Hi,
On my usual 3km trip to work this morning, the engine (2UZ-FE with 142000km) stalled at the last three traffic lights when I came to a stop (foot on brake and car in drive). I put the car in park, turned the key to "off" and then started it again. It seemed to idle a little rough for a second and then was happy. No lights on dash whatsoever (i.e. all normal). Took off and got to next red light, and same thing again.... and then again....
When I got to work, I stopped in the parking lot and it happily idled away smoothly and I could rev it etc - acted like a happy engine. I could not recreate the stall (but I did not drive it around - just revved etc and idled in the parking bay). I tried in park, drive etc - no stalling.
Notes:
-------
- When It drove between the lights, it acted completely normal. Gear changes were fine and engine was fine.
- Voltage, oil pressure and temp were all in their usual range
- I figured it could be the ignition turning off so I fiddled with the key while it was idling in the parking lot and even turned it slightly towards the off position but it did not stall.
- The tank is full as of last week Tuesday and I've probably done 50km since then.
- Throttle body is clean and air filter was replaced 200km ago when it was last serviced
- Checked MAF sensor and it looks visibly clean. I last cleaned it about 1000km ago.
- Key is undamaged and the same one I've used for years. I also tried the spare with the same results
- Although the engine was chipped a few years ago, I removed it soon after.
- I replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter about 3 months ago - both OEM
- I removed and re-inserted all the fuses behind the passenger kick panel, and the ones under the hood. I also removed and re-inserted quite a few of the plugs behind the kick panel (all to no avail).
- When I went for the drive, I had the radio and AC off so it was pretty quite. I noticed a relay behind the dash (located somewhere behind the steering wheel) was switching on and off randomly about every 10-15 seconds. Could be a red herring or a clue...? Maybe that's normal and I just don't normally pay that much attention.
- The stall happens in Drive or Neutral so its not a TC issue
Here is a video I took with my phone of it playing up:
2UZ-FE Stalling - YouTube
You can see that its in neutral. My foot is on the brake and am not touching the accelerator. The engine is doing what the rev gauge shows (i.e. the gauge does not just miss-read). See how it almost stalls, then revs up a bit, then almost stalls again, then revs and then almost stalls so badly that the dash lights up, but then it recovers again. I didn't restart or anything during the video - the engine revs went right down to almost zero but then recovered.
On other occasions, it would not recover and I would need to restart.
Based on this, its definitely isolated to the engine. The way it almost dies and then recovers indicates it cant be a "binary" failure like the immobiliser or something. IMHO , It must be :
1) a sensor or something else that sends the ECU on a spin...
or
2) a fuel supply issue
Any ideas???
On my usual 3km trip to work this morning, the engine (2UZ-FE with 142000km) stalled at the last three traffic lights when I came to a stop (foot on brake and car in drive). I put the car in park, turned the key to "off" and then started it again. It seemed to idle a little rough for a second and then was happy. No lights on dash whatsoever (i.e. all normal). Took off and got to next red light, and same thing again.... and then again....
When I got to work, I stopped in the parking lot and it happily idled away smoothly and I could rev it etc - acted like a happy engine. I could not recreate the stall (but I did not drive it around - just revved etc and idled in the parking bay). I tried in park, drive etc - no stalling.
Notes:
-------
- When It drove between the lights, it acted completely normal. Gear changes were fine and engine was fine.
- Voltage, oil pressure and temp were all in their usual range
- I figured it could be the ignition turning off so I fiddled with the key while it was idling in the parking lot and even turned it slightly towards the off position but it did not stall.
- The tank is full as of last week Tuesday and I've probably done 50km since then.
- Throttle body is clean and air filter was replaced 200km ago when it was last serviced
- Checked MAF sensor and it looks visibly clean. I last cleaned it about 1000km ago.
- Key is undamaged and the same one I've used for years. I also tried the spare with the same results
- Although the engine was chipped a few years ago, I removed it soon after.
- I replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter about 3 months ago - both OEM
- I removed and re-inserted all the fuses behind the passenger kick panel, and the ones under the hood. I also removed and re-inserted quite a few of the plugs behind the kick panel (all to no avail).
- When I went for the drive, I had the radio and AC off so it was pretty quite. I noticed a relay behind the dash (located somewhere behind the steering wheel) was switching on and off randomly about every 10-15 seconds. Could be a red herring or a clue...? Maybe that's normal and I just don't normally pay that much attention.
- The stall happens in Drive or Neutral so its not a TC issue
Here is a video I took with my phone of it playing up:
2UZ-FE Stalling - YouTube
You can see that its in neutral. My foot is on the brake and am not touching the accelerator. The engine is doing what the rev gauge shows (i.e. the gauge does not just miss-read). See how it almost stalls, then revs up a bit, then almost stalls again, then revs and then almost stalls so badly that the dash lights up, but then it recovers again. I didn't restart or anything during the video - the engine revs went right down to almost zero but then recovered.
On other occasions, it would not recover and I would need to restart.
Based on this, its definitely isolated to the engine. The way it almost dies and then recovers indicates it cant be a "binary" failure like the immobiliser or something. IMHO , It must be :
1) a sensor or something else that sends the ECU on a spin...
or
2) a fuel supply issue
Any ideas???