Brava engine stalls on braking

This problem has recently shown up on my 1.8 Brava (year 2000).

When braking, particularly on a slight downhill slope, the engine will cut out.

This doesn`t happen all the time, just now and then.

Does anybody have any ideas on what might be going on?

Thanks.

Does it sound rough or shaky before it stalls?

Well it hasn`t been running as "sweet" as normal but nothing that would overly concern me.

check all 4 plugs, comparing them to identify an ignition problem on 1 cylinder (suggesting a fault coil). if all 4 look the same then try cleaning inside the throttlebody.

Thanks for the advice Jugs

I`m working away at the moment but I`ll try your suggestion when I get back and let you know the outcome.

Just thinking out loud so at the risk of sounding like a noob :P

The clutch and brakes share the same reservoir is the fluid level ok? perhaps the clutch isn’t allways going all the way down and its just gripping therefore stalling your car.

Although i guess you mean gentle breaking without touching the clutch yet :P

Sorry for the delay, I`ve been working away.

Anyhow, I changed all the plugs though they seemed in pretty good condition.

Cleaned out the throttle body,

A good squirt of redex in the fuel tank then went for a blast.

The problem hasn`t recurred yet though as I said it is very intermittent.

The engine seems to be running a bit better than before. I assume that if there was a fuel or ignition fault then it will take a little while for everything to reset.

This car is used for a lot of fairly short journeys, probably 60 journeys of eight miles or less per week.

Should I be paying particular attention to any area of servicing?

Thanks very much for your help

for short journey of that frequency i would be changing the engine oil more regularly

short journeys double the servicing requirements, so i would half the recommended mileage for everything on the service schedule.

Sorry fellas, problem is back again !

Any further suggestions ?

try crank sensor

could it be something to do with the rear earth for fuel pump and lights as it's happening when breaking so brake lights may be earthing thou fuel pump instead of earth stopping or slowing it

My lack of knowledge on the Fiats is going to come into play here...

Ford's Renault's Peugeot's etc. Suffer a similar problem. It results from a dirty/worn idle control valve and is usually apparent when approaching roundabouts or junctions. As you press down on the clutch and the revs drop the engine stalls. This does not happen every time though.

It might be what Jug was pointing to when he said clean the Throttlebody. So apologies if that is the case.

yes, the same issue occurs on many petrol engines.

the same thing also happens if clutch switch are giving problems or if the engine ecu is not getting proper road speed signal

but i don't think old brava will have either of those the engine ecu not that complex