dies peacefully

dies peacefully

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vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Monday 4th March 2002
quotequote all
my car has died peacefully 3 times today no cough no splutter just cuts out, i restart it first time and she carries on like nothing happened!??? any clues
(p.s has started to not like getting out of bed first thing in the morning but is ok when shes got a temp, yes i am still talking about the car)

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Monday 4th March 2002
quotequote all
Vodka,

Was tis while you were driving along and then suddenly nothing ?

Do the other electrics work ?

Give us some symptoms and effects ....

Mark

zebedee

4,592 posts

285 months

Monday 4th March 2002
quotequote all
Is it a V8?

Has it been modified in any way?

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Monday 4th March 2002
quotequote all
It's a S3 isn't it ?

Have you checked the immobiliser ? Someone was talking about similar issues the other day and it turned out to be the immobiliser was cutting in.

If not I'd check the ignition wiring to see whether that is shorting or similar.

It sounds definitely like an electrical problem if the engine is cutting out and then restarting without any problems.

Cheers

Mark

GreenV8S

30,484 posts

291 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
quote:
my car has died peacefully 3 times today no cough no splutter just cuts out, i restart it first time and she carries on like nothing happened!??? any clues
(p.s has started to not like getting out of bed first thing in the morning but is ok when shes got a temp, yes i am still talking about the car)


Don't know how much experience you have, but unless you're fairly handy with car electrics you might want to get professional help. It is quite easy to make things worse while you're pulling wires around, disconnecting things 'just to check' and so on. But if you do want to investigate it yourself, my guess would be an intermittant electrical fault taking out the ignition, immobiliser or ECU. I start start by taking the lower cowling off the steering column and checking the connector between the ignition switch and the loom. If this is starting to go, you can get all sorts of symptoms from low voltage on the instruments to intermittant loss of ignition, immobiliser resetting and so on. Also reseat all the relays and the ECU connector (in the passenger's footwell). If that dosn't cure it, look for an earth point under the bonnet directly in front of the passenger's feet, check the connection is sound. If the problem persists after all this I'd start worrying about a dodgy immobil
ser or more general electrical fault, and look at more widespread fault finding techniques such as tracking down what is causing the engine to cut out when it dies, and track the failure back from there.

Hope this helps,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

shpub

8,507 posts

279 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
If it is the immobiliser, don't waste any more time and get the experts in. and get it sorted. Might want to consider a new alarm depending on was fitted by the dealer when the car was originally sold.

If it was an S1 I would say chcek the relays and connectors in the engine bay by the ignition module. As described in the bible these can get immersed in water and cause exactly these symptoms.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
cheers lads the car is an s3 and does have a immobiliser im still not sure if its me or the car , as it has a dead spot if you just rest your foot on the acc pedal then it struggles and it only seems to die when im coming to a stop???

l112jom

79 posts

291 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
Could it be the good 'ol throttle position sensor??

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
just drove to work didnt stall once!
only one small niggle when i floor'd(advanced forward at a sensible pace) it from around 30 mph slight stammer then fine

chin up

159 posts

280 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
I have an S3C doing a similar thing. I am still living with it at the moment, but have to go away until April, (hence I'll miss any S club Heaven antics, Johno). If I have any bright ideas while i'm away, I'll try and get on the web, but without the car there to tinker with, don't hold your breath!

Good luck with the fault finding, V. Hope the manifold work goes well for you, Johno. Roll on Summer, eh!

See ya, Chin up.

P.S. On mine, it's not the throttle pot, dizzy cap, HT leads, rotor arm, vacuum system, dirty idle speed air control valve or connections.

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
nor mine i think there all new

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Tuesday 5th March 2002
quotequote all
Next time then Chinup !

Cheers

Mark

Paceracing

729 posts

273 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
You can check the sensors and eliminate the throttle pot quite quickly.
Disconnect the throttle pot then drive the car, if there is no stutter you are half way there. Next connect a digital multimeter set to measure resistance to the throttle pot and get someone to push the accelerator pedal. The resistance should change progressively. If the meter suddenly reads open circuit or O/C, then you have a throttle pot problem which can be resolved with £45 and a trip to Henry Ford.

Jas.

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
Or £16 from WLA's.....I fitted a throttle pot used for the Cerberra S6 last time as an experiment from WLA's when I was living down that way and have had no problems since. (I went through 4 in3 month at £45 a chuck - did get money back on 1 though)

Cheers

Mark

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
cheers lads. died again this morning and the go go pedal was a bit rough on acceleration

shpub

8,507 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
quote:

You can check the sensors and eliminate the throttle pot quite quickly.



I disagree here. The resistence tests on many of the sensors will tell you if you have a total failure like a O/C or a S/C but they do not confirm that it is actually working.

Throttle pots can have spiky outputs that are caused by cracks in the resistence material that cause problems but are not picked up by a meter. I 've had temp sensors that go O/C intermittently and send the fuelling crazy...

Multimeter tests are worth doing providing yoiu don't assume that if the component passes it is still good!

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
johno
mornin, could you tell me who WLA are and do you have a contact number for them??
plus was it a straight swop for the cerb s6 mines an s3??
cheers

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
It is a straight swap.

Waldonway Specialist Cars are a TVR main dealership near Maidstone.

Number is 01732 840935.

It was Keith in the stores who suggested it as an idea and it worked. No problems since.

As an aside did you fit the Green Stuff pads in the end. Are they the right ones as I haven't fitted mine yet as I'm still waiting for the new discs and other bits.

Cheers

Mark

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
yep the pads are the right ones cheers

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th March 2002
quotequote all
rang the bloke he said that you have to set the resistance is that right? how do you do it?? please help