OK, I'm going to get my MOT today and driving there in the heavy rain. Suddenly, the engine starts cutting in and out and I feel like I'm riding a kangaroo. One time, it cut out at low speed and the engine actually stalled completely. Any ideas what this could be? It seems to have vanished completely now! I've had it happen maybe once before and thats it but it got really bad today (I had to pull over at one point).

On the way home, I was driving pretty slowly and the car was fine. But, I thought I'd try nailing it for a second and it triggered it off again. I think this could be coincidence though as I was going pretty slow on the way there because of the rain.

 

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Andy

Did iy happen when you closed the throttle ? If so it could be something to do with the throttle position sensor. Leave it ticking over with the bonnet open and jiggle the wires to the TPS, if it stalls you've probably found the problem.

Next possible is the Power Transistor - that is a little more hassle.

I had a similar problem and it was a loose coil pack.

 

Vijay

Oh man, I love this place. I only posted 5 minutes ago

 

Anyway, I had my PTU replaced about 18 months ago so I think it isn't that (or do they fail that quickly?). For some reason, it doesn't feel the same sort of problem that I had 18 months ago. For a start, it mangaged a 1 hour motorway trip. When the PTU went, whenever the car got hot it would stall. Maybe its the wire from it?

 

Erm, I'm really not techie at all so I would have no idea what wires to juggle for the TPS. Do you have a picture of the bit of the engine where they are? I'm just trying to remember if it was happening when I came off the throttle. Unlikely though as sometimes when it happened, I'd put my foot down to try and keep the speed up. I'll bear that in mind though when I next drive the car and try and pay more attention. I'm afraid the kangarooing was making me a little flustered and I didn't concentrate too much, dumb I know Like I said, I got home at low ish speed (low revs and boost anyway) and I floored it and the car was fine (ok, the wheels span all over the palce but thats a different problem!). But part way through the journey, I thought I'd stick my foot down and off it went again, bouncing all over the place. Anyway, if you can point me towards the TPS wires (or any others that could do with a jiggling) then I'd be very grateful. I'll need pictures to help me though as I'm pretty bad at knowing what all those bits are, lol. I'm pretty sure there is something called an engine and I've got at least one and its somewhere up the front of the car

 

Cheers,

Andy

Originally posted by vijay:

I had a similar problem and it was a loose coil pack.

 

Vijay

 

Thanks for the advice Vijay. Like you can see in my other reply, I'm not techie but aren't the coil packs the rounded connector things on the top of the engine, around the injector leads? Please let me know and I'll wiggle and push them all in (whereever they are ).

 

Cheers,

Andy

Andy - yes the coil packs are the rounded connector things On top of what look like black transformers, bolted to the inlet manifold.

 

To me it sounds like the CAS connector could be dodgy. Look at the front of the engine - CAS is top right, round silver thing about 3" dia. There's a large connector on the right, pull it off and clean it up, and put the connector back on.

 

Also run an ECU diagnostic and see if it throws any fault codes..

 

If you lose CAS signal, then the ECU thinks the engine has stopped, and stops both fuel delivery and spark, and the engine stalls.. Which feels like kangarooing at higher speeds..

 

If you have lost the CAS signal at some point, an ECU diag would show it though as a code 11.

 

If you've never done an ECU diag before, it's *really* easy (really!) - full instructions are on http://www.ttzd.com/tech/diagnostictech.html

 

Az

Hehe. Guess who is gonna be busy tomorrow

 

I'll be there all day looking for PTUs, TPSs, coil packs, CAS connectors and the ECU so I can do a diagnostic. By the end of the day, I'll be the one answering the questions here instead of asking them, lmao.

 

Thanks again guys. Anyone else for any other bits to look at. Thanks God none of you have said "turbos". I may not be techie but I know the price of turbos!

 

Thanks very much to all of you. Aaron, big respect to you. Can't believe you are on here helping out other people after the s*&t that has just happened to you. Top guy.

 

Cheers,

Andy

 

p.s. anyone free tomorrow for a game of "hunt the CAS connector"

where abouts are you in London?

 

Vijay

Removed details of where I live, just in case!

 

[This message has been edited by Andrew (edited 09-12-2001).]

If its cutting out completely then its not going to be a coil pack.

 

PTU is the most common fault to match the symtoms you describe.

 

Andy

Cheers Andy. I will be checking the PTU. How often do PTUs fail? I got mine replaced about 18 months ago. Is it more likely to be the connection from the ptu?

 

Andy

yeah ive been havin the same problem. i start drivin and the ngine just cuts out. sometimes the rev counter goes jumpy and then it cuts out and sometimes it just cuts out. my mechanic thinks that the cyliner on the back left is dead and that i need a new coil and/or spark plug. hopefully once i get a new coil in it, it will eliminate this problem, - i can only assume that it is droppin a cylinder and this is why it is causing the engine to occasionely cut out [maybe]

 

 

Veilside

 

If your rev counter is going loopy, that is almost certainly a symptom of a failing CAS. Run an ECU diagnostic, and see if you get a code 11 or 21 (11 is CAS, 21 is PTU)

 

Az

Yup, I pulled over at one point and sat there watching the idle going nuts for a while. It eventually settled down.

 

I should be meeting Vijay tomorrow (thanks very much mate for the offer!) and we'll be cleaning and checking connectors all over the place. Hopefully I'll be running ok after that (fingers crossed).

 

Andy

Andrew with all due respect, you have the dirtiest engine i have ever seen.Try giving it a clean and youll be amazed.

 

 

 

LOL, you've got me there Warren. It is pretty mucky in there. I will clean it but I wont be spraying water all over it to do it though!

 

Andy

Just bringing this to the top again for a bit of an update.

 

I've driven the car for over 100 miles since that fateful night and the car has been absolutely perfect. WTF??

 

The only difference I can seen is it has been dry when I have driven it since and the original problem occured on a motorway journey in very heavy rainfall. Do you think this is coincidence or is there something I can check for this?

 

I'd like to get this sorted as I have a 300 mile motorway journey coming up in a couple of weeks and I can't see it staying dry all the way up there!

 

I also found the rubber had got very brittle and crumbled around the 90degree bend at the TPS (I think its the TPS - its the bit to the right of the right hand side throttle body pipe). I've now covered that with insulating tape but could that have been cause of the problem in the rain?

 

Cheers,

Andy

PTU failures are common, particularly on the ealier models. They degrade over time due to the exposure to the heat.

 

Definitely clean all the connectors and check the ECU for error codes as recommended.

 

Its important to ensure the TPS is adjusted correctly - easy to check voltage.

 

Also, play around with the connectors whilst the engine is at idle and check for hunting.

 

 

OK, me and Vijay will be cleaning connectors and wiggling wires tomorrow. Wish us luck, I dont fancy a kangaroo ride again!

 

Andy

I'd just like to say a big thank you to Vijay for cleaning all my connectors today. A couple of them looked a bit corroded so we will see how things go. Nice meeting you m8.

 

Had a bit of a scary moment when we put everything back together again. The Auto Box warning light started flashing. Turns out that its just the auto box diagnostics going (since we had the battery unplugged, everything got reset). In case anyone else experiences this, the AT ilght flashes about 15 quick flashes when you switch the ignition on and then turns off. It did this a few times on my car and happened every time I switched the car on until I drove a decent distance (more than a couple of miles). Its fine now with no flashing at all.

 

Thanks again Vijay, nice meeting you. Must meet again soon.

 

Andy

It was a pleasure mate. I'm glad you got those warning flashes, otherwise we would have left that one connector undone........

 

See ya

 

Vijay

LMAO. Forgot about that! Wonder what that one does as the car was fine on its little test drive. Hehe. Oh well. Idle is settling down now after the ECU reset but would like to do throttle bodies some time. Let me know when you've got a spare minute and I'll be round with some toothbrushes!

 

Thanks again,

Andy