Please Help : Car shuts off while driving or in traffic!?

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:01 pm

Hello, I have a P 406 TD (90 BHP) for almost a year, unfortunately I have had a string of problems with it and feel like I'm worn out now! I recently had a radiator leak and had to get a new radiator fitted, since I had that done the car has sometimes 'stalled' or shut down while driving.

its happened about 5 or 6 times in about 1 week (I drive alot) there has been a few occasions where I am driving quite fast on a dual carriageway and all of a sudden the engine goes, I notice the red warning lights come on (as they would when you first turn key to start car) the power steering is gone and it won't start again! what usually happens is I would open the bonnet to cool it (although don't know if it makes any difference) then in about 10 mins it starts again?!

It has happened while I'm in traffic, on dual carriageways at high/slow speeds and I have no idea what the problem is! I've had it fully serviced and also someone checked the turbo. But all these mechanics seem to be only good for cleaning the car and no idea further to that.

Any ideas on best course of action?

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:38 pm

This has come up a few times and this link may help

viewtopic.php?t=2608&highlight

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:14 pm

Thanks for the link, I have read it however, the engine seems to cut out at various speeds & the temp does not make a difference either. It doesn't re-start straight away but always re-starts without fail after about 10 minutes, guessing something 'overheats' then when cools down its ok, although the strange thing is sometimes it doesn't happen at all, I could drive for a while and nothing happens but other times it will cut out once or twice within an hour.

I've made a note of the 'fuel injector' & 'stepper motor' so will mention those to the garage when I take it in sometime soon!

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:18 pm

Yeah the stepper motor seems to keep coming up on here.

Might just be worth giving it a quick clean with some carb cleaner or something before the garage hits you with a large bill.

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:32 pm

Only problem is the only thing I know about cars is where the fuel goes (and a few other basic things!) already had one garage check out the turbo and they said a pipe was loose (it was making a hissing sound when speeding up) and they put that back with a 'clip' and charged about £150.

I'm not suprised if I've been ripped off as its expected but thought they would at least fix the problem!

Any idea how to get to this 'stepper motor' ..?

Thanks

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:46 pm

Well bearing in mind that I know absolutely nothing about Diesels and I'm not even 100% sure that a Diesel would have a stepper motor, on my petrol of the same year it is located on the front of the throttle housing.

You only have to undo a clip and a couple of screws then you can get to it.

I'm sure someone on here will know if it has one or not. Got a feeling it has an idle control valve not a stepper though? Again though, this can just be cleaned.

Post by **Welly** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:43 am

No, Diesel's don't have a stepper motor or any other 'idle control'. Diesel's don't have a throttle body. The inlet manifold is just a 'big hole' and the engine speed is controlled by adjusting the fuel flow by injector timing.

I don't know what the problem is here but is seems to be electrical which then cuts off the fuel supply (as if you have turned the keys off).

I hope our james on here can shed some light on this for you.

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:40 pm

im ere
does it stall when you come off the throttle quite harsh?
do you have a keypad immobiliser?
do you know if your injection pump has the electronic as3 vp20 timing control?
does it cut out while your driving or only when idleing?
my first suspision is the stop solenoid

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:02 pm

Welton wrote:No, Diesel's don't have a stepper motor or any other 'idle control'. Diesel's don't have a throttle body. The inlet manifold is just a 'big hole' and the engine speed is controlled by adjusting the fuel flow by injector timing.

I don't know what the problem is here but is seems to be electrical which then cuts off the fuel supply (as if you have turned the keys off).

I hope our james on here can shed some light on this for you.

Yeah thought it may have been different

Learn something new every day!

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:21 pm

I was advised today by some garage that it sounds like the 'fuel injector' & 'immobilisor' could be playing up and only the main Pug dealers can resolve it, so its gonna be estimated at about £1000 to repair, if thats the case I'm just gonna have to live with it! It is strange problem though as didn't happen today!

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:25 pm

im ere = Phew!
does it stall when you come off the throttle quite harsh? = Nope
do you have a keypad immobiliser? = Don't think so, just press a button on the keys and it unlocks
do you know if your injection pump has the electronic as3 vp20 timing control? = How can I find out?
does it cut out while your driving or only when idleing? = Nope both
my first suspision is the stop solenoid = Whats that?

Blimey I need to learn more than just where the fuel goes!

Benner · Post by **Benner** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:27 pm

r4y007 wrote: estimated at about £1000 to repair

EEK!!!

Think I'd live with it too.

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:28 pm

the stop solenoid is basically an electronic valve that allows the fuel into the injection pump
to find out if you have electronic injection, open the bonnet, to the right of the coolant expansion bottle is a black plastic box, take the lid of, you will find a silver box, this is your engine ecu, take it out without taking the plastic wiring plug off the top, it should say on the labled side, bosch and as3 vp20

r4y007 · Post by **r4y007** » Fri May 25, 2007 10:00 pm

Hello Again,

Recently the problem seemed to have stopped but has come back, although seems a little clearer what it could be! What happens now is that when the engine heats up the indicator goes a few mm above the 90 mark whereas before I'm very sure it would stay on 90 before the fan kicks in etc.. once that has happened the car usually switches itself off and won't re-start until I've left it about 15 minutes to cool down.

All this has started happening since I had a brand new radiator fitted by a garage down some side road, I think either they messed up somewhere and the fans not kicking in when it should or (I've been told) that the radiator may need 'bleeding' due to air bubbles?

Any suggestions?

Thanks

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Mon May 28, 2007 10:27 am

I'd say you may have an air pocket in your cooling system as other diesel owners say their cars apparently never get hot?!? Also when doing speed, the temperature really should be low.

Wait until the engine's cold (v. important!), fill up your coolant reservoir leaving the lid off, then go hunt for your bleed valves!

I wouldn't do that though until you've worked out why the fans are killing the car - you'll need to get the temperature high to test it. It sounds like they've screwed either the fans or (more likely) a relay or wiring connector while they were replacing your radiator. In the first instance I'd suggest going back to the garage and asking them to check their work!