VX engine just shutting down.

[Craig151]

Hi,

I have a VX commodore that the engine will just shut down.
It is a 2002 model with 130,000kms.
There is no rhyme or reason when it shuts down it can be idling at traffic lights or doing 100km/hr down the freeway. It doesnt appear to be heat related as sometime it will happen 5 kms dow the road ome 20kms.
It doesnt seem to be fuel in that it just quits no sign of running out of fuel but then I have never run it out of fuel to know if it just quits or may cough a bit beforeheand.
One time the engine light did come on and it kept running however it did not sound like it was on all cylinders.
Sometimes it will just miss a beat and continue to run (it has an automatic transmission).
It has been to holden 3 times now to try and find the problem,
1st, could not fault it now fault found. How ever wanted $750 to replace abs module.
2nd trip (different dealer) Replaced key, replaced missing abs fuse $1.50 dont remember borrowing that one. Ran good for three days thought all was good but no.
3rd trip, Cleaned throttle body. Shut down before even getting home.
Sometimes it will restart straight away sometimes it will take 10 mins allways cranks ok but will not fire at all.
Going to get a spark tester tomorrow to hopefully count ignition out or know if there is no spark.
Anyone else had or know of what may cause this issue?

Cheers

Craig

[JuzAndBec]

Sounds electrical if it's an instant cut off - fuel would more likely splutter before dying.

A similar thing happened to me. Never had any problem with the car at all, drove into servcie station, filled up, went to start , dash looked normal, radio on etc and then on start there was nothing at all. Dash completely dead, not even a clicking sound. Turned out to be the + terminal from the battery had become slightly loose, enough that it killed everything.

So I would focus on the battery, particularly the terminals. Take off, clean, re-tighten, test battery etc. See how you go, let us know.

[acarmody]

Even if the battery disconnected the car would still run until you shot the alternator. The alternator would still provide enough power to run the vehicle, but without the battery I believe it wouldn't take long to destroy the alternator. But I'm sure you would know if your alternator died.

I also would think electrical, maybe Crank sensor, have any of the dealerships checked for fault codes. Next time it happens bridge the 5 and 6 pin on the diagnostic plug. Paper clip should do it.

[Craig151]

Even if the battery disconnected the car would still run until you shot the alternator. The alternator would still provide enough power to run the vehicle, but without the battery I believe it wouldn't take long to destroy the alternator. But I'm sure you would know if your alternator died.

I also would think electrical, maybe Crank sensor, have any of the dealerships checked for fault codes. Next time it happens bridge the 5 and 6 pin on the diagnostic plug. Paper clip should do it.

Both alternator and battery have been replaced while I have been having this problem. Booked in for a cas on Monday after searching the forums here, fingers crossed. The dealer did say they had cleared the faults from the log but never mentioned what they were. Annoyingly enough while in auto one today getting a spark tester it shut down but started again straight away.
Paper clip been ready and waiting ;-)

Cheers

Craig

[PRAVX II S]

When the car does not start check for spark like you are doing. (If it does spark make sure its not a weak spark.)
Other things you can check while the car is not starting and only cranking over.

Bridge pins 5/6
Injector trigger
Fuel supply
Relays (EFI / FUEL PUMP)
PCM Plug Connections.
Vacuum hoses.

There is no problem with battery becasue the car cranks over. When you crank the car over this is when the most power is used from tha battery.
And also it is not the battery connections causing the car to stop. The alternator will continue to run the car if there is a problem with the connections. If the connection is open circuit from battery the system will overcharge causing PCM/HEADLIGHTS/MODULES to blow becasue the voltage rise.

[Niper]

it sounds like the fuel pump is faulty
not enogh pressure

[airforceone]

mine did the same as yours ,was the CAS was faulty and farked , surely if this was the prob tho holden would of found it ,but still worth a try its not that expensive either.

[Craig151]

Changed cas and all seems to be good now 200+ km and it has not stopped. What will be the next part to start to play up?

Cheers Craig

[airforceone]

cool ,at least its fixed man

[codeunknown]

it also sounds like a crankcase sensor about to take a dive...

or a bad earth strap..clean up the earth strap lines all over the car....starting with the battery terminals

[codeunknown]

sometimes faulty crankcase sensors dont just die straight away....

soemtimes they do this hard starting and starting when they want too
dieing when they feel like it sometimes hot sometimes cold...

often they get infected with oil and junk and can not function right...
hence why its good to blast that area with water and degreaser at the car wash....

and carry a spare one in the car....i do

[tsemaj]

glad it's not just me! happened to me about 2 months back.

Was driving along Epping road at about 60kph. No warning, everything just turned off (aircon, engine, radio) and the car rolled to a stop in the bus lane. I was damn lucky not to get hit! Turned off everything and it started up first time with no unusual noises or behaviour. Took it to UltraTune and they said "unless you can get it to do it again, or you give us a call as soon as it's died, it's hard to say what the problem is". Not had the problem since. I really don't like the idea of being on a motor way and that happens.