Unusual staking

outsidethe65

Hi All,

Quick question.

I have a 00 VW passat. Lovely car and all is well except for one small problem.

If I an cruising (clutching going around a corner), the car tends to cut out occasionally. The lights dim and the engine dies.

Do you think its a carb problem. I suspect not enough petrol is getting through when its ticking over and when a strain comes in like using the power steering, its enough to make it cut out.

Any thoughts as to what else it could be and is it easy to adjust?

Cheers,

Outsidethe65.

oleras

outsidethe65 wrote:

Hi All,

Quick question.

I have a 00 VW passat. Lovely car and all is well except for one small problem.

If I an cruising (clutching going around a corner), the car tends to cut out occasionally. The lights dim and the engine dies.

Do you think its a carb problem. I suspect not enough petrol is getting through when its ticking over and when a strain comes in like using the power steering, its enough to make it cut out.

Any thoughts as to what else it could be and is it easy to adjust?

Cheers,

Outsidethe65.

sounds like a driver issue.....you dont know how to drive !

Also, its coasting, cruising is when you have cruise control engaged

tuxy

Who taught you to drive?
Don't coast, problem solved.

mike65

Carb???? Tis fuel injected of course. Don't ride the clutch.

Mike.

tuxy

Maybe its his first manual car?

Captain Slow IRL

i'd say fuel pump is on the way out - what mileage is on it?

bazz26

If I remember correctly there are a number of common problems which may cause VAG cars to suddenly loose power or cut out, a faulty or dirty mass air flow (MAS) sensor, lambda sensor or throttle body position sensor.

I would try not riding the clutch first though to see if this cures the problem.

KTRIC

Never driven a car myself, always been a biker. Can someone explain why a car driver might think he/she needs to use the clutch whilst cornering ?

smemon

KTRIC wrote:

Never driven a car myself, always been a biker. Can someone explain why a car driver might think he/she needs to use the clutch whilst cornering ?

for security.

all you have to do is hit the brakes then, rather than clutch and brake.

common amongst noObs

SoBe

KTRIC wrote:

Never driven a car myself, always been a biker. Can someone explain why a car driver might think he/she needs to use the clutch whilst cornering ?

i think most car drivers here are asking the same question

Wishbone Ash

And what does the OP mean by the thread title - "Unusual Staking"?

Mr.Diagnostic

While everyone is correct that there is no need to clutch while cornering that is not really the issue. The car should not cut out under these conditions.

Most of the time this is caused on Passats by a vac leak. Most common cause is the breather pipe at the back being perished. Bring it to anyone who is familiar with these and they will have it diagnosed very quickly.

overdriver

smemon wrote:

for security.

all you have to do is hit the brakes then, rather than clutch and brake.

common amongst noObs

Doing so makes the car drift outwards, though. It will hold it's line through the corner properly if the clutch isn't used.

smemon

overdriver wrote:

Doing so makes the car drift outwards, though. It will hold it's line through the corner properly if the clutch isn't used.

i suppose it's a fear of changing gears when going into a corner...

doing so will mean you have to take 1 hand off the wheel, therefore you've less control.

by riding the clutch, you can control the car with your 2 hands and don't have to change gears.

obviously not the correct way to do things but i know a couple of learners i've seen who have done this.

oleras

Wishbone Ash wrote:

And what does the OP mean by the thread title - "Unusual Staking"?

I will guess the op hit the K instead of the L.....

Seth Brundle

KTRIC wrote:

Never driven a car myself, always been a biker. Can someone explain why a car driver might think he/she needs to use the clutch whilst cornering ?

I remember marshaling at turn 3 in Mondello during a Libre day. Some young idiot 'driving' an Uno kept taking the (long) turn with his foot on the clutch. Twice we had to push him out of the gravel trap!!!

johncm

this is hard to explain but i know some of the fiats have a thing for the steering that when the clutch is in it adjusts the revs of the car so when you turn the steering it wont cut out. maybe your car has one and its faulty

mloc123

I would imagine its some type of safety feature similar to how an ecu will cut petrol to the engine if you crash. Simple solution....

Learn how to drive.... learn how modern engines work also, carbs are long gone.

overdriver

oleras wrote:

I will guess the op hit the K instead of the L.....

Should've hit it twice though...

oleras

overdriver wrote:

Should've hit it twice though...

Would that be considered "Double L ing" ?:D

maidhc

mloc123 wrote:

I would imagine its some type of safety feature similar to how an ecu will cut petrol to the engine if you crash. Simple solution....

Petrol cars normally have a simple valve that cuts the fuel after getting a sudden jolt. Stalling can trigger it, and it must normally be reset manually... leaving the ECU do this in a catastrophic situation where wires and power may be destroyed would not be a very good engineering decision IMO!

mloc123 wrote:

Learn how to drive.... learn how modern engines work also, carbs are long gone.

Learning how to drive is a worty objective, but it is hardly necessary to undertand the method in which fuel is delivered to the engine.

ArphaRima

The original post didnt make much sense to me. BUT. It wouldn't be cutting out when you are in idle, with the wheel at full lock would it?

If it is, then it could easily be the hydraulic power assisted steering motor causing it.

zilog_jones

smemon wrote:

i suppose it's a fear of changing gears when going into a corner...

doing so will mean you have to take 1 hand off the wheel, therefore you've less control.

by riding the clutch, you can control the car with your 2 hands and don't have to change gears.

obviously not the correct way to do things but i know a couple of learners i've seen who have done this.

Yeah I used to do that until I realised that's why I was stalling so much. I still sometimes stall (only been driving since October) when stopping - I think I'm going on the clutch too early (I usually do it before actually braking). There's probably nothing wrong with the OP's car - well, that's assuming there's nothing wrong with my car either (as pretty much the same thing happens).

But yeah, as others said, it's not a good idea. I'd much rather be in the wrong gear than stall and lose steering and braking power while turning!

tommurphy73

I have an audi a4 petrol which has a similar engine/ fuel system to the petrol passat.

There are quite a few things that can cause the engine to die when the clutch is pressed. As mentioned earlier a vac leak could cause it. Other possibilities are dirty MAF sensor, faulty O2 sensor, faulty coils or leads. The problem which effected my car was the Throttle body which was clogged with carbon deposits that caused it to function improperly and made the idle very erratic.

These faults may need new parts but in my case the maf was OK and only needed cleaning with a spray or two of carburettor cleaner. The Throttle body was cleaned using a toothbrush, some clean cloths and some more carburettor cleaner. After this the car idled perfectly and never stalled again.

The throttle body has to through an adaption procedure after cleaning which can be done by connecting to the VAG diagnostics or just disconnect the battery for a minute or two and reconnect.

Of course it could all be down to bad driving .

Regards
Tom

KeRbDoG

bazz26 wrote:

If I remember correctly there are a number of common problems which may cause VAG cars to suddenly loose power or cut out, a faulty or dirty mass air flow (MAS) sensor, lambda sensor or throttle body position sensor.

I would try not riding the clutch first though to see if this cures the problem.

Bazz is right, 95% chance its a dirty/faulty MAS. A well know problem with the unit they used in those series Passats/Golfs.
Has the same prob on my Passat when I got it. Scary at times as if the engine dies, so does the power steering!