and see if the car still does it. The car will run fine, but revert to the default fuel mapping, circumventing the MAF.

 

[makonyy15]

Re: Random Stalling (sanatarium)

Warranty's up, but needs some other work anyway, so I'll have them check it out when I get home from school in a couple weeks.

I'll try the MAF trick as well. Thanks!

 

[x-omatic]

Re: Random Stalling (makonyy15)

Quote, originally posted by makonyy15 »

Warranty's up, but needs some other work anyway, so I'll have them check it out when I get home from school in a couple weeks. I'll try the MAF trick as well. Thanks!

Like I posted earlier, make sure you have the spark plugs and wires checked. It took 3 visits to repair places before they discovered the problem for my friend. He hasn't had any problems since.

 

[makonyy15]

Re: Random Stalling (x-omatic)

Quote, originally posted by x-omatic »

Like I posted earlier, make sure you have the spark plugs and wires checked. It took 3 visits to repair places before they discovered the problem for my friend. He hasn't had any problems since.

Would I be able to see anything visually with the spark plug wires being bad? I've checked them visually, no corrosion or breaks, but I know that doesn't guarantee a good wire.

 

[greencow]

Re: Random Stalling (makonyy15)

If a wire is shorting out, you might be able to see it in the dark. I had that problem on my trans am, ran horrible at one point, jumping and stuttering around. Wait till night time, open the hood, take off the plastic cover, and see if there's any sparks jumping from the wires to a metal contact point.

Problem is, I don't think you'd be stalling out if the wires were bad. The car would drive like crap, but you shouldn't stall out from that.

A bad contact point somewhere else might explain it, corrosion or a bad ground could cause random electrical failure/engine stalling. I've had that problem too, turned out the a fuse junction had a bad contact point.