Engine stalling

[ardy]

Hi,

I've done lots of searching but didn't find anything that'd exactly match my issue.

My 1.4 16v MK1 Octy dies randomly every now and then. It's running fine most of the time but the odd time I start the car & the revs would be lower than normal and jumping up and down as if the car was struggling to keep the engine running. Then when I rev it up a bit and suddenly release the accelerator pedal, the revs would simply drop to zero. After that it's a real pain to get the car running again. Have to try several times to get the revs to stay normal. It is annoying as sometimes the car would stall changing gear while the clutch is pressed. Especially bad going around corners and losing power steering.

The dealer thought it could be the filter (checked....as new) or some kind of chamber the electric air pump uses (it's mentioned in Haynes but i'm not able to locate it). This isn't making any sense as the "dying" is really smooth. I'd expect a chocking engine to judder.

Some people have mentioned fuel pump relay. What do you guys think? :confused:

[ap0gee1978]

I say 'Get a fault scan done before you try anything!' But it might be worth cleaning the throttle body, as it might be that, and even if it's not, you'll feel the benefits!

[ardy]

I say 'Get a fault scan done before you try anything!' But it might be worth cleaning the throttle body, as it might be that, and even if it's not, you'll feel the benefits!

DIY job? how long would it take? cleaning the thing i mean

[skoda auto]

hi, if the engine revs drop down straight away i would imagine that we are dealing with ignition side issue, possibly caused crank shaft position sensor. The easyest way to establish the cause is reading the fault codes if any are stored!!!!

If nothing is stored than when your engine dies and you try to restart it by cranking the engine over ideally you need a decent fault scanner which will enable you to read measure value block for crankshaft sensor and see if working?????

[skoda auto]

when your engine dies and when you try to start engine by cranking it over does your rev counter goes to approximatelly 500 rpm?

[skoda auto]

have you got any updates on your engine stalling?????

[ardy]

when your engine dies and when you try to start engine by cranking it over does your rev counter goes to approximatelly 500 rpm?

sorry have been away for a while.

Once it stalls & you try to start again, there are three possible outcomes (all of them happened to me already):

1) engine will start and run normally

2) revs go up high as with normal starting but the needle falls back to 0rpm

3) revs go up high as with normal starting but the needle falls back to around 500 rpm and engine is struggling to stay running.

ave still not had a chance to get fault codes read....yeah, i'm broke

[jvaleiron]

sorry have been away for a while.

Once it stalls & you try to start again, there are three possible outcomes (all of them happened to me already):

1) engine will start and run normally

2) revs go up high as with normal starting but the needle falls back to 0rpm

3) revs go up high as with normal starting but the needle falls back to around 500 rpm and engine is struggling to stay running.

ave still not had a chance to get fault codes read....yeah, i'm broke

I had the first one a while ago, when i scanned the car for DTCs. MAF and O2 sensor came up.