Engine Cuts Out Whilst Driving

[Danielmorgan00 0]

Hi all,

 

I've finally finished restoring my 1993 205 gti, it's been mot'd and past with no advisories, but now seems to have developed a technical fault!!

 

Occasionally when you go to start it there's no response, but if you simply turn the key back and try again it starts immediately. This is annoying but I can live with it. But, the last few times I've driven it I've been driving along and the car cuts out. Luckily I've been down country roads and can just pull over. Then you have to just flick the key back and then it starts right up and you can carry on driving.

 

I went to take it out yesterday but the battery was completely flat. It's recharged overnight and I took her for a spin. Only a very short drive but didn't cut out. However, when I pulled over to get a drink, when I restarted it the engine started with no worries but I had no radio or electrics. Again I turned it off and restarted and then everything worked fine.

 

Does anyone have any ideas with what's going on with my car?? Could it be a dodgy battery or starter motor or is it something more serious?? Any ideas welcome. Thanks

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Intermittent electrical faults can be a pain to track down. However from your description my first gut instinct would be the ignition switch at fault. At least that's a relatively easy part to swap out to test.

[S@m 156]

My first port of call would be to run the engine, and then get under the bonnet and give any obvious connectors, bits of loom, components etc. a bit of a wiggle to see if you can cause it to cut out; hopefully you can narrow down the cause.

 

It helped me when I had a similar fault years ago on an mi16.

[Danielmorgan00 0]

Hi mate, thanks for the suggestion. I've got a spare ignition barrel so I'll swap them over and see what happens.

[Danielmorgan00 0]

Hi mate, thank you, I'll give it a try tonight and see how I get on.

[oldkiteman 6]

the problems you are having could be caused by the tachy relay.My GTi was suffering from a flat battery in the morning and I heard the fuel pump running after i had switched off.Tapping the relay or banging the dash stopped it.If the contacts in the relay are so bad that they stick together ,then they may also cause a bad connection which would cause the car to break down.

Just a thought.Rob

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Hi there mate,

 

I had an issue similar to this it was the ignition barrel - try wiggling the key gently in the barrel- a worn one will make the ignition lights flash on and off.

 

If you have no joy I'm not a million miles from you (in Ipswich), I'm pretty handy with electrical faults being as its my trade - I've got a mate locally who is pretty good on 205's in general.

 

Good luck

[SkyQuake 70 1 Cars]

I'd second the Tach relay. I had the exact same issue as Kiteman above. You can crack it open without damaging anything. Check to make sure the contactor is free and not sticky, and nothing's burnt out or broken. You can also (and this is important) check that it isn't completely full of water, which mine was!

Edited August 10, 2015 by SkyQuake