help vx dies while driving

[Ruflyf]

just died while i was driveing about 10mph engine turns over sound fine but is not trying to start..lack of fuel or spark ? timing belt maybe ??

any ideas on what to check and where ?

[biju]

Both my VX's had similar problems - sometimes the issue was getting the VX to stay at idle after initially starting, and at other times getting them to stay running after coming to a stop.

Turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator. Roughly a $50 part. Not sure if that's the issue you're facing, but you might wanna have a mechanic check it out... After mine were swapped out I've had no issues at all.

-biju.

[Ldub]

Spray a little starting fluid (ether) into the intake while someone turns it over.
If it tries to start, the problem lies in fuel delivery (fp reg./fuel pump/ fuel filter)
Unhook one of the coil packs & put a spark plug into it while grounding it to the block or elsewhere, have someone turn it over to see if there's a fat blue spark jumping the gap...no spark = ignition sys. problem.

Just a couple of quickies that'll get you going in the right direction.

Ldub

[Ruflyf]

ok, will work on that....anyone know if our vx's can be put on a 2-wheel tow dolly for about a 5-10 mile run?

[Ldub]

ok, will work on that....anyone know if our vx's can be put on a 2-wheel tow dolly for about a 5-10 mile run?

Don't know for sure about that...have read before that they shouldn't be towed (4 wheels on the ground), so I'd be wary of dollying 2.
Something to do with TOD as I recall.
However, you could dolly up the fronts & disco. the drive shaft in the rear.

Ldub

[Nazrat]

If it is a low speed (under 40 to 45 mph) tow you are fine putting the rear end on the dolly and unlocking the hubs. Isuzu says that you can tow those transmissions in neutral for 50 miles at up to 50 mph. For you you'd want the transmission in neutral and the hubs unlocked.

Good luck!

-Tad

[Ruflyf]

Ok, got it home. I did try the ether and it does try to start after spraying it in the intake. I had my brother try to listen for the fuel pump while I turned the ignition to on and he could not hear it engaging. Soo, does anyone know if this is normal? Real quiet fuel pump on these maybe? Usually its a sure sign if you cant hear it, but I cant recall hearing it in the past either.

Thats about all I was able to do before getting it towed to the house, and I have to work 24 hours tomorrow, so its research time at work, then I can hit it hard first thing tuesday morning.

I know it was suggested that the fuel regulator might be the cause, but could/would it suddenly kill the engine, so fast as if I'd turned the key off? No sputtering or nothing. Although I have my doubts that the fuel pump would kill it so suddenly also, seems like it would sputter at least a little bit as the pressure was dropped. Any ideas? The good news is they are both easy to check and I have a fuel pressure guage, so I'll start on that tuesday morning.

[etlsport]

i had a problem with my vx where sometimes at speed i would just out of nowhere lose my ability to rev above 1500 rpm.. the problem didnt happen often but i changed out the fuel filter and havent had any trouble since.. dont know if that was it.. but it probably couldnt hurt

[AlaskaVX]

^ I have the same problem. It happens maybe twice a year... cruising at highway speed then bleeeeah the more gas you give it the lower the rpm's want to go then BAM right back to normal again. :confused:

Then I have also experienced the quick shutoff and that has happened around 10mph as well. Maybe these are both problems with the fuel pressure regulator? I don't know.... this is wierd, as it doesn't happen with any kind of.... ruglartivity *my new word*. Everytime I just pulled off to the side in neutral and started it right back up, no codes or anything just right back to normal again. :confused:

I figured it had to be some kind of electronic thing that got wet or frayed from offroading , but now I think I may be more convinced about the fuel regulator.

Just posting up to say your not the only ones

[Ruflyf]

Well just got off work and got to looking more closely at the car. The good news is I think I found the problem, the 40a pcm fuse under the hood was blown. (Cant get a new one til the wife gets back from the store..lol). Was pretty sure I checked all the fuses on-site, but somehow this one got overlooked during the "wth is wrong with my baby" mindset I was in.

Anyway thats obviously the cause, now I find myself wondering what caused it to blow, and am I going to need several onhand. Anyway I guess only time will tell.

[jagusmc]

Last night on way home from work, was merging onto beltway and my 01 Ironman lost power, was like somoene knocked it into neutral reeved up but didn't have any power behind it. I pulled off, and the rpms were reeving below 2, tried puting it in drive again and no power/movement, just reeving. Turned it off then tried to start it again and nothing, it sounded like it wanted to start-up/turn over but wouldn't. Everything else worked fine. VDOT guy drove by, looked under hood and said nothing was moving when I tried starting and he figured it was maybe the starter, I'm freaking wondering if its the transmission cause warranty just ran out. I've already had to get a new engine after having the VX for 6 months but that was covered under warranty.

Any ideas? I'm waiting to hear from Cherner Isuzu Annandale, VA about diagnostic results at $150 ugh. :confused:

[etlsport]

that sounds like a problem ive read a lot about on the forum, and had happen to me once, except when i turned mine off and turned it back on, it started right up and had no trouble after that, seemed to be the case with others that ive read about, did you make sure you were fully in park when you tried to start the vx again? if you were still in drive when you tried to start it, that would cause the engine to do absolutely nothing when you tried to turn it over.. always start looking at the small things first, fuses, being in the right gear, battery etc

[jagusmc]

lol yeah I did check all the small stuff first, even put it in 4x4 just in case. I was desperate, it was hot as hell yesterday on side of road but thankfully only took 30 minutes for flat bed tow to show up. I printed out alot of suggestions others had for their problems to give to dealership, called them up and asked them what they checked in the diagnostics and rattled off a couple things and they werelikes YES we check all those things during a diagnostics, like I was insulting them for asking lol, oh well if I'm paying then I'm gonna not just ask but request it be done. Just very frustrating this is my third time in a rental due to VX problems, as much as I love it, if this turns out to be another major issue within a 16 month time span, it's gonnabe time for a trade in to something alot more reliable than this particular VX.

[jagusmc]

they are saying it looks to be the starter and possibly flywheel. Saying $820 approx to fix the starter cause they have to drop the trans to get to it and if the flywheel is damaged which they dont know yet until they do a tear down, total cost alil over $2000. $820 seesm really high for a new starter, and $2000 seems outrageous. Anyone have an idea to going rates so I can tell if I'm getting the shaft?

[uncle_asa]

just died while i was driveing about 10mph engine turns over sound fine but is not trying to start..lack of fuel or spark ? timing belt maybe ??

any ideas on what to check and where ?
Try to do the following (in either case it would be good for your VX):
- buy carb cleaner spray
- remove intake air hose from throttle valve side
- spray a lot with carb cleaner untill throttle valve will cleanup from carbon and will look like a "brand new", you might want to move valve with throttle lever to clean it better, especially close to the axis.
- unscrew idle control valve, remove rubber gasket (it is reusable, so keep it) from it and spray a lot on the valve (do not spray close to the painted parts, it might be damaged by the spray) then clean up it with cloth.
- spray a lot into the hole where idle control valve is installed
- assemble everything back and start engine (do not worry if RPMs at idle will raise up to 3000 for the short period: it is because of carb cleaner burning in the engine)

Hope it will help.

[jagusmc]

I had a second machanic look at it and he pulled out the starter and said it's fine, said it's the crankshaft, which is under warranty I beleive cause this is the 2nd engine in it and thats got a 5 year, 100,000 mile warranty on it.

[climbcovey]

I am having a similar prolem to this, see major problem thread. What was the final consensus? did this problem recurr after fuel filter, and regulator changed?

[disasterlady]

mine did that and it turned out to be just that I didn't tighten the gas cap and the so the vacuum wasn't there for the fuel... you could try it?

[Knigh7s]

Ditto what disasterlady said. That happened to the 1.8t jetta after boosting it to hard. about 1/4 mile the car died, checked the cas cap in it was only half screwed in. all i did was tighten it and cranked it a couple times and it started right up. i recal having to do that once with the vx to, minus the boosting O_o

[Ruflyf]

The final consensus for me was a short in the wiring harness behind the drivers side headlight area. I started looking for the short, but couldnt find anything, apparently moving it around made it to where it no longer is touching anything because it hasnt done it since.

[AREA 51]

You asked for other suggestions.........Egr stuck open? Possible trans mode switch?

[Anita]

I had a problem with my engine reving high at start, just dying or starting normally. Intermittent and driving me crazy. Took it in and had the Idle air sensor replaced. Problem solved.