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Thread: Any ideas what could cause my engine to cut out?

  1. #1
    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    Question Any ideas what could cause my engine to cut out?

    Hi all

    I have a vauxhall astra 1.4 merit L reg and has done near enough 120K miles. There is a problem with it at the moment where the engine randomly cuts out, which can be quite annoying when going up hills. It only does this occaisonally, its happened about 5 times in the last 3 months or so. I've taken it to the garage and they were unable to help as it happens so rarely.

    I was wondering if anyone had any idea what it might be? The mechanic at the garage thought it might be a sensor on the fly wheel that wasn't working properly, Could someone explain why this may be the cause, because i couldn't understand what he told me. My initial thought was that there was some muck in the petrol occasionally interrupting the flow of petrol, but thats the best i can come up with.

    Does anyone have any ideas?

    Thanks

    Andy

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    Super Tanker Driver hitman67's Avatar
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    First of all please describe the cut out some more. Do you have to restart the car manually or is it just like a split second cut out?

    My Parents had a Rover 620SDi with the same problem, spent 13 weeks in the dealers and never did it. Until one mechanic took it home for the night to see and it did it on him at 80mph on the Motorway, they wouldn't let us have it back after that.

    All I could suggest really is Electrical Glitch, or a faulty sensor sending the ECU AWOL (Do '94 astras have that many electrics?)
    [: O |=====|O :] Beyond Fashion Since 1948

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    the engine just cuts out, and needs restarting, sometimes it will recover after a few seconds, presumably because it is still moving and in gear which restarts the engine. Although the other day it cut out and i was unable to start it for a few minutes.

    I think it does have some "more advanced" electronics, because the mechanic was talking about attaching a computer to see if there were any stored error codes.

    The problem is i can't afford to leave the car at a garage for any length of time as i need it to get to work, which takes more than 1hr 20mins there and back and getting the train takes longer.

    Andy

    P.S. what does ECU AWOL mean?
    Last edited by kasavien; 21-06-2006 at 03:42 PM.

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    Super Tanker Driver hitman67's Avatar
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    ECU = Engine Control Unit
    AWOL = Army term meaning "Gone off on one"

    Sorry can't help, seems like something isn't entirly happy though.
    [: O |=====|O :] Beyond Fashion Since 1948

    Quote Originally Posted by XTR
    Ford Focus - I’m a boy-racer disguised as a sensible office worker at the weekends I'm a curry monster!!
    Correct apart from the working part

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    Drop it like it's hot Howard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hitman67
    ECU = Engine Control Unit
    AWOL = Army term meaning "Gone off on one"

    Sorry can't help, seems like something isn't entirly happy though.
    AWOL actually means "Absent Without Leave"
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    I'd say it was something to do with the fuel pump but hey I'm not a mechanic so best seeing what a mechanic can come up with

    BeatMaster

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    Well it could be a case of Vaux crank sensor, that said usually the result of a dodgy crank sensor is a car that's a pig to start when hot, rather than a car that cuts out on the move.

    The common failure mode on crank sensors is a small break in the filament winding, that whilst not normally causing a problem can with heatsoak cause the sensor to go open circuit. This in turn will cause the ECU to think the engine isn't turning, and thus cut fueling.

    When going uphill you are increasing engine load, and this in turn increases the amount of heat the engine is producing, leading to a rise in engine bay temperature. In addition to this, if you're going slower because of the gradient there will be less airflow to cool the sensor.

    It can be a hard fault to trace, as intermittent faults tend to be. The general way to test for it is to run the car stationary at middling revs to see if it cuts out. If it does you then cool the sensor quickly with a can of freezer spray or equivalent, and see if this cures it.

    Edit,

    A car that conks out uphill could be the fuel pump, but you would expect the car to splutter and die, rather than cut out.

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    wow thanks crazy cricket, i like your explaination it makes sense to me. The road i go on (A59) has some steep long hills, so this makes sense, although it has happened on a motorway when i was going about 80. Having said that, the engine hasn't cut out when i have been in a traffic jam when the temperature does rise significantly.

    Anyway thanks for your help and explaination.

    Andy

    Edit: the car doesn't cough and splutter, just cuts out

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    My name is James J4MES's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Howard
    AWOL actually means "Absent Without Leave"
    *... Official Leave
    http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk

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    I presume its a single-point injection model? eg it has a circle in the middle of the engine..

    ive also heard that manifold gaskets are also a common issue.. does the engine seem to idle unevenly sometimes? especially when warm?

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    yeh it does idle unevenly, is this something that can be fixed.

    Edit: i think the manifold gaskets were replaced fairly recently. I really don't want an expensive bill to fix a car thats not even worth much. It only needs to last until the end of september too

    Edit2: just seen the pitstop part of the forum, this should probably be moverd
    Last edited by kasavien; 23-06-2006 at 08:18 AM.

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    Could be the crank speed sensor. The ECU will have stored error an error code, which can be read with a TECH test.

    Mine cost less than £35 and was a 'one bolt' job on a 2ltr Red Top. I can't imagine it being any more difficult on that 1.4 block, but I could be wrong. It might be worth doing anyway to eliminate it.

    As already mentioned, another thought would be the fuel pump, and probably even more likely, the Fuel Pump Relay. About £5 to replace, notorious for going intermittently 'Phut', and again easy to test for with some ECU diagnostic equipment or just replace for the fun of it.

    I've had both things go, exhibiting similar-ish symptoms.. Worth checking out for sure.


    HTH,
    S.
    Last edited by BlueMagician; 23-06-2006 at 09:01 AM.

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    Thanks BlueMagician, my car is due for an MOT when i'm next on holiday so i think i'll leave it with the garage as long as i can. When i took my car to the garage last the mecahnic quoted me £60-70 for what sounds like the sensor you were talking about above, but maybe its different for an Astra. The mecahnic also tested with the TECH test and found nothing so i'm not sure what to do now until my MOT apart from pray my car keeps going.

    On a side note i learned a very valuable lesson last night, DO NOT try to go through harrogate at rush hour on the A59, i thought my car was going to over heat several times due to standing in traffic and it added half an hour to my journey

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    my brother used to have caviler that over heated what he did was open windows and put heating on full blast

    it will be like being in a sauna but should help or it did on his

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    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
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    TBH it wasn't really overheating, because the radiator fan comes on at a certain temperature, it just worries me when the temperature starts to rise.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kasavien
    ...When i took my car to the garage last the mecahnic quoted me £60-70 for what sounds like the sensor you were talking about above, but maybe its different for an Astra. The mecahnic also tested with the TECH test and found nothing so i'm not sure what to do now until my MOT apart from pray my car keeps going.
    Indeed, maybe it is a different part for a 1.4l.

    I know with most Motronic ECU's with 'Engine Management' lights on the dash, there's a pin-bridging trick you can do to make the light flash the last stored error code. If yours were capable of this, it may give a more immediate indication if the error is sensor/management related.

    The trouble with a parked TECH test is, that if the fault is intermittent (be it heat, angle, bump, stress related - whatever) then you could sit there and run all the tests you like one minute and have it not show up, then drive 3 minutes down the road and it all kicks off again.

    My CSS fault was only apparent when I went over bumps and had to be road tested with a laptop (its an Alpha Management system which kinda helps), and my fuel pump relay was heat related and only showed itself when the car was warm.

    Can I ask what happens to your rev-counter and dash instruments when the engine cuts out? Does the rev needle drop instantly to it's stay or does it flick randomly bearing little relation to what the engines actually doing during the issue? You say it's an instant-off with no spluttering? This to me is almost certainly is ECU or LT circuit related, but of course without more road/garage testing..

    I understand your frustration, and I don't envy the garages task if you leave it with them - lol. Kick in any move observations when you can - it all helps diagnosis.


    S.

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