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Car randomly shutting off..

B

B.Brattina

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Aug 14, 2004
Messages
1,053
Location
Northville, Michigan
Well I went for a quick drive today where it started happening. It has only done this once before in the whole time I've owned the car (for about 30K)-

I was driving for about 25 minutes and the car shut off randomly while in motion THREE times.. Does anyone have an explanation? How bad is this that it's happening (obviously it's a safety concern).
 
Could be several things. First we need to define what it means that the car shuts off. Does that mean that the engine quits? Does it mean the whole car loses electrical power thereby causing the engine to quit? Could just be a loose battery cable. Could be worse but all I can do is right now is guess given the information so far.
Karl
 
B.Brattina said:
The whole car shuts down. Proceeding to turn on the oil light/battery light/etc. RPM's go to zero (naturally) and you lose power steering/brakes.
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The power steering and brakes will lose power when the engine quits. I still need to know if the electrical power shuts off first which then causes the engine to quit. Does your radio stay on when this happens for instance? Or headlights? If it's just the engine that quits, I'd start lookiing at stuff like fuel pressure or the IAC needing cleaning - stuff like that.
Karl
 
I have had this, I ended up rebuilding my UIM/LIm they were VERY bad, i think my IAC was the culprit.

if you have never done it Blake, i would highly recommend it.
 
Exactly when did it shut off? If it stalled just as you step on the clutch, it could also be a massive vaccum leak causing it to stall.
 
Tony2005 said:
Exactly when did it shut off? If it stalled just as you step on the clutch, it could also be a massive vaccum leak causing it to stall.
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Yes check all the lines going into the intake as well, if one isnt on there it will cause the car to stall and not stay running.
 
This has plagued me for ages.

It is either getting too hot, is electrical (shorting somewhere) or fuel related (clogged). I am by no means suggesting -any- of these as the culprit for your problems because no mechanic I have taken the car to about it has given me a solid suggestion. It's so random.

My CAI, clamps and hoses are all fine - so for me it's not a vacuum leak.

I have replaced fuel pump and filter - still did it.
Had an electrical check done - it passed.
It's reads a normal temperature but cant help but feel my engine runs too hot.

I have posted at least four times with the same problems.
 
A crappy ground can most certainly cause your car to die like that. (not to say its the only possible cause) If you ever had a situation where when turning the key to ignition wouldn't light up the check engine light or prime the fuel pump its probably that.

Everything else electric will still work (lights, radio, locks, turn signals, etc.) but the car will die.

(The worst place for wiring, from experience, seems to be under the battery into the fuse box. Also its worth checking the batt terminals just because )
 
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