Engine Cutting Out

66Beetle

A2OC Donor
Further to my previous Post " Engine Cutting Out " I took the A2 to my trusted Audi Independant, Harpers Cumbria". A2 ran for 30 minutes then cut out. Ran again for another 2 hours before cutting out again. They thought it was a bad connection on the Fuel Pump Relay. Seemed to be fixed as it drove 60 miles home from Carlisle down the M6 faultlessly. Next day it started cutting out again. Tried a " good used " Fuel Pump Relay 8Z0 906 383 Made no difference, so re fitted the original. Took A2 out yesterday. Cut out about 10 times. Sometimes displayed all the symptoms of cutting out but the engine recovered somehow and kept running ! The last event was the Power Steering Warning Lamp lit up and the Power Steering stopped working. That had never happened before, and I have owned thus A2 for 12 years. Stopped the car. Turned Ignition off. Re started no problem. Everything working again. Been out this morning. Did not cut out at all.
 
That is a strange issue.

Lets hope that it is now resolved for you.

Have you had the car scanned for fault codes? Perhaps a member local to you with VCDS might volunteer to do this?

Steve B
 
Not sure what a VCDS Scanner is ? Is it the same as what the RAC and Harpers Cumbria will have plugged in to the A2 ?
 
Harpers have VAG trained Technicians and all the tools. After the engine started cutting out the RAC man found no engine faults recorded, only an ABS Unit fault which he reset. Harpers found no engine faults initially but after it had cut out on them there was a " loss of communication with ECU " or something. Took A2 out to Kendal yesterday. Engine cut out several times while driving, including the ones with all the symptoms but the engine somehow recovers and keeps running. On the last one yesterday when that happened it was accompanied by Orange ABS and ASR warning lights and Red Brake Warning light. All reset by turning ignition off and re starting the engine.
 
The weirdest one only happened the one time. That was on Friday when the Power Steering orange warning light came on and the Power Steering stopped working. Reset also by turning Ignition off and re starting the engine. I suspect on the ones when the engine somehow keeps running that the Rev Counter goes down to Zero for an instant. To be fair Harpers expected to find an engine speed sensor failure but they said there is not. This all happens while the car is moving don't forget, so the urgency is on starting the engine before whatever is behind runs into the back of me. Not on recording which warning lights have lit up. Sometimes the engine just stops dead with NO warning lights at all. Remember none of this happened until just after the RAC fitted a new Number 4 Ignition Coil to replace the Used one their Breakdown Contractor had fitted only 30 Miles previously !
 
Id buy a can of electrical cleaner and go through all the conections , ie ECU under the passengers floor and the main positive power feed next to it, behind the speedo both the blocks and all the wiring conectors under the bonnet, clean up all the main earths and battery terminals and then see where you stand..
 
Thank you Chubby Brown and Jigsaw. Will see what I can do.

Audi A2 1.4 SE 2003 owned since 9000 Miles / 1 Year Old. Now 99,500 Miles. Azure Blue Metallic. Black Split Rear Seat Interior. Winter Pack. Genuine Audi 15" Steel Winter Wheels & Vredestein Snowtrac Tyres.

Oh and I really do also run a '66 Beetle & '72 VW 1600A Type 3 Automatic Variant !
 
I found something on one of the A2OC Forums about an engine cutting out because the Exhaust was leaking.

Please can anyone explain what mechanism would cause the engine to cut out because of a blowing exhaust ?
 
There must not be any members in my area with a VCDS Scanner. None have come forward anyway ! The fault is still intermittent. Took it to work t'other day. 40 Mile return trip. Did not cut out once. Next day cut out 4 times on the way to work and once on the way home. Nobody has yet explained to me tbe mechanism that would make the engine cut out if the exhaust was blowing.
 
There must not be any members in my area with a VCDS Scanner. None have come forward anyway. The fault is still intermittant. Took it to work t'other day. 40 Mile round trip. Did not cut out once. Next day it cut out 4 times on the way to work and once on the way home. Nobody has explained to me yet the mechanism that would make the engine cut out if the Exhaust was blowing.
 
Depending where the size of the hole and where the leak is relative to the lambda sensors, the exhaust can draw in 'fresh' air and screw up the sensor readings. These sensors are used to optimise the air/fuel ratio under certain load conditions and continually check for a rich /weak mixture. If there is conflict between the pre and post cat sensor readings then it could be possible for the mixture to be far enough out for a second or two for the engine to die.
If this can happen the I'd guess it would do so after some 'off throttle' running (when most air would be draw up the exhaust) followed by acceleration.
Does this tie in with when the engine is most likely to cut out.

Cheers Spike
 
Thank you Spike. There is no recognisable pattern to when the Engine Cuts out. None that we can see anyway. The Rear Silencer was blowing. Had a new one fitted this morning. Engine did not cut out on the way home. Mind you it did not cut out on the way there either !
 
My 1.4 petrol used to cut out intermittently, Fault showing was the lambda sensor and since this was replaced have had no cut outs.
 
Hi '66Beetle' here are a few questions for you -----what engine are we referring to? Does it re start straight away or only after cooling? Has any work been done on it recently?


A possible reason for an exhaust leak to cause problems is that if it leaks close to an exhaust sensor it can trick the engine into leaning the fuel delivery to such a low level it is unable to run.
Cheers mike
 
Thank you Spike. There is no recognisable pattern to when the Engine Cuts out. None that we can see anyway. The Rear Silencer was blowing. Had a new one fitted this morning. Engine did not cut out on the way home. Mind you it did not cut out on the way there either !

So there is no pattern and it could cut out when the engine is hot or cold, cruising, accelerating, or at idle.

As jorgon indicated, lambda sensors deteriorate with age but when they contribute to stalling problems it's usually when engine rpm are dropping down to idle - eg coming to rest at a junction

Cheers Spike
 
Thank you a2sumo. A2 is 2003 1.4 SE Petrol. Got it at 9000 Miles / 1 Year old ex demo / sales car from Blackburn Audi. Now done 99,800 Miles, so I know all its history. Yes, it restarts instantly. No problem. Just dip the Clutch, Ignition Off, Restart. Sorry but all the details of exactly when it started and events leading up to it are on the Servicing and Repairs a Forum section, because that's where I mistakenly started it on the wrong Forum ! It's getting a bit complicated keeping up with the same subject running on 2 different Forums. MY FAULT I hasten to add ! If I put my PC on I can Copy and Paste it on to here but there is a lot of it.

RAC are still investigating why their contract breakdown operator replaced number 4 Ignition Coil, which then failed again after 30 Miles, and then was replaced again by a real RAC Man who said the first one was not a new item 30 Miles before.
 
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Thank you. Does not sound like that one then. Cutting out is usually during steady driving, 30 - 40 - 50 mph whatever. No warning. RAC found no Engine Fault Codes. Harpers Cumbria found no Engine Fault Codes until it cut out twice whilst left ticking over in their workshop. All they got then was " loss of communication wth ECU " or something like that. They expected to find an Engine Speed Sensor failure but they say not.
 
I'm sure I've read that when your car dies the rev counter needle drops to zero, but are there any signs of a loss of electrical power to the instrument binnacle?

I think I might be looking closly at the ECU and cabling in the passenger footwell. I'd remove it and clean all terminals and make sure there was no loose or broken wiring.
Someone might have a spare, matched ECU/instrument cluster/key that they could lend you, so you could swap them over and run your car for a period of time.

Also worth checking the footwell for dampness.

Cheers
Jeff
 
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