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Car stalled at red light

Atty

Atty

Golden Member
GF just texted me, her '98 4Runner had the check engine and check oil light come on sitting at a red light just now. Car stalled, she turned it off and back on, worked fine.

We just had her belts changed and the valve gasket covers replaced because it was leaking oil from that spot.

She's on her way here now, I'm going to check her oil level first to see if it all leaked out, but I'm doubting that could be it. Thoughts? Hopefully its just a one time thing but we'll see.
 
Um, I probably would have had her pull over somewhere close and turn it off rather than driving it all over everywhere.
 
JulesMaximus said:
Well, the CEL and oil light will come on when the car stalls. That's normal.

The main question is why did it stall?
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That's what I want to know. D:

I have no idea what it could be and I don't think asking her will do me any good. Her text just read, "I was sitting there and it just stalled."

What are some likely culprits for a stalling car? I've never had a car just stall on me like that, so I have no idea.
 
Atty said:
That's what I want to know. D:

I have no idea what it could be and I don't think asking her will do me any good. Her text just read, "I was sitting there and it just stalled."

What are some likely culprits for a stalling car? I've never had a car just stall on me like that, so I have no idea.
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Could be a number of things.

When's the last time you had a tuneup? How many miles are on it? Could even be the battery/charging system. Do you have any aftermarket accessories that draw a lot of current?
 
I had it looked over by a mechanic about three weeks ago and that is when we found the oil leak, we fixed that. I know the timing belt needs changing. We've done regular maintenance on it its entire life.

It's at 157k miles. No aftermarket accessories. I checked the oil, there wasn't even a drop let on the engine oil stick when I pulled it out, and when I put it back in and checked it again, nothing. So I'm going to change the oil on it now, its a few hundred miles short of its 3k change time but with that leak I guess that's why its all gone?
 
Atty said:
I had it looked over by a mechanic about three weeks ago and that is when we found the oil leak, we fixed that. I know the timing belt needs changing. We've done regular maintenance on it its entire life.

It's at 157k miles. No aftermarket accessories. I checked the oil, there wasn't even a drop let on the engine oil stick when I pulled it out, and when I put it back in and checked it again, nothing. So I'm going to change the oil on it now, its a few hundred miles short of its 3k change time but with that leak I guess that's why its all gone?
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Well, low oil shouldn't cause the engine to stall. Still, I'd top it off right away because oil starvation isn't going to do the moving parts in your engine any good.
 
We're going to have it changed soon, she's recouping money after all the work we previously had done. I'd love to do it myself but her engine has the intake manifold from hell and is stuffed into a very cramped space. I don't have the tools nor time to do it; plus I'd feel bad if I did something wrong.
 
I'll try and get underneath it tomorrow and check, didn't notice anything today when changing the oil but I wasn't really looking. The oil level was low and we weren't billed for any oil top offs, I'd assume we would be.
 
Ignition coil packs? Ignition module? Spark plugs fouled? Spark plug wires ok? Fuel injectors? Fuel filter? Air filter?
 
Air filter was dirty, cleaned it out with compressed air. Will replace when I can get to Discount/Advanced/whatever. Spark plugs were fine, nearing end of their life, as are the wires, but there are bigger concerns at the moment financially.

She's driven it to class and back (15 miles each way) and on countless other trips the past two days, no problems yet. Probably a fluke? Still, I'll run down the check list I've got so far and make sure there is nothing important to get taken care of asap.
 
I think it's interesting how people tend to "try to get home" when their car breaks - often times turning a ~$50 repair to a $500 repair.
 
Atty said:
Air filter was dirty, cleaned it out with compressed air. Will replace when I can get to Discount/Advanced/whatever. Spark plugs were fine, nearing end of their life, as are the wires, but there are bigger concerns at the moment financially.

She's driven it to class and back (15 miles each way) and on countless other trips the past two days, no problems yet. Probably a fluke? Still, I'll run down the check list I've got so far and make sure there is nothing important to get taken care of asap.
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That could be your problem right there. Basic tune up should help.
 
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