This morning I started the car as usual, rpm rose to 1500rpm and stayed there during idle, no throttle with air con on. I didn't think much of it and drove off. 100m down the road is the first set of stop lights. Idle was still around 1500rpm while I was stationary there.

After lights turn green I proceed another 150m or so and stop to make a U-turn. Just as I slow to a complete halt, rpms fall to zero and engine dies. I restart it first try, and give it a bit of gas, 2000-3000rpm. I make the U turn and proceed to the nearest carpark and stop, where the car behaves as if nothing had happened. Strange.

Temps around 25degC all night, and I had driven the car the previous day. My PSI3 readings for AF and fuel etc were all fine, within the normal range and stable, so I guess that rules out the MAF sensor. No fault codes registered either. I drove home from work this evening with nil unusual events.

So what do we think? Idle Stepper Motor seizing momentarily?
MY01 bugeye JDM STI type RA, 60000km.
Cheers.

I would try a MAF sensor, as always seems to be favorite on these models, the only other quirky one I've seen was the exhaust gas temp sensor, which actually cut an engine dead, but would nt restart for several minutes after.

Thanks. I did think MAF first, but the PSI3 was reading good values all along. Air flow with aircon off approx 3.6g/sec, with aircon on approx 4.8g/sec. Steady readings, not erratic.

Any other opinions?
Cheers.

See if it does it again. My MY00 did this once, about two years ago, but never did it again. I checked on Delta Dash and it had stored a faulty MAF in the fault code memory, which I found later on was due to the APS induction kit. Although the MAF was not faulty it just stored it in there. The ECU must have stalled the engine due to this, then on restart found that the MAF was OK and ran the car normally. The car has been running fine ever since. Lots of people with the APS induction kit have found that periodicaly the ECU stores a fault code in the memory for the MAF sensor. I suppose it could do this with any induction kit.

Just observe and see if it does again. If not, it's probably nothing to worry about.

Cheers,

George.

RT

I'm not sure if you guys in the AsiaPac region have had the problems experienced over here in the UK, but the symptons described are very similar to an exhaust gas temparature (EGT) sensor failure.

My MY01 had an EGT failure about 6 months ago. The first symptons were exactly as you described - a sudden stalling for no apparant reason. I was able to restart the car and everything was fine. A few weeks later it happened again, so I took it to my dealer, who checked the ECU codes and found a couple of dodgy readings for the EGT sensor. These were cleared and everything was fine for month or so.

Eventually, the EGT sensor failed and I couldn't start the car. I managed to creep home, but I was stopping every few 100 yards - as soon as the exhaust temps crept up to something approaching normal, the car would stall.

My advise would be to get your dealer to check for any error codes. If there is anything relating to EGT errors, then I would swap it out. If not, keep an eye on things and you might be OK.

Cheers
Chris

Thanks for the tip Chris. I will keep it in mind. Strange thing was that I did do a read of the OBD2 codes via the PSI3. No codes were found.

Do we know if the dealer's machine is able to read more codes than the PSI3? I was under the impression that the PSI3 unit could read everything.

Cheers.

It should be the same.

Has the problem evolved again?

Cheers,

George.

So far so good, but its only been 3 days...
The 1500rpm idle has not recurred either.