engine cuts out Caravelle

[jila]

Have a caravelle V6 2.8L 2003 model. On a long trip, say more than 100km on hot days only (40C) the van just cuts out. Ill bring it to a stop, put it in park, leave it for a couple of min and it will start again, go1-2km and the same thing will happen again. I have taken it to VW dealer who replaced the speed sensor. Went ok until hot weather came back again (this time of year, northern australia), same thing is happening again. Drives me insane, am to worried to take the kids on camping trip or any long distances. The Lambda warning light is usually on at this time as well. Short trips around town, no worries. I usually have to wait until sun goes down or temp drops for things to return to normal. Van is definatly not over heating. Has to be some idiot sensor or fuel vacume or something really simple. I now live 2000km from nearist VW garage, desperate. Any ideas anyone? HELP! Jila

[Ali baba]

It's almost certainly something electrical. I would start by replacing / swapping out until you find which of the relays is causing the problem. Start with the ECU relay, probably the third along from the left on the top row, then the fuel pump relay which, if yours is like mine, will be the rightmost one on the bottom row.
Failing these it will be the hall sender, although this might be the "speed sensor" which has already been swapped. This is the second-most expensive repair they could have suggested, the first being the ecu.
Long story short, if it's intermittent it will always be electrical, take it from an electrician !

HTH

[jila]

Hi ali baba, thanks for the advice will try the relay solution today. I didn't even think of relays, was convinced it was the speed sensor again, although I'll never really be sure if it was fixed after they replaced it as this is the first long trip I've done in hot weather. Am not sure where the relays are. If you have a caravelle or transporter would you be able to let me know where they are? Under the front bonet plastic top? Thanks again for the feed back, Jila

[Ali baba]

In front of your knee nearest the door if you are in the driving seat in a right hand drive car, presume it's the opposite for a left hand drive. Should tell you in the manual if you still have it.

[ace finan]

Hi,

I had my sharan cut out recently and it turned out to be a "bad earth"...for the last year it was loosing power when driving or there would be odd noises form motors (wiper etc) I was told it was MAfs, turbos etc. but it was a break in the earth wire grounding.

before checking replacing any electrical sensors it worth making sure the main cables are well earthed first.

[Tchagra]

I had similar problems with my 2.5 Caravelle years back. Cut out when hot but took quite some time to get it going again. Needless to say it always worked when it was in the garage. It turned out to be a hairline crack on the coil that became an issue when it was hot .. It took 8 months to find the problem.

Hope this helps.

Tchagra

[jila]

Thanks for the info, hopefully this may be the problem. Have tried everything else! I might just by a new coil and put it in anyway. Thanks again, Jila.