Why does my car stall intermittently?
Cold stalling problems are the most common because the engine needs a richer fuel mixture to maintain idle speed until it warms up. Intermittent cold stalling problems are almost always fuel-related. Or, a defective coolant sensor may be telling the PCM the engine is colder (or warmer) than it really is.
How do you fix stalling?
Think of a stall as a reset and follow the procedure below:
- Apply your handbrake.
- Put your car into neutral and restart the engine.
- Put your foot back on the clutch and put your car into first gear.
- Check your mirrors and pull away again once it is safe to do so.
What do you need to know about intermittent stalling?
And if there are no pending codes, hard codes or history codes in the vehicle’s computer to give you some direction, you may find yourself guessing at a diagnosis. Every engine needs three things to run and idle smoothly without stalling: a correct air/fuel ratio, sufficient idle speed for the idle load, and a good spark.
Can a stalling engine be intermittent driveability?
Intermittent driveability problems of any kind are always a challenge to diagnose. When a customer brings you a vehicle and complains of a stalling problem, you may not have much to go on other than their description of what’s happening and when it happens.
Is there check engine light for intermittent stalling?
Many times, there will be no check engine light and no fault codes to give you a clue as to what might be causing the engine to stall. So the trick to diagnosing an intermittent stalling problem is to catch the vehicle when it’s acting up — and that rarely happens when you have the vehicle in your shop.
When to use a scan tool for intermittent stalling?
When attempting to diagnose an intermittent stalling problem, therefore, it is important to always use a scan tool to first check for any codes that might shed light on the condition, and secondly to look at all the essential sensor inputs to see if they are within range and are supplying accurate information to the PCM.