3.6R stalling - Possible ECU issue ?

[JT_36R]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

Just looking for some information. Anyone with the 3.6R having any stalling/ECU issues? Mine (2011 w/ 238k km) has stalled on me twice over a two week period. It has been abnormally hot here in Toronto this July. The car does have a tune(ECUtek), but that was done years ago.

 

 

The first stall happen was city driving in the evening. The steering wheel felt heavy and when I looked down had some lights on. Rolled into a side street and then put the car in park. I was able to restart the car without issue, but all the lights cleared also. When I got home, I tried to download codes, but my OBDII(Kiwi 3) didn't find any.

 

 

The 2nd time occurred when I was on the highway going 110km/h, had to throw the car in neutral(put by 4-ways on) and tried to restart the car. It restarted again, but when I attempted to put it drive and gently apply throttle, it cut out again. So I threw it back into neutral again and restarted. This time when I applied some throttle, the car did respond. I was able to get home without any issues after that.

 

 

 

I'm going to drop the car off at the mechanics this week. Speaking with some friends they say it might be a harness issue or ECU or both. Just looking for some thoughts or opinions from other owners.

 

 

 

Thanks, JT

[08SpecB_DE]

Sounds like its ignition related or fuel pump cutting out. A cam or crank sensor could be dropping out as well.

[moral hazard]

I very much doubt it's an ECU issue.

 

You could use your OBD2 adapter to check your fuel trims.

 

Id say you might have a vacuum leak, letting the engine draw in un-metered air.

 

While the shop is looking for the cause, get them to change the pcv valve and clean the MAF sensor at the same time for good measure.

[Timothy.B]

moral, probably a good idea. Could log and drive on the highway and see if anything abnormal comes up. You can also log misfires as well. JT, btssm for your phone can log almost everything and connects through bluetooth. If you can get a cable hooked up directly that would be much better. I think the only thing I couldn't get working with it was learned ignition values. I have logviewer on the PC if you wanna upload a log. I'm no expert but I can tell you if something looks out of the norm.

[SchwarzeEwigkt]

No codes? I would expect a vacuum leak that bad to throw some kind of lean code, maybe misfires if it’s ignition related. Stuff like that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SchwarzeEwigkt]

Oh, another thing. Have you had your fuel filter replaced at some point? A clogged filter would starve the engine of fuel and make it stall. While not on my Legacy, I definitely had an issue with intermittent fuel starvation due to partially clogged fuel filter. Usually, the car would run fine. Sometimes after sitting for hours (and I assume the crap in the filter settling somehow) the car would start and then die, but the start again and either be fine or run funny for a minute. One day it stopped running altogether. New filter straightened it right out.

 

Checking your fuel trims as suggested would give you an indication. If it’s way lean — long term trim is very positive, say more than 15% — you’ve got too much air for the fuel. Then you’ve gotta determine if it’s a vacuum leak or fuel delivery. I can explain how to tell them apart by looking at short and long term trim, but the explanation is kind of long. I’ll happily share if you want it, but it’s a lot to type if you don’t care.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk