Intermittent Stalling and Powerloss

[shantybeater]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone out there has had or is having similar problems, since purchasing my car several weeks ago it seems to stall about once a day, i've noticed several things about it:

-It only happens after a short drive 3-5mins (so engine warm)
-It stalls when stationary(if you leave it long enough, once i was at the lights and the revs started going irratic jumped to 1500 revs without me touching the pedal and then stalled)
-It stalls even when i'm going around 25mph, i feel power loss as if i've depressed the accelarator, which seems to act irratic so it looses and gains power. (last time i tried changing down a gear which didnt solve the problem. the car then stalled and the epc light came up until i restarted)
-If you press the accelarator harder whilst it is having power loss it has no effect or has loads of delay.
-It doesnt always stall (after the stall mentioned above i was going along, felt the power loss & the engine management light came on but no stall)
-After it stalls it turns over when trying to restart and sounds unhappy but if you leave the car for a minute and try restarting there is no problem

The weird thing is that the rest of the time the car acts completely fine, without any power loss or anything like that, i can go out for a drive without it doing it at all. I just had the camblet changed & new water pump to go with it but that didnt solve the situation..

[VR6 South]

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a camshaft speed sensor.

[farnster]

i would get the cambelt checked out yor pre tensioners could have gone!

[shantybeater]

even though i got it changed at VW yesterday?

[Dangerous Dave]

sounds like the camshaft speed sensor to me the fact its so intermittant could mean its only a lose connection to it, not an expensive part to change though to rule it out.

[VR6 South]

It may be worth investing in a new set of HT leads as well.

[shantybeater]

cheers for the help guys, lets hope i can get it sorted quickly and cheaply

[Ry`]

It may be worth investing in a new set of HT leads as well.

Yeah, this sounds a sensible idea. Mine sometimes had problems starting up, it cough and made loads of noises, even when I applied the accelerator, the rev counter went all over, but nothing happened

I replaced the HT leads, and I’ve had no problems since.

[shantybeater]

sorted, took it to the garage, the speed sensor was faulty....back to loving it

[mk4 glx 1.6]

sounds like the camshaft speed sensor to me the fact its so intermittant could mean its only a lose connection to it, not an expensive part to change though to rule it out.

Excellent diagnosis by Dave, once again. He really does know his stuff, I for one am very appreciative.

[shantybeater]

cheers for all the responses