Technical Random (flickering) Check engine light

[ZaphodB]

Hi folks, had a weird one today (and a few days ago)

Out of the blue the check engine light will flicker and 'check engine' will also randomly flicker on......

It was (is) hot today 28 degrees , and I seem to recall the other day it happened it was hot.....

Today I was waiting in traffic when it first started, (it was only a short drive to the post delivery depot), appeared to clear as traffic got moving again, no loss of performance to speak about.

Then 1/2 a mile later I'm stuck at a red light for30-45 seconds or so behind a car, and it came up again , just as the lights were changing !! , he moved off and the engine stopped just as I was about to clutch and engage 1st !!!...

Restarted ok, and I drove a further 1/2 mile to my destination without a problem....

and it was AOK as I went back to work (about 4 miles)

A bit puzzling .... I was thinking it's extreme heat and sitting there idling , where something just goes over a temperature threshold....


I read somewhere if it's flickering it's ignition related/coil pack/spark plug ? or maybe it's a crank sensor ?

Nothing shows up on MultiECU as a stored fault, which is frustrating....

Any pointers?

 

[bugsymike]

Hi folks, had a weird one today (and a few days ago)

Out of the blue the check engine light will flicker and 'check engine' will also randomly flicker on......

It was (is) hot today 28 degrees , and I seem to recall the other day it happened it was hot.....

Today I was waiting in traffic when it first started, (it was only a short drive to the post delivery depot), appeared to clear as traffic got moving again, no loss of performance to speak about.

Then 1/2 a mile later I'm stuck at a red light for30-45 seconds or so behind a car, and it came up again , just as the lights were changing !! , he moved off and the engine stopped just as I was about to clutch and engage 1st !!!...

Restarted ok, and I drove a further 1/2 mile to my destination without a problem....

and it was AOK as I went back to work (about 4 miles)

A bit puzzling .... I was thinking it's extreme heat and sitting there idling , where something just goes over a temperature threshold....


I read somewhere if it's flickering it's ignition related/coil pack/spark plug ? or maybe it's a crank sensor ?

Nothing shows up on MultiECU as a stored fault, which is frustrating....

Any pointers?

Nothing coming up as "intermittent" on your diagnostics?
For it to die, as you suspect certainly worth checking ignition side,.
Do you think next time you can see if rev counter stops instantly suggesting crank sensor, especially as heat related.
Other than that, a dry connection?
Always annoying when issue not happening when you want to test it.