My car is giving me problems - PLEASE HELP!!

Nicci

Nicci

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Hi everyone.

Can anyone help me PLEASE! My car is giving me SO much trouble :( It switches off randomly while im driving. I will drive and the car will just die. I took it in to a Auto Electrician, and they replaced the coil (R1500) but the problem still persisted. I took it back, and they replaced the distributor. Still same problem, the car now starts to jerk, and it just switches off for no apparent reason. The guy said I must take it in again on Monday. 3rd Time now :( I have to say that the guy is very helpful and understanding, and they didnt charge me to fix the second time.

Now, has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what the problem might be? Its difficult to find the fault or see the problem when the car doesnt switch off with them. Like I said, I can drive to work and back no problem, and then bam, it switches off all of a sudden.

Any advice would be appreciated! Please!
 
@ Niccia - when the car dies out, does it cut out suddenly, or does it stutter and then die?

a sudden cut-out is electrical - do as pumpkin king said and check your ignition switch as well.

a stuttering and then die thing is fuel starvation - can be anything from a faulty anti-diesel switch to a faulty fuel pump.
 
The_Librarian said:
@ Niccia - when the car dies out, does it cut out suddenly, or does it stutter and then die?

a sudden cut-out is electrical - do as pumpkin king said and check your ignition switch as well.

a stuttering and then die thing is fuel starvation - can be anything from a faulty anti-diesel switch to a faulty fuel pump.
Click to expand...

Hello. Its a Golf GTi. It will just cut out while Im driving. I will be going 60 or so, and then bam, the car switches off while driving. But now I noticed that the car stutters and jerks and then switches off. What could it be? Is an ignition expensive to fix? And a fuel pump? Is that also expensive?
 
possible suspects :

1. problematic fuel pump
2. fuel filter (when last was it replaced?)
3. faulty engine management module
4. ignition switch

ask the clever guys to check these four items, these will narrow your search down.

With fuel injected cars, the fuel filter often gets neglected, and will leave the owner in a sticky situation unexpectedly.

Note - I'm not a mechanic, or an expert on fuel-injected stuff :)
 
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thanks The Librarian! I took it to a very well known motolek place - but its going in for 3rd time now. Oh, I also realized that its more frequent when I got the aircon on. Does this help?
 
Would also like to know what year it is? Has the car had a hard life..as in over revving and things like that and when does the problem occur the most? Freeway driving or town driving?
 
It sounds like the guys you've taken it to are guessing and just hoped they'd get lucky with the parts they've changed - this can end up being very expensive.

I recommend that you take it to a dealer or a shop that specialises in electronic fuel injection - they will plug a diagnostics tool into the cars OBDII communications port and access the fault codes stored in the Engine Control Unit, and that way have a better idea as to what is causing the misfire and cut-out.

When last was the fuel filter changed?
 
The year model is important to know.

What Frankie is saying, is spot on - you need to get on the diagnostics tool.

I'll PM you the number of the mechanic I use.
Very good oke - in Brackenfell though, but well worth the trip.
 
Thank you to everyone! The car normally cuts out whether im driving open road and short distances, but more frequently when the car is hot. Thats what I think though, everythime the car is hot or the weather is hot outside, the problems occur.

Thank you for the advice - I will definately take it to those machines. I have had the car now about 2 years, and I have never changed the fuel filter. Maybe its that...

What kind of machine is it? What must I ask for? Is it a dynatune or what is it?

Thank you for letting me know!

Have a great weekend!
 
Niccia said:
Thank you to everyone! The car normally cuts out whether im driving open road and short distances, but more frequently when the car is hot. Thats what I think though, everythime the car is hot or the weather is hot outside, the problems occur.

Thank you for the advice - I will definately take it to those machines. I have had the car now about 2 years, and I have never changed the fuel filter. Maybe its that...

What kind of machine is it? What must I ask for? Is it a dynatune or what is it?

Thank you for letting me know!

Have a great weekend!
Click to expand...

It's just connecting the car to a PC or Laptop - not really a machine ;)
So it's not a big ordeal.
On my 1999 Golf 4 there is a little panel just above the ashtray in the centre console that gets removed.
There you find a port where a cable from the laptop get's plugged into and the car sends info to the diagonstic software and voila - you're on your way to getting your car healed :)
 
I will call him tomorrow and take it in. I really need to get it sorted out - Im scared of getting stuck on the highway!
 
Cutting out when the car is hot could be fairly important information, but yes.. take it to get the thing plugged into what they call a VAG..... its VW's diagnostic system.. should tell you what is wrong with the car..
 
You're air intake might've sucked in some dirt and damaged the air flow sensor (if it has one) or possibly just made it dirty.

I experienced something similar not so long ago, and it was very annoying, I needed to keep the revs up the whole time.

The problem with the air flow sensors is that essentially it uses a wire which some voltage is sent through. The heats up the wire, now when air flows across it, it cools the wire and depending on how much it gets cooled the unit is able to determine the amount of air flowing past the unit.

Now if the air flow sensor is dirty, this dirt can cause the wire not getting sufficient wind to cool it, this causes the on board computer to believe you aren't getting that much air in, which reduces the amount of fuel it sends into you combustion chambers making it run very lean, and obviously you get fuel starvation in a way. This is also dangerous as the running lean causes more heat and it can fry you head.

Also when the car is hot, it obviously affects this even more, as the on board computer believes even less air is entering the system.

The above might explain why the car just probably dies.

Hope it helps.
 
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