Hi, I’m wondering if anybody knows why my magna stalls. It’s a 2002 TJ Series 2 3.5 litre, It is a little bit over due for a major service/timing belt but that shouldn't make the car stall.

When you start the car it runs for about 3-5 seconds then dies it doesn't cough and splutter it just stops dead, but then you hit the key again and it will run fine.
Sometimes it will do this 2-3 times before it runs, but once it is running it runs fine and it makes no difference if it’s hot or cold it’s just random.
But it has never stalled while driving and it’s now starting to idle rough sometimes

If anybody has any ideas or knows if you can do a self diagnostics test to see if it brings up any errors please let me know.
I’ve spoke to a few mechanics about it but none of them have heard about them doing this and all have given me a different opinions.
And being that the major service is due I want to work out what’s wrong before take it to a mechanic and they spend days trying to work it out and I get a massive bill

Any help would be great THANKS

I had the same problem and was told it was the battery. didnt think it was as the battery seemed ok.
One day the battery gave up so had to get a new one.
Have had no problem stating since the new battery.

could be a couple of things,i would reset the ecu,clean out the fuel filter,check fuel pressure/pump,try adjusting the idle thats what happend to my magna

PJUK - That's one thing I have been told and the battery isn't the best so I know that needs replacing I just don't want to start replacing everything that every person has said it could be. It gets very expensive doing it that way lol

jayy - I have replaced the fuel filter, and reset the ecu as thats the first thing that I thought of, I havent checked the pressure I might have to make something up to do that

Thanks

Hi, I’m wondering if anybody knows why my magna stalls. It’s a 2002 TJ Series 2 3.5 litre, It is a little bit over due for a major service/timing belt but that shouldn't make the car stall.

When you start the car it runs for about 3-5 seconds then dies it doesn't cough and splutter it just stops dead, but then you hit the key again and it will run fine.
Sometimes it will do this 2-3 times before it runs, but once it is running it runs fine and it makes no difference if it’s hot or cold it’s just random.
But it has never stalled while driving and it’s now starting to idle rough sometimes

If anybody has any ideas or knows if you can do a self diagnostics test to see if it brings up any errors please let me know.
I’ve spoke to a few mechanics about it but none of them have heard about them doing this and all have given me a different opinions.
And being that the major service is due I want to work out what’s wrong before take it to a mechanic and they spend days trying to work it out and I get a massive bill

Any help would be great THANKS

I have had this exact same problem in my 2002 TJ SII VR-X.(132,xxx kms)
Battery ended up dead, so I installed a new battery and it hasn't stalled once after starting the car since then.

PJUK - That's one thing I have been told and the battery isn't the best so I know that needs replacing I just don't want to start replacing everything that every person has said it could be. It gets very expensive doing it that way lol

jayy - I have replaced the fuel filter, and reset the ecu as thats the first thing that I thought of, I havent checked the pressure I might have to make something up to do that

Thanks

If you replace the battery since you know it's suspect it's not exactly wasting money but preventative maintenance. Better than getting stranded when it totally fails.
I'm pretty sure there have been discussions about the ECU quitting when the supply voltage gets low but I can't comment from experience. If it runs normal other than it occasionally quits on startup then I very much doubt it's a fuel pressure issue. Probably a good idea to check the throttle body and make sure it's not dirty. Resetting the ECU can upset the idle until it re-learns.

When was the last time you checked the levels in your battery....

Usually its the Battery on its way out

All of the above... I had the same problem when I first got my car and it was in fact the battery.

Cheers Luke

TW2005 - I'm happy to spend the money on a new battery and I have been meaning to get one over the last couple of weeks, I just wasn't sure if that would be the problem. And yes I have checked the throttle body, airflow sensor all the normall comon stuff that causes probs Thanks


Mitsi_Boi - I got the battery checked by a local battery place a about 3 weeks ago and he told me it was no good but then I borrowed the battery load tester from work, checked the levels which where a bit low, and tested it and it seamed to hold up ok droped to 10 volt and held there. I also checked it with my hydrometer or whatever they called and every cell came up dead so i figured my tester had died. Also tested it with my volt meter and when its cranking it droped to 8 volt which is prob a little bit low.


I Think I'll just buy a new battery after pay day and see what happens from there

Thanks heaps for the input

10v means its ****ed...... needs to sit above 12.2 12.3 ish

If the levels were a little low for a little while, the plates are probably cooked and the wont hold charge for very long

Ok cool thanks I thought that would be ok as long as it didn't drop past that, im sure on the tester it was still in the green. I'll check that tomorrow and get a new battery this week

Thanks Again hopefully that will fix it

well actually 10V under load is fine for a battery, it depends on how much load is upon it, usually it should be able to hold half the rated CCA at 10V

Battery.
Just change to a good one.
How old is the one in your car, if after 3 years you are on borrowed time.
The check that you had done that showed 10Volts under load shows that 1 cell has gone out.

I am now on the second battery in my car.
First time I was confused why this was happening as the car started well, the starter motor seemed to be working well. However the engine stalled immediately. New battery just fine.

When it occurred again late last year I just got my mechanic to drop a new battery in at the next service.
Problem solved.

Short term - try turning the climate off and start with you foot off the brake pedal. I found that this stopped the immediate stalling for a while.

Gerry

The third gen seems very picky when it comes to battery voltage just after starting. Hence a big one is recommended, like 550 cca or 430 cca if you can't get a 550 cca one. And if you have another car, like a second gen, the battery might be alright for a while in that. My TS V6 starts fine on a cheap 300 cca battery, holds up for 3 years or more.

From what I can make out, what actually happens is that the ECU monitors the battery voltage and will trigger the relay that shuts down the ignition system if the battery voltage doesn't get above a target voltage (11.2V?) within a certain time after the engine has started. Some have been able to hear the relay triggering in this situation.

If the battery is marginal, the initial start primes the engine so that the second or third attempt doesn't place as much load on the battery and its voltage recovers quickly enough to beat the timeout.

is the problem fixed yet?

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to add to it. I think the TL Magna specifies a 450+ CCA battery. My 2002 TL wagon (See pic to left) was doing the same thing as described, but would not do it every morning. And if I put the battery on charge over night it would do it less often for a time. There was another thread on here discussing the same thing and I changed the battery to a 550cca one from K-Mart Tyre and auto. All fixed. I was really happy as I had I had cleaned the throttle body and was about to book it into the auto electricians to get the thing fixed.

Happened to me two nights ago in my girlfriends car started it and it died 10 seconds later it was in fact the battery only holding surface volts. But if yours is starting I couldn't see how it would be the battery (mind you we had to jump start)