Hello,

 

Okay so random thing happened today... Driving down my road from a cold start, go to turn into a road and the engine cuts out. Now I may have had my foot down on the clutch but can't be sure. All I know for sure is that half way around the corner my battery light comes on.

 

So I go to start the engine again and it turns over but doesn't Fire!! Try a few times to start it and it doesn't Fire at all - as if there was no fuel or no spark. This car has ALWAYS started on the button every time so this is odd.

 

I sit there for a minute or so with the hazards on and then it starts up again.

 

Turn after driving it all seems fine again but the revs seem to drop a bit when I turn the wheel and the power steering feels a bit lumpy or laggy - stationary if I turn the wheel it takes a second or two before you feel a jerk or resistance and it effects the revs a lot. I don't remember it feeling like this before so wondering if the power steering pump / fluid may be the issue?....

 

Any ideas? It is he not starting again after stalling that really bothers me!

Hey, I'm not positive but issues with stall when cold could be related to the ecu temp sensor unit (might just need the contacts cleaned)..

the restart issue could be over fueling related, I know if you stall when cold starting and try and it doesn't work you can easily flood the car.

the fix is take the fuel pump fuse out and crank it to clear fuel... then fuse back in and off you go.

It has happened to me a couple of times, if it is that then no real issue.

 

good luck.

 

and not sure about the steering...

Thanks Med, that sounds promising then I will look in to that. Sorry for not getting back to you about the car yet, still haven't been able to sell grans place so been unable to move forward with any plans. Have you found a buyer yet?

Low power steering fluid comes up HICAS on the dash, the jagging sensation is odd though. Your speedo works right?

ECU temp sensor can cause issues, that's the square one if the two on the top hard pipe. What is your idle when cold and when warm?

Should be about 750 warm, if it's lower than that it's worth check the Idle valve connection than get get furred up or even fall off.

If your getting the power light show when driving along etc that's generally battery, check the connections are clean. If you have the facility check you have 12v when off and 13.5v when running. The temperature has dropped recently that often highlights battery issues.

Any other little quirks?

Okay so probably not power steering... Speedo works. Cold start idle is around 1.5k rpm, dropping to 750 after a few minutes. it does drop lower if I used the power steering when stationary though. The battery light came on due to it stalling I think, so I imagine I must have still had the clutch pushed down as I was at quite low speeds! Battery is quite new.. No other quirks though. Apart from I sometimes get a drip of water on my head, but that is probably unrelated ;) haha

 

perhaps it was just a random thing where auto choke had turned off so revs were lower but engine was completely up to temp, so it stalled from the strain from the power steering, and then was wouldn't start again due to flooding the engine? :s

i have had the same problem on an auto,went to turn a corner from stationary and it cut out wouldn't start again for love nor money.I have changed the ptu to a series 2 as i to thought it could be the series 1 ptu breaking down but no difference.After playing with all the usual suspects it starts but can't put my finger on what caused it,but it is running very rich (think i have an air lock in the water so its upsetting the ETC).In the past i have noticed when my power steering fluid drops as i have a very small leak somewhere the car runs lumpy and overfuels,i'm sure i read somewhere there is a link

Too me is sounds like a 20+ year old wiring fault

 

When I first got my 300 I had it off the road for a year up until I took my driving test so had a year to go through it, I would run through every plug on the engine loom, even the plugs that look ok probably aren't xD.....

 

.PTU, CAS and temp sensor are usually troublesome ones, but all the seals in all the plugs by now will be like Bakelite with no sealing ability and full of corrosion..

.clean pins on everything!!! the green oxidisation isn't just dirt its a layer of problem causing nastiness.. I used electrical contact cleaner and a dermal with a small wire brush

.if you're good with a soldering iron do what i did, go to the breakers and cut loads of plugs out of cars, most are generic. (TIP) some Micra's use the same plug for the o2 sensor as our ignition coils ;)

 

Also make sure to check vacuum lines, i had a problem with the AIV leaking so removed them. for testing unplug the solenoid that will stop it from opening

 

If all that checks out and problem still persists start checking resistances of the 3 ICV's, and check the throttle balance and TPS

 

I had lumpy power steering caused by i believe the unloader valve on the rack (has two wires going to it) just a dirty connection, cleaned it and been fine since :D

 

hope that helps and isn't too long winded