wherein lies the problem?

sxt

Ola amigoes,

My car is driving me to tears because i do not know what the problen could be...

It wants to cut out or not start about one time per month...

I could be driving for a month and all of a sudden the car could cut out whilst driving for no apparant reason, or not start i.e i am driving down the road, and voila!, all power is gone, car is free rolling, and will not start...it will alwyas start again after numerous attempts( i usually give it 5-10 minutes between attempts)

It is not a battery problem ( the radio and emergency lights work)
not an alternator problem( according to an lidl tool)
not a lack of petrol( last time it happened tonight ,had over halve tank full petrol)

Does anybody have any ideas as to what is going wrong?

P.s . I had a full service a couple of weeks ago, my car would not start after about 10 attempts tonight/ 40 minutes:(

stevenmu

Does it only happen in the wet? I had a Seat Ibiza that was lethal for cutting out when you'd hit a puddle, and starting after 10 mins or so when it had dried out. Can be sorted by some silicon over the spark plugs.

bryaner

Sounds like a Peugeot to me..

bryaner

And if it is a Pug it will be a little brass temp sender with a green top around the
cylinder head area thats causing your trouble..

VinnyTGM

bryaner wrote: »

Sounds like a Peugeot to me..

Sounds like a woman to me :pac:

Alanstrainor

VinnyTGM wrote: »

Sounds like a woman to me :pac:

Sexism isn't welcome on this forum. Infraction given. This stops here.

thalia_13

stevenmu beat me too it - my ibiza was the same, if it rained she would not start. cut out on a roundabout once after it started raining, that was a bit hairy...

I tried new sparks, new distributer cap and battery. nothing prevented it, but I sprayed loads of wd40 onto the sparks and dis. cap, and that did actually reduce frequency of the incidents.

during dry weather, never had that problem... I was like you when I did have the episodes, was very frustrated by the lack of evident problem.

Hope you get it sorted soon!

sxt

96 passat, has not happened in the wet yet...It has happened ever since i lost my original fuel cap...but i don't see if that could be the problem?...I replaced it with a cap that clicks so as you are sure that it is tyed on properly..

x in the city

sxt wrote: »

Ola amigoes,

My car is driving me to tears because i do not know what the problen could be...

It wants to cut out or not start about one time per month...

I could be driving for a month and all of a sudden the car could cut out whilst driving for no apparant reason, or not start i.e i am driving down the road, and voila!, all power is gone, car is free rolling, and will not start...it will alwyas start again after numerous attempts( i usually give it 5-10 minutes between attempts)

It is not a battery problem ( the radio and emergency lights work)
not an alternator problem( according to an lidl tool)
not a lack of petrol( last time it happened tonight ,had over halve tank full petrol)

Does anybody have any ideas as to what is going wrong?

P.s . I had a full service a couple of weeks ago, my car would not start after about 10 attempts tonight/ 40 minutes:(

whoops.

VinnyTGM

sxt wrote: »

96 passat, has not happened in the wet yet...It has happened ever since i lost my original fuel cap...but i don't see if that could be the problem?...I replaced it with a cap that clicks so as you are sure that it is tyed on properly..

What engine Passat is it, your best bet would be to get the car scanned with Vag-com or an equivalent to help identify the problem, as it could be almost anything.

sxt

1.6 engine, Thanks Vinny, I was hoping it would be a problem that was obvious, i have to bring it for the nct test first in the next few weeks so will see what they say, the car is not worth spending money on at this stage i guess

wmpdd3

had that problem with micra, it was the fuel lines..

FarmerGreen

Some fuel caps have a vent to let air into the tank if there is a vacuum.
Maybe you've fitted the wrong type?

franksm

Do the dasbhoard lights all come on when the engine has stalled or is it completely dead ?

If all lights are off, I would look at the battery and make sure the connections are tight. Ditto the earth cables on the engine and elsewhere.

Pop all the fuses and relays out, and reseat them. One could be loose.

Do you have a lot of keys on your keyring ? This weight can cause damage to the ignition barrel resulting in flaky connections. Try wiggling the key in the barrel when the engine is running to see if it causes any problems

bryaner

FarmerGreen wrote: »

Some fuel caps have a vent to let air into the tank if there is a vacuum.
Maybe you've fitted the wrong type?

Yes try a new cap first, you could be building too much of a vacuum in the tank.

Cheapest option as well..

LookBehindYou

Maybe Coil.
The coil overheats and stops working. It will work again when cool.
Its an easy job to replace.

LK_Dave

sxt wrote: »

96 passat, has not happened in the wet yet...It has happened ever since i lost my original fuel cap...but i don't see if that could be the problem?...I replaced it with a cap that clicks so as you are sure that it is tyed on properly..

why not got to a breakers yard and get a cap from a 96 passat? if you don't know any breakers yards, just tell us which county you are in and I'm sure someone can suggest a breaker.