Car engine turned off randomly?
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 51
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From: Long Beach CA
Car engine turned off randomly?
Has this ever happened to anyone or know why it happened to me? I was driving home from work and I stopped at a red light and my engine turned off but all the electrical stayed on and the check engine light just came on. I turned the key to the off position then turned it on again and it worked normally. This has happened to me two times before about 2 months ago I was getting out of the parking structure of my work at a slight incline and the engine turned off then I turned it on again and it did it like 3 feet away again. I don’t know if being at a slight incline had anything to do with it but all 3 times I was not moving I was at a complete stop. The car is a 2003 coupe with 101,000 miles.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 73,568
Likes: 33
From: Somewhere in Mo
St. Jude Donor '09-'10, '14
Mine did that and I cleaned the ignition and it has been fine ever since. Bill Curlee, I think that's correct, has a write up on how to do it.
But if you do this make sure you have back together correctly or other weird things will happen. Ask me how I know.
Yours sounds like how mine was acting. It was when I would stop at a light, or maybe slow down to make a turn. As soon as I would start to turn it would die. Sometimes it would die when I stopped. But it always started right back up.
But if you do this make sure you have back together correctly or other weird things will happen. Ask me how I know.
Yours sounds like how mine was acting. It was when I would stop at a light, or maybe slow down to make a turn. As soon as I would start to turn it would die. Sometimes it would die when I stopped. But it always started right back up.
Last edited by RetiredSFC 97; Sep 28, 2012 at 09:00 PM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 19,384
Likes: 87
From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
My car did this back in 2004 just before the battery died. It started up the same day and all I had were a bunch of U codes which is typical for a power glitch. It never happened again.
I'd say clear the codes, check the battery and see if you hit a problem again.
I'd say clear the codes, check the battery and see if you hit a problem again.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,064
Likes: 1
Cruise-In 9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09
Mine did that, and no codes would show up.
Finally found out that I had gotten a bad tank of gas somewhere.
I had to get a fuel system flush. It works great now.
Finally found out that I had gotten a bad tank of gas somewhere.
I had to get a fuel system flush. It works great now.
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 36,838
Likes: 438
From: Manassas Park VA
St. Jude Donor '07-'08,-'13-'14, '16-'17
Maybe a bad ground?
Peace
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