Sunday, 22 February 2015

Why does your car start but then turn off after about 100meters of driving?

Why does your car start but then turn off after about 100meters of driving?
Wow! Lots of things.
Does it stall cold, or hot? Or, both?
It is it an older, carbureted car, or is it EFI with a control computer?

If it has a carb, and stalls cold; I'd say the choke is set too far open. Or, the float level too low (lean.) My car would stall in a few miles, it was the fuel filter ($2 at a parts store). Or, the heat riser/ESE valve or AutoThermac stuck open.

If you have a newer car, it could be the air flow sensor or a leak from it to manifolds. Or, the fuel pump could be intermittent. Listen for a "buzz" from the back of the car. If you don't hear it, it is intermittent. Or, the computer could be bad.

Right now, my car "stumbles" if driven slowly when not completely warmed-up. Sometimes it dies. This is due to a sudden loss of vacuum from some thermally-controlled valve that operates at part-throttle--ported vacuum. Warm-up problems are often traced to the component that should be operating at the engine temperature that it fails at. (In my case, it's about 165 degrees.) In your case, suspect something that should be operating at a very low temperature, IF it happens when started, cold.

Some older cars get set in their ways. I have a 1980 with 88,000 on it, a lot for an older car. Most newer ones will make 200K or so easily. You didn't say your car's age or mileage--these Are a factor. I idle mine about a minute before I go anywhere. If it's off choke, it won't hurt anything, and engines are designed to run at full warm-up temperature, anyway. Less fuel from choke as it opens, to wash oil past rings; pistons and rings expanding to optimise compression, and again letting less raw gas to into cylinders to wash oil down.

You need a full diagnostic to be sure.

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