Hi all, again.

Car now starts fine every time, first time

The new issue (an old issue that appears to have gotten worse)
When coming to a stop, clutch & brake pedals down, engine sounds a bit odd, like its stalling when clutch is still on and stopping and the same time.
Except the car still moves without the shaking you would get etc.
the car then stalls. (Clutch pedal to the floor, out of gear)
This problem is an on / off problem.

Most likely, although differcult to tell, when the pedals are pressed brake then clutch rather than clutch then brake. (BTW - were talking milliseconds here not hours between brake & clutch)

This problem is only at low speed, when stopping in either 1st or 2nd gear going less than 10 mph

Any ideas?
Cheers in advance

If the engine keeps going when you knock it out of gear before you stop, its probably the clutch failing or the slave cylinder is not releasing the clutch properly.

Have a look at the slave while someone presses the pedal. If its push-rod looks like its about to pop out of the cylinder then almost certainly its the clutch. It good practice to change the slave with the clutch so its not a waste to fit a new one.

Change the clutch slave cylinder and see it it helps. If the problem persists, get a new clutch and release bearing fitted.

Also, check the condition of the air filter and inlet manifold. It may be that the problem is due to an interaction with your brake vacuum servo and the manifold pressure.

Good point

Sucking in too much air can make the engine stall. If its that, knocking it out of gear as you stop should make no difference and it will still stall. If its the clutch, it wont stall.

MikeSalt said:

Also, check the condition of the air filter and inlet manifold. It may be that the problem is due to an interaction with your brake vacuum servo and the manifold pressure.

Click to expand...

oddly enough, the garage said something about the vacuum servo being on its last legs last year

Is this expensive to repace coz i have no money still :bang:

If anyone has been following my previous threads, they'll no that im currently with money issues and i'm fixing the car with nothing other then a set of tools

(A bit like Top Gear did with the toyota pick up truck a while back )

The clutch slave clyinder is less than a year old as i repaced it when i got the car coz the rubber seal had become dry and tore after leaving the car for 4 months untill i could get the car from Derby to London

I also THINK, so not certain - and i have little to no exp for this - but i think the clutch may be going. it still bites quite low down on the pedal but the car is rolling back or struggling getting off the drive.

Our drive is a steap angle - around 2 : 1

Can you do a quick check for me please? With the car turned off, pump the brake pedal several times to dispel any lingering vacuum. Then, applying pressure to the brake pedal, start the engine. If all is well, the pedal should slowly move downward as the required effort decreases. If there is little or no difference, it is either a faulty vacuum servo or insufficient manifold vacuum.

Checked it. All seems fine

It goes down normally when engine turns on.



Just reading though, i haven't yet said that the brake & clutch fiuld jobby is filled to the brim - thanks to quick fit MOT service in Walthamstow.

My thoughts where that this being so full, if the brake was pressed down first, the clutch would be under more pressure to stay down as there is no air in the tub / revoiusor to aid compression in the clyinders (Clutch & brake)

What do you all think?

I think that is a perfectly rational explanation. What the hell were Kwik-Fit doing filling it to the brim?

They probably replaced brake pads but didn't suck the excess fluid out of the reservoir. It shouldn't affect the clutch (or brake) action because fluid goes out when pedal pushed and the same comes back when its released.

It might be an issue if brakes got very hot and fluid expanded with no-where to go.

Put car on the drive and put it in gear with handbrake off. If the clutch is going it might not roll down when you press the pedal but it would have to be seriously bad.

Thanks for your posts

I've done a few more tests. the clutch it's self is good / fair
and dosn't look like it will new to be replaced any time soon.

This problem only appears when BOTH the clutch pedal AND the brake pedal are pressed together:

Clutch first, the engine goes to stall but dosn't 9/10 times
Brake first, the engine goes to stall and Does stall 1/3 times

However, when at low speeds / low revs the engine ALWAYS goes to stall, but if stopping from high speeds / high revs, the engine makes no attempt to stall but revs do still dip for a second or two

Looks like its the vac pipe to the servo or the servo itself is leaking. Allowing air into the manifold after the injectors makes the mixture go weak so engine stalls. If the clutch is dragging with the pedal down it will aggravate the problem.

Another proof but only on a straight empty road -

Pull the servo vac hose off the manifold and plug the hole in the manifold. 100% shut.

Drive the car as normal and stop as normal.
YOU WILL NEED A RIGHT LEG LIKE ARNIE!!!

If it dosent stall you have shown the servo hose or the servo itself is leaking

If it still stalls its not the servo.

Dont forget that Punto clutches stop releasing before they are fully worn out. The spring pressure plate and/or release bearing almost always fail first. This cause to clutch to drag even with the pedal on the floor. If the servo is also letting in air, that can be enough to stop the engine.

Looks like its the vac pipe to the servo or the servo itself is leaking. Allowing air into the manifold after the injectors makes the mixture go weak so engine stalls. If the clutch is dragging with the pedal down it will aggravate the problem.

Another proof but only on a straight empty road -

Pull the servo vac hose off the manifold and plug the hole in the manifold. 100% shut.

Drive the car as normal and stop as normal.

YOU WILL NEED A RIGHT LEG LIKE ARNIE!!!

If it dosent stall you have shown the servo hose or the servo itself is leaking

If it still stalls its not the servo.

PUT THE PIPE BACK AGAIN

If the leak is bad you might be able to hear the air being pulled into the hole. with the engine running listen to the servo area while a friend puts the brake pedal down. If you can hear a continuous hiss that might be a vacuum leak. A momentary noise is normal - if you can hear it over the engine noise.

Dont forget that Punto clutches stop releasing before they are fully worn out. The spring pressure plate and/or release bearing almost always fail first. This cause to clutch to drag even with the pedal on the floor. If the servo is also letting in air, that can be enough to stop the engine.

WhiteSei said:

Looks like its the vac pipe to the servo or the servo itself is leaking. Allowing air into the manifold after the injectors makes the mixture go weak so engine stalls.

Click to expand...

Do you have any pics of this vac pipe?
I have no idea which it is

1997 Mk1 1.1L 55 s

Sorry for the double post FF was playing up.

Its the thick hose that goes to the servo. The servo is the saucepan thing that sits under the brake master cylinder.

Try listening first but you may struggle to hear anything over the engine noise.

i've had a look and a listen, engine actully sounded rough when hot today
Not a large issue though, coolent needs a change

I could not see anything wrong with the servo, vac etc.
Took it to the garage (5 star palce - Fab)

They said that im just nit picking
They actully offered to buy it off me!

Anyways, they said that it runs perfectlly for its age and the problems i told them about (all of the issues big and small - i wasn't sure if anything was related) And they said it's nothing to worry about, the rust looks sorted, a slight issue with the exsaugst (sorry about the spelling )

One of the metal surports has been broken - Quick-Fit to blame here
As a result the cover that goes over the cat and under the floor pan has been damaged Nothing major though

They said that this is the most likely cause of the rattling noise, nothing to worry about untill it gets fixed, its caused all the damage it's going to do without the whole thing falling off :worship:

The stalling is likely to be due to the corroded feul filter and running on empty for the past 2 months, a new filter and some radex should sort it

Thanks for all your help people