Trouble Restarting Engine After Stalling?

Mackass

Mackass

Mackass

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West London
Okay, usually if I stall the car, I'd keep the clutch down so the engine and wheels are disconnected, and I would switch the engine off, and restart the engine, no problems.

However, sometimes when I stall, follow the same procedure and restart the engine, the engine won't turn over i.e. it coughs but won't actually start. At which point I start to panick - as I would be holding up traffic, and I would instinctively put the car into neutral before restarting again and it usually works - it fails sometimes when I put it in neutral too. This is only when I stall, starting the engine normally has no problems.

So my question is, when I stall, can I restart the engine in any gear, providing that the clutch is depressed? If so, howcomes the engine doesn't start sometimes after I stall?

My car is a VW Golf 1.6 SE Mk4 if that helps.
 
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Mackass said:
So my question is, when I stall, can I restart the engine in any gear, providing that the clutch is depressed? If so, howcomes the engine doesn't start sometimes after I stall?

My car is a VW Golf 1.6 SE Mk4 if that helps.
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AS long as the clutch is in, gear doesnt matter one iota.

It could well be an engine management problem in the form of a failed sensor somewhere. Exactly how is it stalling? What kind of situations?

EDIT: Just re-read and I possibly misunderstood. Its not stalling itself, you are just driving it badly? :p
 
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DRZ said:
AS long as the clutch is in, gear doesnt matter one iota.

It could well be an engine management problem in the form of a failed sensor somewhere. Exactly how is it stalling? What kind of situations?

EDIT: Just re-read and I possibly misunderstood. Its not stalling itself, you are just driving it badly? :p
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When I meant stalling, I meant as in releasing the clutch too fast or just rusty clutch control.

Sorry if I was unclear.
 
Could be a variety of different things, has the car been serviced according to the proper schedule, it could be one of those problems that occurs because of a dirty air filter or the like. Otherwise it could be a couple of things, it could be the crank sensor as they sometimes act strangely when they get hot, it could be the ignition module, it could be a sticking idle stepper motor or it could be a faulty coolant temperature sensor.

As you can tell it can be a pain to track a problem like this down as there are loads of things that can cause it, if you’re feeling brave you could try changing the crank and coolant temperature sensors yourself as they shouldn’t be too expensive (then again it is a VW) or you could just ignore the problem and try not to stall the car, if however it is a sensor that’s going you might find that the problem gets worse and you won’t be able to start your car at all, but until that point just consider it a learning aid.
 
CypherPunk said:
Could be a variety of different things, has the car been serviced according to the proper schedule, it could be one of those problems that occurs because of a dirty air filter or the like. Otherwise it could be a couple of things, it could be the crank sensor as they sometimes act strangely when they get hot, it could be the ignition module, it could be a sticking idle stepper motor or it could be a faulty coolant temperature sensor.

As you can tell it can be a pain to track a problem like this down as there are loads of things that can cause it, if you’re feeling brave you could try changing the crank and coolant temperature sensors yourself as they shouldn’t be too expensive (then again it is a VW) or you could just ignore the problem and try not to stall the car, if however it is a sensor that’s going you might find that the problem gets worse and you won’t be able to start your car at all, but until that point just consider it a learning aid.
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Cheers for that mate.

The cars been serviced every year on the dot, every six months for the first couple of years, and recently a couple of months ago. It could be either one of those I guess, but I lack the skills to perform such a thing like changing something, I'm actually scared to be honest. I guess I've just got to improve my clutch control then, I very rarely stall it anyways, but when I do, I'm just worried that something's not quite right. I'll keep an eye on it, and I'll see if my normal engine starts are effected in any ways.

Thanks again.
 
Mackass said:
When I meant stalling, I meant as in releasing the clutch too fast or just rusty clutch control.

Sorry if I was unclear.
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Then its bad driving then :p

Go find yourself a private road or somewhere and practise take offs. Don t be scared to give it some accelerator while releasing the clutch. and take it out slowly :)

You will get the hang of it soon enough :)
 
Zip said:
Then its bad driving then :p

Go find yourself a private road or somewhere and practise take offs. Don t be scared to give it some accelerator while releasing the clutch. and take it out slowly :)

You will get the hang of it soon enough :)
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Rofl. :cool:

Nah mate, stalling isn't really the problem for me, as I've pretty much mastered my clutch. I only stall perhaps once per week, and that's usually when in heavy traffic and when I'm using only the clutch to move me along - sometimes I release it past the catch point a bit quick you see. But other than that, normal take offs are no problem, just sometimes a lapse in concentration.

Not stalling it I can manage, I'm just worried as I think something may be broken, as it won't restart sometimes when it should do.
 
Something that help with starting my car is.

You turn off the Air Con/fan and the lights and the radio.

Dont know why but if they are on it will have trouble starting :\

I think we need a new battery :p
 
You could try a simple test, next time you have been driving for more than 20 minutes and you reach your destination let the engine fall back to idle and turn the engine off, and then reasonably quickly turn it back on again. If it starts fine then I wouldn’t worry it’s probably just stalling that’s causing your engine trouble. If however it doesn’t start then you could have a problem, however because you can repeat the problem then you’re halfway to fixing it and a decent mechanic should be able to figure out if it’s fuel, air or lack of a spark that’s causing your problem.
 
Zip said:
Something that help with starting my car is.

You turn off the Air Con/fan and the lights and the radio.

Dont know why but if they are on it will have trouble starting :\

I think we need a new battery :p
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Battery is pretty irelevant when the engine is running, the alternator is not keeping up with your electricity demands. Usual when an engine is idling the altenator is producing just the minimal amount of juice to keep AC and leccy windows under control. On cold days mine and i'm sure most have problems though, as everything works far less efficiently.
 
LeperousDust said:
Battery is pretty irelevant when the engine is running, the alternator is not keeping up with your electricity demands. Usual when an engine is idling the altenator is producing just the minimal amount of juice to keep AC and leccy windows under control. On cold days mine and i'm sure most have problems though, as everything works far less efficiently.
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It mainly happens at start ups.
Its not as bad after driving it but it still struggles.

Anything else that could be causing it? :confused:
 
CypherPunk said:
You could try a simple test, next time you have been driving for more than 20 minutes and you reach your destination let the engine fall back to idle and turn the engine off, and then reasonably quickly turn it back on again. If it starts fine then I wouldn’t worry it’s probably just stalling that’s causing your engine trouble. If however it doesn’t start then you could have a problem, however because you can repeat the problem then you’re halfway to fixing it and a decent mechanic should be able to figure out if it’s fuel, air or lack of a spark that’s causing your problem.
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I'm going to try that mate, I'll let you know what happens.
 
Simon said:
Sounds normal to be honest, bit of excess fuel.

What doesnt sound normal is stalling once per week. :confused:
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What causes the excess fuel if you don't mind me asking? Also, how does that prevent me from restarting the engine straight away, as I've managed to do this before, but now now. Could I get this fixed at a garage?

As for the stalling, I'm a new driver, and have only been driving for a few weeks, hence the occasional stall.
 
Mackass said:
What causes the excess fuel if you don't mind me asking? Also, how does that prevent me from restarting the engine straight away, as I've managed to do this before, but now now.
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The engine revs go up so extra fuel is added by the engine management ready for the higher engine speed and hence more fuel requirements, however your clutch control suddenly stalls the engine and this extra fuel doesnt get burnt.

When you come to start the engine again this extra fuel make it difficult for the mixture to ignite. Its taking a while to start as when your cranking the engine over the air is 'cleaning' the extra fuel out and then it can start.

Try opening the throttle a little when you start it to let more air in.
 
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