S2 engine shuts down randomly?
11-05-2014 | 08:21 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,619
Likes: 3
From: Europe > Romania
S2 engine shuts down randomly?
Writing this on belahf of a buddy having trouble with his 3.0L S2.
According to his telling the engine shuts off randomly, sometimes on the highway, sometimes just idling.
It wont start right after it shuts down, he has to wait about 15 minutes and then the car would start and drive.
Recently he changed his clutch disk and when reinstalling the flywheel sensor he botched it up and the sensor ended up touching the flywheel. This was in the summer, his problems only started to manifest in the last two weeks or so.
Any ideas where to start digging?
According to his telling the engine shuts off randomly, sometimes on the highway, sometimes just idling.
It wont start right after it shuts down, he has to wait about 15 minutes and then the car would start and drive.
Recently he changed his clutch disk and when reinstalling the flywheel sensor he botched it up and the sensor ended up touching the flywheel. This was in the summer, his problems only started to manifest in the last two weeks or so.
Any ideas where to start digging?
11-05-2014 | 07:24 PM
#3
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,103
Likes: 56
How about tach bounce on start up attempts ? Had this problem with the wife's VW Cabriolet.. Replaced ECM, everything ignition related and idle stabilizer. Still did it. After checking everything electrical again and finding everything OK I hooked everything back up and it never did it again. Guess it was a dirty connector somewhere that looked ok but wasn't, and taking it apart a couple of times improved the connection. A drowning man grasps at a straw.
11-05-2014 | 10:16 PM
#5
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 41
Likes: 1
From: Inner Edge, Outer Rim
Second on the ignition module - had similar symptoms when mine was going bad, although all I had to do was wiggle on it for a restart most of the time. Road bumps and vibration would sometimes make it quit. If you replace it, use ONLY a Bosch module, the Hella and Hugo brands do not work for some reason (found this out the hard way - kudos to ECU Doctors for coming up with the cure).
That said, the DME relay can also cause random quits; I carry an extra in the car.
That said, the DME relay can also cause random quits; I carry an extra in the car.
Last edited by wingnut; 11-06-2014 at 12:04 AM.
11-06-2014 | 12:33 AM
#6
Race Car
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,103
Likes: 4
From: Colorado
Check the wiring to the Hall effect sensor on the back of the cam gear housing. Any sort of issue there will stop you dead in your tracks on any of the 16v cars. Those wires are close to the exhaust and so if they are not routed well they will quit when super hot, or corroded or broken inside the connector or the wire itself.