Stalls then won't start

[TalonTSIYHL]

AT 92 Talon TSI AWD driving back from the store, engine is at operating temp. While slowing down approaching a red lignt, car stalls and wont start back up. Starter goes, so its not battery and it sound good still, not like teeth are bad. I push the car to the side of the road and look under the hood, checking for vac lines, fuel line, and oil level-nothing out of order. Call AAA and wait, decide to give it another go, ~10 minutes after the stall, and it starts. get about 2 miles away and comming off the highway ramp to turn on a street (slowing down again) and it kills again. Same thing, car cranks but doesnt start. Wait 10 more minutes and it starts again. Luckly i was less than a mile from home. Get home and park, turn off car and try to turn back on and same thing as if it stalled. could a bad connection to a temp sensor cause it not to start/kill? one of my wires going to a sensor plug off the themostat is kind frayed, but is been like that for a while. Fuel pump going bad? Due to it start after a few mintues i want to say it is temp related. Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[96rsSTBRWD]

It might be the fuel injection. my rs has the same problem every few weeks. first time it did it i pushed in the clutch to slow down at a stoplight and it just died. but it stopped if i kept on the gas and heal-toed all the way to work. try some gum-out fuel injection/carb cleaner. White long neck bottle at walmart. I think its like 3 bucks here.

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

would crudded up injectors keep it from starting after killing, idle is not bad when it is started, car has 151K on it and it has a remachined head, new valves, new 4layer HG, Timing belt, about 1k miles ago. could a bad O2 sensor keep it from starting?

 

[boostd_mitsu]

when it is a no-start ckeck for fuel/sprak. kinda sound electrical, cause it acts up when its hot and after letting it cool down it starts right back up. and if the injectors were pluged it would spit and spudder all the time as for the o2, that would not cause a no-start condition.

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

just started it up again with a semi cold engine, started fine, 4-5 times, didnt drive it any bc i didnt want to be stuck some where late at night, electrical/sensor sounds likely, i think one time when it killed on the road i heard a click kinda sound before it died, kinda like a short, but all the dash lights were up and lights worked etc. This is the daily driver but im afraid to take it tomorrow on the highway and all of sudden stall bc i had to slow down. Earlier in the day before the no start situation, after work it did stall in traffic but it started right up . . . i think that was a sign of things to come

 

[KevinRR]

Where did the click come from? I had a problem a while back on my car, it shut off and you can hear it click before the car died. It end up to be the relay next to the ECU.

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

not sure where it came from, just a sign i thought it was electrical, as opposed to the car stalling because the idle just got too low, or the fuel was cut off/ too much fuel (mechanical type stalls)

 

[92_eclipse_GS]

multimeter any and every thing you can get your hands on and go from there.
and maybe just maybe might be a fuse/relay somewhere

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

So I drove the car to operating temperature and shut it off, came back and it didnt start. I tested the fuel pump and it turned on; disconnected the line from the FPS that goes to the fuel pressure regulator, car still didnt start. When turning the key and its cranking, the lights on the dash are oil, e-brake, abs, and battery. I think this sequence of lights must mean something!?

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

So ive replaced the wire, ignition coil, and the coolant temp sensor for the ecu. I warmed it up alittle and checked the resistance on the ISC servo, two of the combinations were in spec ~33 ohms, the other two were 106 ohms and something infinitely high (no continuity). the test is supposed to be done at 68 degrees F. ambient temperature was like 45 but i warmed it up just a little under operating temp. Could this ISC cause a no start problem when hot? Thinking about pulling the ECU too

 

[nyTalonTsi]

So ive replaced the wire, ignition coil, and the coolant temp sensor for the ecu. I warmed it up alittle and checked the resistance on the ISC servo, two of the combinations were in spec ~33 ohms, the other two were 106 ohms and something infinitely high (no continuity). the test is supposed to be done at 68 degrees F. ambient temperature was like 45 but i warmed it up just a little under operating temp. Could this ISC cause a no start problem when hot? Thinking about pulling the ECU too

A bad isc wouldn't cause the no start. But a failed isc over time is known to fry an ecu, especially in 1gs. So pull your ecu look for any leaking caps.

 

[steve]

ECU should have been the first thing to look at. These are classic symptoms of caps leaking with it running, dieing, won't start, and then starting 10-15 mins later.

Anybody in this thread know what I tell people to look for in this case to see if the ECU is running?

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

so i pulled the ECU, looked like the caps were leaking, go new ones from digikey and soldered them in. The board did look a little burnt in one area. Put her back and drove to operating temp. no stall, then came back five min. later and fired right up. car sat for a while bc i was waiting for the new isc. drove it on the highway to work the day the isc was to be delivered. Car hesitated and bogged on the highway, a CEL came up for a few seconds when it was hesitating then went away (didnt stall). After work drove it home and it stalled twice with the 10 min. wait needed. I put in the new ISC today and idled better, but when i was adjusting the BISS and jumping the grounds, the car would not start again since it had gotton up to temp. Im guessing the ECU is fried. Any ideas on a used one? does a replacement one have to be same year and AT. My buddy has a 91 Manual in pieces while mine is a march 92 AT.

 

[steve]

Im guessing the ECU is fried. Any ideas on a used one? does a replacement one have to be same year and AT. My buddy has a 91 Manual in pieces while mine is a march 92 AT.

I'm guessing that your capacitor replacement didn't address the corrosion.

There is AT specific code in the AT ECUs. Not only because of the engine differences but because of the load the automatic places on the engine that a manual trans doesn't. So while a manual ECU will starts the car and you can drive it you'll have issues with the idle. Best to get a MD165531 (Federal AWD) or MD165529 (Federal FWD) ECU or have yours fixed.

When you turn the ignition on do you get a CEL for about five seconds and then go off? Does your boost gauge move to zero and stay there until you start cranking the engine? If the ECU was powering up the answers would be yes.

 

[inthecease]

I would check the coolant temp sensor with a om meter. then I would go to a local autopart store and ask
em for a noid light. its to see if you have injector pulse. and injector pulse is ran from the cam sensor and the ecu. I would probably pull the ecu and check the caps. because my car did something like that.

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

when cranking the cel comes on for the few seconds and then goes off like normal. The boost gauge is at 0, when cranking it moves slightly to vac but still pretty much at 0 so im guessing the ecu is powering up.

Does anyone know of some decent places to get a used ecu?

I also checked the control relay and it passed all the tests.

 

[TalonTSIYHL]

I got a used ECU (thanks Steve) and with the new ISC the car runs like a champ. Idle is high when I first start for the day, around 1500 to 2000 depending upon the ambient temp, but it goes down after a minute.