On a long journey when the car has been running for a while, the engine keeps cutting out and will not tick over in traffic or at lights.
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Really hoping you'll help us, thanks, Phill.
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[email protected] Posted by Richard Morgan
Moderators: IMOC Moderators, IMOC Committee Members
JMR_AW11 wrote:When you stop the engine after a long run the coolant temperature in the head by the THW coolant sensor will rise by at least 7 degrees.The heat from the centre of the head soaks through and lifts the coolant temperature.
This takes it above the normal max running temperature.
When the car is restarted the ECU thinks the engine is very hot and this affects the fuelling and ignition timing.
The ECU has'over temperature' maps in it and these could be causing the poor starting.
It might be worth looking at the health of the cooling system for your cars.
If the radiator is sludged up, maybe the coolant temperature will be higher than normal and you could be creeping into the over temperature maps in the ECU and causing the stalling symptoms in the original post.The more sludge, the further you may creep into the over temp maps on a long run.
Try flushing and refilling the coolant system.
The flushing requires prior knowledge of the MR2 coolant system and the MR2 mk1 club website should have links to help you with this.Keeping the coolant system healthy is one of the best things you can do for your MR2.
In my case with the poor starting after a long run, I haven't noticed the temp gauge rise at all.But then again I suppose the gauge itself drops to zero when the engine is off
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