Engine cutout!?

[Calais3800]

hi everyone, the other day i was idling at the lights and my motor cut out. it would not restart!! i could hear the starter clicking away but it couldnt start. i had to get a tow home.

But then 3 days later i tried it and it started and reved straight up no probs. i dont want this to happen again. does anyone have a clue what this could be?Its a Vn Calais V6. i thought maybe the immobilser is starting to play up. any ideas??

[kniever]

if all u could hear was clicking it means the battery was nearly dead so im guessing the alternater is on its way out that is why ure car cut out and u couldnt start it again cos the car drained the battery

im not a 100% sure but thats my guess

[Calais3800]

could be. i hope its that simple coz i cant find the immobilzer ...and its not in the manual. Funny thing is i tried the immobilzer key switch in the glove box and it starts in both positions. i wonder if both r worn out?? does anyone know a simple test?

[samuels]

could be. i hope its that simple coz i cant find the immobilzer ...and its not in the manual. Funny thing is i tried the immobilzer key switch in the glove box and it starts in both positions. i wonder if both r worn out?? does anyone know a simple test?

you don't want to know where your immobiliser control unit is,you nearly have to remove whole dashboard to get to it.it wouldn't be your immobiliser causing it to just die,as you have disabled the unit completely when you use your remote,that thing you are talking about in the glove box,arms and dis-arms the security system in your car.
just by what you are saying,it is sounding like the battery,when your alternator goes....or on the way out,usually but not always,everything flares,instrument lights indicator lights,interior lights,etc,etc,so when you turn something on it flares your cluster lights,headlights,etc,etc...know what i mean..also your charge light would come on,cheapest and easiest solution for now is see if you can borrow a battery for a few days,and see if it does the same thing with different battery,other wise,bob jane do free battery testing,well down here they do
if you have access to a multimeter and know how to use it,test your alternator

[Bz Kn33z]

Is it running hot going thro water/coolant? could be waterpump. water leaking into the CAS (crank angle sensor) so your car wont start untill it drys then it could happen again if problem not fixed see if the sensor wire has the seal around it.

[Calais3800]

,as you have disabled the unit completely when you use your remote,

Nah my calias doesnt have a remote. i have to use the key....sucks. My battery is good quality zero maintenance type bout 3 years old and has plenty of power, she starts easily in morning no probs at all. Nah no coolent loss either. So far sounds like the altenator, but the warning lights never come on! weird! lol. No

its been bout 4 weeks now and its still running fine ,no cutouts.....but in order for it to cut out like that there must be a fault somewhere. and i really dont wanna break down at bizzy lights in frankston again. waz total stress out.lol.

The day it cut out there waz heaps of power left in battery too, i could hear the crankshaft turning ova but it waz like there waz no fuel mixture getting into the chambers.Or maybe there waz mixture but there waz no spark?
hhhmmmm,dunno. wat do u guys think...... Maybe fuel system/ignition system??

this is seams to be one of those neadle in a haystack engine faults.my ideas so far....

Faulty:

Immobilzer (website) http://au.geocities.com/commodoretech/nelect.html
ECU
Altenator
Fuel system (blocked fuel filter/worn pump?)
Ignition (worn coil pack/plugs/leads?)

[88GreenVN]

If the security switch in the glove box is faulty it will cut power to the injectors - so no start. I had my car running and put a screw driver (no key) in the lock and gave it a wriggle car would cut out every time. Buy passed the lock (dash half out) and problem went away. To add to that My DFI unit fried itself along with other electrical bits and the ECU went west a few weeks later. All fixed now though.

[PaRaDoX]

if all u could hear was clicking it means the battery was nearly dead so im guessing the alternater is on its way out that is why ure car cut out and u couldnt start it again cos the car drained the battery

im not a 100% sure but thats my guess

correction, when its flat not to crank, you'll hear the relay going nuts like CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

are you sure you had it in gear when you tried starting it???? like it mean mine sometimes starts in netural but not always, always starts in park well tries to atm :P


the common issues for this problem is
a)Crank Angle Sensor
b)DFI moduel (this was the case for me) its the coil back circit board
c)ECU (usually goes beserk)

[Calais3800]

are you sure you had it in gear when you tried starting it????

no, not "in gear" but i did cycle between Park and Neutral a dozen times, trying to turn it ova eventually the battery drained and then i got the clicking from the relay. 3 days later she stared up on her own! x-file style baby. The battery must of charged itsself bak up??

Theres some god ideas here though, i didnt think of the DFI. The thing is im gonna need a multimeter to test all this stuff.

If i short out the Diagnostic loom with some wire and do the Fault test will these problems come up?? i have the vn manual with all the fault codes. does anyone know?

[Calais3800]

If the security switch in the glove box is faulty it will cut power to the injectors - so no start. I had my car running and put a screw driver (no key) in the lock and gave it a wriggle car would cut out every time.

Mine starts and runs even with me wiggiling the immobilizer key in the immobiler key switch. Mine must obiously be faulty and it waz a hot day so maybe the heat caused a malfuntion. I thought about bypassing it or even just getting an aftermarket replacment. but now that u say its behind the dash its gonna be one hell of a job. thanks for ya help ppl!!

[JD]

hi everyone, the other day i was idling at the lights and my motor cut out. it would not restart!! i could hear the starter clicking away but it couldnt start. i had to get a tow home.

But then 3 days later i tried it and it started and reved straight up no probs. i dont want this to happen again. does anyone have a clue what this could be?Its a Vn Calais V6. i thought maybe the immobilser is starting to play up. any ideas??

i reckon alternator, as my VP had this problem, it would go flat and die but after 15mins it would start again and slowly go flat.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

If it was a hot day then maybe the CAS is on the way out. Sometimes they cut out once, then it could be 2 months later and it dies altogether. Just do a code check because it should have logged an error, but it clears after so many starts so it may not show.

[kniever]

[QUOTE=PaRaDoX616;565432]correction, when its flat not to crank, you'll hear the relay going nuts like CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

thats excatctly what i meant dude, he heard clicking so he prob thought it was starter motor

[Calais3800]

yeah it waz clicking. but for first 10 mins the motor waz trying to turn ova/start but woulndt for some reason. And theres no waring light coming on for alternator. im sure its something else...ah well.