08 MK5 Gti - Engine shut off

[Akatsuki]

Hi all,

I was driving this afternoon and the engine suddenly went dead. MFD, speedo and tacho all went off. Power steering and brakes appeared to be dead also. However the radio was still on. It was as if I turned the ignition off.

There was no engine light or any sort of warnings at all.

I pulled over, turned the key on/off a few times but it didn't work and nothing appeared on the MFD. Opened the door, the MFD came up with the door opening picture. Closed the door, turned the car on again and it started.

I drove for another 30 seconds, then the same problem happened again! NRMA tech came out and couldn't find any problem. He checked the fuse, oil, error code (he has a portable scanner thingo), battery....could not find any problem. The car died on him a few times while he was checking as well. Eventually the car decided to stay running and we got home safely with the NRMA tech following us.

NRMA tech said one of his mates had seen similar issue before it was due to faulty unit behind the instrument cluster.

Has anyone experienced this issue before? or has any ideas/suggestions? I will definitely get it checked in a workshop as this is dangerous and major issue, but I would like to get some ideas of what might be the cause.

Notes
* The engine was running fine and smoothly. No struggling or anything like that. It went dead quietly as if I turned the car off. MFD also had no display.
* Engine does struggle a bit from a cold start normally.
* 2 months old battery
* 2 months old PCV
* Car has done 132,000KM. Major service done.
* It's manual so shouldn't be affected by the recall (apparently for DSG only?)

Thank you in advance for your help.

A

[milldinho]

Did he get to check the alternator charge voltage while the car was at idle?

[Akatsuki]

I'm not sure Mill, i saw him used the multimeter though.

[Akatsuki]

Did some battery testing with a multimeter today and noted the results:

Cold engine: 12.47v
Key in On position, radio + headlight on: 12v
Cranking: drop to 10.9v then came back up.
Idling: 14.4v
Hot engine, idling + radio & headlight on:14.07v
Everthing off: 12.67v

Are these numbers normal?

I let the car idling for 15-20mins, then drove around the block a few times and the problem didn't happen again. Very strange....I read online that a faulty fuel pump could also cause the issue. But if the pump is faulty then the engine shouldn't be able to run for that long right?

[sandwg]

Those numbers look fine. Weird issue.

[Akatsuki]

Checked all the fuses (engine bay + driver side) with a multimeter today, all good... not sure if I should be happy, because its getting harder to find out what the issue could be.

After searching google, came across this post from a forum in UK. The symptom was very similar.
Ford Focus cutting out and losing engine power, mileometer going to ----

Booked in for a check up next week at an Auto electrics garage, hopefully they can find something. For the meantime I will keep seaching for more info.

[Akatsuki]

Just an update:

Took the car to workshop today, it died during testing which was good. They were able to trace the fault to main ignition replay under dash. Fitted new one in, finger-cross it will fix the issue!!!!

By the way, does anyone know the location of these relays? "Under dash", does it mean behind the cluster?

[Umai Naa!!]

On the right hand side, above the accelerator pedal, essentially.