GTI cutting out, oil light flashes

[phulla]

I replaced the ECU relay with a brand spanker from the dealer (< ?10) and unfortunately, it cut out on me, in the middle lane on a busy set of traffic lights and i was in danger of being wacked up the behind by 40mph+ cars travelling along!!! I had my wife and son in the car and apart from being afraid for them, i was getting really pissed at the "If everything was as reliable as a Golf" slogan meaning f#ck all...

I am going to check the coli/transformer tonight, dealer charging ?100+VAT for part. Small price to pay in my situation.

[Overseer]

you missed throttle body from your list.



check the latest performance VW they explain -why- these things happen, the symptoms and how to fix.

PVW listed 3 causes, relay, coil and throttle body. throttle body is the cheapest..

[phulla]

cheers. i'll have a look at pvw.

i have listed throttle body (on my website!) http://ajmerphull.com/vw/vw/html

[Overseer]

cool.. site needs a link to this one tho  

[Vadzster]

Having found this very useful resource I thought I might share my experiences of the problem everyone is experiencing. That is, intermittent cutting out with erratic revs at speed, with a warm engine and the oil light flashing.

The car in question is a Mk3 8v GTI 1997

I had previously (several months prior) had some problems with stalling when coming to a stop; this was correctly diagnosed as the throttle body becoming caked with carbon and appropriate measures were taken to fix this.

The new problem came as a bit of a shock some months later on the motorway and appeared to resolve spontaneously until it started to become more frequent.
On taking it to my VW main dealer it was, to my surprise, given a clean bill of health, a diagnostic check not returning any fault. The problem continued and I turned to this site for help.

I proceeded to replace the fuel pump end ECU power relays with no resolution.

I eventually took my car to Dubsport of Wrightington where the crank sensor came up as a fault on their diagnostic equipment. It was duly replaced and I'm glad to say that I haven't had any problems since, and now my car drives perfectly.

The moral of the story: Don't waste your time (and money) on VW main dealers

PS: An absolute gem of a forum!

[dean58]

my car used to stall and not start up right away, I took it to a garage and they kept fitting new parts and billing me it came to ?1000 in total b4 I got problem right even the garage in question ended up taking it to guilders (VW dealer) and it turned out to be a relay switch, when it got hot it cut out the engine at what ever speed i was doing!! I still might have the receipt somewhere with details on it? But it has started to do the  again but this time it starts back up right away and it only cuts out when I dip the clutch I have replaced 2 worn and damaged breather hoses on top of the block which I thought would solve the problem but it hasn't so its back to the drawing boards!!!
cheers
Dean

[dean58]

my car used to stall and not start up right away, I took it to a garage and they kept fitting new parts and billing me it came to ?1000 in total b4 I got problem right even the garage in question ended up taking it to guilders (VW dealer) and it turned out to be a relay switch, when it got hot it cut out the engine at what ever speed i was doing!! I still might have the receipt somewhere with details on it? But it has started to do the  again but this time it starts back up right away and it only cuts out when I dip the clutch I have replaced 2 worn and damaged breather hoses on top of the block which I thought would solve the problem but it hasn't so its back to the drawing boards!!!
cheers
Dean

[dean58]

Hi, wondered if anyone can help me cos i'm banging my head against a brickwall! ?
I have a 1997 P reg gti 2.0l 8v and the problem i'm having is that the car keeps cutting out on me, it doesnt matter if i'm travelling at speed or not (infact its just happened while I was on the dartford crossing bridge at 5pm! very scarey) When it cuts out the oil light flashes and the rev counter goes straight to zero, now somtimes it will start straight away and somtimes it takes ages to start, when it doesnt start, the engine turns over as normal but the oil light flashes.
Now the first thing I checked was the Oil (duh!) But the oil is ok, when i take the oil filler cap of, there is presure there so I think the oil pump is ok, and I dont think its an oil problem cos if there was a problem surley it would do it all the time, somtimes its weeks before it would cut out and somtimes it does it several times a day! I once went to a party when I met a guy who is a salesman for vw, and he reckons its the hall effect sensor, now I dont know wether this is true, after all he just sells the dam things!

Please can anyone help me?


My Golf GTi 8v P reg cutting out but not starting back up right away, heres what VW dealer put on reciept-

Repaired wiring under bonnet area near control unit for ECU, had car running but stopped and loosing immobliser data info on start, replaced ECU and read coil, car starts ok but cuts out after 10mins, carried out checks as per wiring instruction, replaced supply relay for engine management started car and left running for 3 times 4 hour sessions all ok.
dunno if that helps?

[kicklikeamule]

Newbie here. This is my tale of woe with a VR6 Golf which had the same problem - cutting out when slowing down, changing down approaching junctions etc.
First diagnosis by VW dealer led to the airflow meter being changed. Didn't work. However, it did drive fine with the airflow meter disconnected, so I did that in the meantime - only slight loss of power, but dealer said it was safe. Then went for a second opinion to an independent and had a new clean throttle body fitted and checked for leaks. Didn't work either. Then had the Impulse Sender (or Engine Speed sensor) changed. Nope, no joy there. Then started reading these threads about changing the ECU relay. At ?10, it was worth a go.
At first I was puzzled because the new ECU relay had "109" stamped on it. But there was nothing in the fusebox with the same number on it. I double-checked that it was supposed to slot into position 3, which I find to be vacant in my VR6?
Eh. Imagine my surprise. I've been running a car for 5yrs (first 3yrs problem free) without an ECU relay. Do VR6's work without one, cos mine does.
Anyway, it hasn't stalled yet, but I've only driven 3 miles from the dealer to work. If this doesn't work, I'll try changing the Fuel Pump relay (No.167)

[PhilGTi]

Newbie here as well. I've had the same problem as mentioned before, it started cutting out once in a blue moon, but within the last 2 weeks it's got really bad.

First off the tacho was dropping out and the oil light coming on, so I changed the relay in position no3. Unfortunately it didn't sole the problem, it still cuts out, but it seems the tacho isn't dropping out now, and it can fire back up straight away whilst driving.

Today I had to get towed home as it cut out and I was stranded on a junction and wouldn't re-start. Got home after 30 mins, re-started by stalled idling after 10 seconds. The RAC man said it was likely the coil/igniter, even though this was changed 8 months ago. The has now stood for a few hours, started and idled until warm-ish, then died again on the drive. New coil (GSF - ?39+vat) didn't solve the problem.

I'm pretty familiar with engine management systems, but being intermittent it's hard to diagnose. Carbon in the throttle or airflow meter shouldn't make any difference as this seems to be related to spark, ie it's not present when it stalls and you try and re-start. The car starts with the air-flow meter detached - it stumbles initially, but I'm assuming the ECU then switches over to the throttle position sensor to read the engine load. The car runs and starts with the hall sensor detached on the distributor. This would tell the ECU when to fire each injector, without it it probably fires the injectors in 2 batches, so there's no difference without the Hall sensor. Detach the speed sensor (crank sensor, hidden away under the oil filter) and it does start.

So......who has had these problems and solved by the speed sensor? All other sensors wouldn't make the car stall by pulling the plug, and the air and water temperature may make the car hard to start but wouldn't make it stall. The fuel pump relay failing shouldn't cut the spark.

Finally, where is the diagnostic port on a 1997 P Reg 8v? The Haynes manual doesn't even cover the engine management system!

Thanks
Phil