General Engine dies for 1/2 a second

[vandadapanda]

Hi, at least once a journey, the car will lurch and the engine management light will flash. It seems as if the engine dies for about 1/2 a second and then carries on again.
Today in a 9 mile journey mainly on an A road it did this twice in about 1/2 a mile.

Any suggestions?

 

[koalar]

The ground wire, will put the immobiliser light on, switch the oil light and battery light off, cause a no crank, and various combinations

Can be affected by bumps, slopes, braking hard, most common is random no crank

 

[vandadapanda]

Thanks everyone - I have fired off an email to the garage, I will have to delete the video as I dont want the cops hunting me down using a camera while driving.

 

[koalar]

Looked at the video it tells us quite a lot

Unlikely to be loosing battery power the clock stays on

Its unlikely to be the earth strap, the body computer and ECU stay connected, no immobilizer light

My guess, and it is a guess, and can't think of a way to prove it with the tools we have

Is the crankshaft position sensor

It thinks the engine isn't running, engine check light is normally on without signal from the sensor

The oil and battery stay out because the engine still turning over

It would be pretty easy to confirm,without buying any parts, with a scanner that could data log, RPM would drop to zero as the engine check light came one

When the engine cranks but does not start, there would be no rpm signal


Here's a similar video wink

I did notice that as the engine speed decreases the temperature gauge goes down

Looks like a thermostat is going to need replacing soon

 

[koalar]

As the engine check light come on, does it feel a bit like hitting the brakes ?

 

[vandadapanda]

As the engine check light come on, does it feel a bit like hitting the brakes ?

Morning, yes. it does the car does 'jolt'

 

[koalar]

That confirms that the crank position sensor is one possible cause

Also fits with no errors codes logged

Percentage wise it's like 70/30 in favour

Conformation would be via a scan tool

Android phone and a £5 Bluetooth elm327 would confirm

iPhone and a £10 wireless elm327 would confirm

Just had a look on eBay the cheapest stand alone I could see that reads live data was the launch C319

£14 or best offer free 3 day postage so you'd get it for around £12, never used one


Its one bolt and fairly easy to get to, you do have to reach from underneath, but can be done by driving the drivers side front wheel up a large curb and reaching under the bumper