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

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

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

johnno said:

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

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

johnno said:

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

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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

johnno said:

Sorry fellas, problem is back again !

Any further suggestions ?

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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.

bridges said:

It might be what Jug was pointing to when he said clean the Throttlebody.

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yes, the same issue occurs on many petrol engines.

jug said:

yes, the same issue occurs on many petrol engines.

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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

Thanks again everyone.

The story so far .....

I had a diagnosis done which didn`t show any problems however an injector resistance check gave 1 perfect, 2 at the low end of spec and 1 very low resistance.

I got four replacements from Ebay ( £160 ), luckily all four checked out fine and I got them fitted for £60 at the local garage.

So far no problems ( touch wood ). The engine definitely runs better at very low speed so I`m hoping this is now fixed.

Another thing that came up is a hairline crack on the ignition coil so I`ll get that changed as soon as I get a few spare quid!

Once again my thanks to all. If you have any comments on what I`ve done so far or anything else that I should do then please let me know.