Car stalled on coasting

[91SS]

Found a Holden Publication img.
This shows the 'toothed disc' /interruptor ring
Only 1 circlip from memory

Really appreciate the tips and diagrams. Cheers.

Looking at diagram the interruptor ring is item4 listed as toothed disc.
Thinking if this indeed is fault it may be doable in car perhaps lying on manifold or on a step from drivers side.

Still can't see roll pin in diagram on toothed disk/interruptor ring?

Is pin? punched out from side.

If interruptor ring is culprit can this part be obtained? Or it it a case of raiding a SH unit or replacing whole distributor?

I've owned car ince 1994 with 185kms......done 3 cap and rotors dizzy and parts are are original and GMH..Nobody else has touched the distributor.

Jaycar unit looks good. Would probably go with that. Other parts come with plate and are about $125..

Started it again tonight cold ran for 15 seconds smoothly and died.

Just want to make sure module is okay.

Many thanks.

 

[91SS]

I had a very similar problem. Intermittant stalling and then a norestart.
Then it went on solid bad and I was able to find it.
Turned out to be a corroded terminal on the wire to the coil. The ring terminal.

The other is a push-on.

Just run another temporary wire from the ignition module to the coil as a test.
Its also a good idea to relocate the coil to
the firewall. Its in a crap position and difficult to troubleshoot.

Interesting. That would have taken some troubleshooting. Was probably an earth loading down module.

Must check this. Funny looked at module and saw a little corrosion on small nut holding transistor on heat sink and got me thinking.

I replaced coil with square genuine one (Bosch ) just as a service when I installed Ice leads. Old oil coil was fine. Just prior lockdowns.

Just proves our cars main enemy is poor connections. I do use no ox id grease as much as possible. Just read thread on power windows with similar high resistance connections.

Thanks.

 

[Having A Break]

.

 

[Having A Break]

.

 

[91SS]

I was surprised at how well that img. turned out. Must be the quality paper Holden uses in it's journals lol.

The exploded views have to be taken with a thought of 'artistic license'. Some imagination may be required to piece the puzzle together. I have included arrows linking the respective parts with one another. Holden list the roll pin as a 'drive key' which is puzzling. I have also drawn a notch in the shaft to show the relative positioning of the items.
View attachment 258181
Ideally, you would want the toothed disc to slide up the shaft while keeping the drive key down, as I have had the key jam in the shaft groove locking key and disc solid. It all depends how tight your key/ or disc are on the shaft. Remember to spray lube well in advance.

The disc is unlikely the fault, as it would have to have been forced to bend out of shape, but stranger things have happened...
I have also had to straighten a bent disc that I had applied too much force to, remember these are only pressed from thin gauge 'soft steel'. Pry up evenly on both sides and gently. When installed, make sure you have a full 360° rotation with even clearance on both sides of the sensor gap, all the way around.

Hope this clears things up.

Really appreciate the run down. Super help whether I need to go down this route or for anyone else viewing the thread.

My plan is to buy Jaycar sensor in any case. Looks like I will need to solder wires onto my connector.

Great explanation re drive key. So it's vertical under circlip. Now I get I suppose it's a drive key because it drives ring in fixed position with cut out for timing on hall effect sensor. If the job needs doing I will try in car WD40 on interruptor ring and pin overnight. Seems very doable if that goes smoothly.

I'm now hoping to maybe do some more troubleshooting starting weekend whilst hopefully it's in no start state. Want to check connections module even coil and if I can get a reading from hall effect sensor with my fluke. Trouble is hall effect sensor readings may be affected by engine speed so it's going to be hard to know for sure without having measured it before.

Will keep everyone posted. Good when threads get closed for future reference. Just don't know when I'll make a start just a bit over cars at the moment lol.

Thanks again.

 

[Having A Break]

.

 

[91SS]

Update;

Engine stalling still intermittent but finally got it at no start state.
Started troubleshooting with a view to isolate problem to hall effect sensor and wiring or module and wiring.

Using a low voltage 6/12v test light disconnecting the main 6 pin connector off module I bridged grey red wire & black wire. And also a second bridge between red wire and white wire with back stripe.

I then connected my test probe to 12v and probed light blue wire with white stripe. Cranking engine i look for blinking test light. It blinked confirming correct signals from hall effect sensor. If it didn't blink I would assume faulty Hall effect sensor or wiring.

So now I'm thinking module or forward. I then reconnected the plug and still had a no start condition.

Later on I rechecked for codes and tried a restart.....and it fired. So wondered what to do with it and just gently tapped module with back of screwdriver handle.....and the engine missed and finally stalled. Holding plug against module and restarting tapping didn't affect it much till I jiggled plug which moves socket with it and it stalled. So I'm thinking dry soldier joints on PCB for plug.

So as a troubleshooting technique if one has a stalling problem on these cars intermittent try tapping on module and wiggling plug and check for response.

Conversely, if one is stranded with no start condition and can safely do so try pushing on plug a little......it may get one home.

So tomorrow I will strip module and try to repair/replace and post with photos if possible for this troublesome unit.

 

[J_D 2.0]

Hi all
Issues with my VN 5.0.

Anyway, started up and didn't really let it warm up and about 2 kms from home car stalled on coasting when running smoothly at about 50kms. No traffic behind me so while coasting put in neutral (automatic) and tried to restart...nothing. Anyway, pulled over ,switched off AC and lights and tried to restart, nothing. Cranking is normal just no attempt at ignition. Tried periodically over 20 minutes no good. Just about to ring NRMA and tried once more and it started perfectly. I then continued to drive for around 1 hour and the car runs very smoothly as it has done for a while.

Anyway recently cleaned throttle body and washed washable air filter.

Wondering where to start. 20 years or so ago remember car occaisonly stalled on turns and auto electrician replaced module with VS one I believe from memory...but recall that stalling was when engine was warm. Remember him saying that it should sort the issue but it was trial and error. He claimed no real way to conclusively test intermittent issue from module. Anyway at that time the replacement SH module sorted problem.

How would I test module with possible intermittent issue? Or just replace trial and error. Could fuel pumps be that intermittent? Relay?

Heard modules with intermittent issues don't throw codes, will check.

Obviously the concern is inability to restart for 20 minutes or so.

No other issues lately very smooth running


Thanks in advance.

.

Pretty sure VN V8’s have the same ignition setup as VS does. If so it could be the ignition module. My old VS Statesman way back in day would do the same kind of thing.

The engine would randomly stop while cruising down the highway etc but would crank fine after coasting to a stop but wouldn’t start again for a while. Turned out to be that ignition module, replaced it and never had the problem again.

Note that I’m not endorsing the specific module in the link below, it’s just so you know what I’m talking about.


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1345927...486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[J_D 2.0]

Update;

Engine stalling still intermittent but finally got it at no start State.
Started troubleshooting with a view to isolate problem to hall effect sensor and wiring or module and wiring.

Using a low voltage 6/12v test light disconnecting the main 6 pin connector off module I bridged grey red wire & black wire. And also a second bridge between red wire and white wire with back stripe.

I then connected my test probe to 12v and probed light blue wire with white stripe. Cranking engine i look for blinking test light. It blinked confirming correct signals from hall effect sensor. If it didn't blink I would assume faulty Hall effect sensor or wiring.

So now I'm thinking module or forward. I then reconnected the plug and still had a no start condition.

Later on I rechecked for codes and tried a restart.....and it fired. So wondered what to do with it and just gently tapped module with back of screwdriver handle.....and the engine missed and finally stalled. Holding plug against module and restarting tapping didn't affect it much till I jiggled plug which moves socket with it and it stalled. So I'm thinking dry soldier joints on PCB for plug.

So as a troubleshooting technique if one has a stalling problem on these cars intermittent try tapping on module and wiggling plug and check for response.

Conversely, if one is straned with no start condition and can safely do so try pushing on plug a little......it may get one home.

So tomorrow I will strip module and try to repair/replace and post with photos if possible for this troublesome unit.

Good to see you’ve sorted it out. Never mind my previous comment then, I should have read further along!

 

[91SS]

Update;

Solved.

Was the module , and more specifically dry joints on module PCB.

Took it of car and access to PCB is by simply lifting plate off rear..

At this point the way I repaired it is.

1) Unsolder terminals off transistor in cut out on PCB x 3, and unsolder 2 x terminals off resistor/noise filter.

2) Remove 4 x screws ( 2 go through brass eyelet as mentioned by @the5819 which must be cleaned). Lift off wire loom from 4 pin plug from main body.

This is the rear of PCB.

Note 2 x brass screw holes at bottom. These act as a earth for PCB and must be cleaned.

Note on enlargement of photo halo marks and solder deteriorating can be clearly seen.

Note in centre of PCB the cavity with 3 x unsoldered terminals ( from main transistor which can be seen from outside module)which must be unsoldered prior to removal of PCB from module housing.

2 x resistor terminals on top of photo must be unsoldered from other side prior to PCB removal.

Note deteriorating solder on 6 pin plug terminals.

Note IC terminals right of cavity.

At this point if problems are intermittent it's very unlikely there is any component failure, more likely numerous dry solder joints as was the case with mine. On closer inspection under magnification I found nearly all solder joints oxidised and or with minor cracks or visibly deteriorating joints.

In the end I reflowed all solder joints taking special care on ICs.....not to overheat them. Go with a hot iron and plenty of flux. If one isn't confident and wants to address main trouble spots reflow the 6 pins which hold main connector and 3 pins on main transistor (which is available if faulty I.e a hard fault).

On reinstall into car take care to make sure battery negative is disconnected and 4 pin module plug doesn't get caught on top of main plug when air cleaner assembly is installed because it will strain solder joints in module pertaining to 6 pin plug.

Also noticed a slight barely discernible hesitation/miss occasionally at idle has also disappeared.....so all connected.

Like to add picked up Jaycar Hall effect sensor for $27 for the parts bin. If anyone goes this ŕoute they wiil need to solder the 3 wires on original connector, and will need a little heat shrink..

Thanks to all who helped me on this thread especially @the5819 .