[suhaas307]

Some of the members here might be aware that I own and drive an 8 year old Santro Xing. We bought the car back in 2004 and it has done a shade over 40,000 kilometers. I acquired it from my mother a year and a half back and I have done 12,000 km in it myself.

Now the problem that I've encountered is a strange one.

The car was given to Advaith Hyundai for a routine service sometime towards the end of July and as soon as I got it back, I noticed something very strange.

While driving, in 3rd gear and accelerating, there is a strange 'choking' feeling that I experienced. After selecting the 3rd cog and accelerating, the gas-pedal 'kicks-back' with considerable force. It's almost as if it prevents me from accelerating further and begins to de-accelerate.

And this does not happen only when I engage 3rd gear. I've noticed that this happens in the 2nd and the 4th gears as well. In fact, one time, while waiting at the traffic signal, I'd engaged neutral and the handbrake. My feet were no where near the pedals, and the car just switched off. These things have happened even though the tank is full of fuel!

This happened a few times during my regular college-home-office commute for the first week after the service.

And that's when things started to get worse.

Over the last week, the car seems to choke all the time and the engine completely switches off while I'm driving! And then it takes a good 5 minutes of cranking to fire it up again.

And now, it happens, at least once, every time, when I'm on the road.

At first, I thought it has something to do with the battery. But I don't think it's that. The lights and the music system works fine.

The feeling is akin to stalling, albeit, while doing speeds like 30. The car just completely dies on me. The brakes lose their servo assist and I lose the power steering as well.

I'm not able to figure out what the problem is. It's quite peculiar. I'm considering fixing another service date soon. But I'd like to get some advice and views on this before I give it for service.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[toiingg]

Could be clogged injectors, or even the fuel pump. Get those checked.

[dhanushs]

I suspect the ignition coil. Also make sure the engine is breathing properly.

[rangarx]

A thorough engine diagnosis would surely help the matters. Genereally breathing problems of the engine, clogged air filter, blocked carb passage, leak in air / fuel circuit, choked injectors, worn out spark plugs.. you name the reason.

A car is a failrly complex system. Please make sure you check the complete system with a good service station and I am sure your santro would be trouble free once the root cause is killed.

[ampere]

If there is a pick-up problem or engine stopping, I think it has to be ignition and firing related issue.
It happened to me once, when in 3rd gear, I was not getting the pick-up which I usual get in Fusion.
When to Metro Ford and immediately they said one of the cylinders was not firing at all.

But I am not sure of the choking thing. That may be due to some clogging.
But not sure what. (Not an expert to comment on that!)

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by ampere

If there is a pick-up problem or engine stopping, I think it has to be ignition and firing related issue.
It happened to me once, when in 3rd gear, I was not getting the pick-up which I usual get in Fusion.
When to Metro Ford and immediately they said one of the cylinders was not firing at all.

But I am not sure of the choking thing. That may be due to some clogging.
But not sure what. (Not an expert to comment on that!)

Thanks Ampere!

It isn't a pick-up issue. the car just dies on me while I'm accelerating, in which ever gear. Sometimes it dies even when in neutral and waiting at the traffic-lights! And it doesn't fire up for a good 5 minutes.

[Samurai]

A 2004 Santro that completed eight years, that itself is an accomplishment, guess that's a typo. Actually my former 2003 Santro completed 8 years last month. I sold it six months back.

Your problem points to either bad fuel or fuel delivery or air filter problem. Otherwise Santro engine is quite robust, as I have seen in 7.5 years of ownership. I even had K&N Universal filter installed in 2006, had no adverse effect as some people predicted.

Hyundai service has the bad habit of handing out unnecessarily big bills to old Santro cars. First get the car diagnosed fully, don't fall for any quick and expensive remedies they suggest. Understand and report the problem here first, then the members will suggest the best options.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A 2004 Santro that completed eight years, that itself is an accomplishment, guess that's a typo. Actually my former 2003 Santro completed 8 years last month. I sold it six months back.

Actually, it's a used car. It's a '03 Santro that we acquired in 2004. it had done 2500 km on the odo and was in showroom condition. No niggles whatsoever, when we'd bought it.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Your problem points to either bad fuel or fuel delivery or air filter problem. Otherwise Santro engine is quite robust, as I have seen in 7.5 years of ownership. I even had K&N Universal filter installed in 2006, had no adverse effect as some people predicted.

It's funny you say that. Because before the service, my car was barely managing to deliver 10-11 km to the litre of fuel. And after the service (2 full-tanks later) I've noticed that the FE has jumped like crazy! I'm getting a great 13-14 km to the litre in the city now! I don't think it's the fuel, we tank up the car regularly at one petrol bunk (the Airport Road BP opposite Manipal Hospital). It's definitely the engine!

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hyundai service has the bad habit of handing out unnecessarily big bills to old Santro cars. First get the car diagnosed fully, don't fall for any quick and expensive remedies they suggest. Understand and report the problem here first, then the members will suggest the best options.

Spot on.

The last 5 service bills have been in excess of 5000. Once, it was actually 9000 but that was because a few things needed replacement. After the service though, the car performs wonderfully for a few months and then it's back to square one!

Will get it diagnosed. Thanks a bunch Samurai!

[dadu]

Bad fuel, dirty injectors lead to such similar choking problems, get petrol from a different pump, if that doesnt improve the situation, try to use System G @1ml/ltr if these home remedies dont work, a good workshop is always recommended.

[anekho]

From your description it sounds just like when people forget to open the little fuel tap on motorbikes - it rides normally with whatever fuel is in the system and then suddenly you can't rev the engine anymore (feels choked) and it sputters to a stop.

Originally Posted by toiingg

Could be clogged injectors, or even the fuel pump. Get those checked.

This. Get the injectors/fuel pump/spark plugs checked!

Good luck Suhaas!

[Tejas Ingle]

It might be a faulty Throttle position sensor (TPS). If it is this problem, some adjustments will solve it. There is also a possibility of something stuck around TPS(since you say that the pedal hits back). If not that, its the clogged fuel lines or air filter.

[suhaas307]

Thank you all for your responses.

Yes, the accelerator kicks back. When I attempt to accelerate, it feels like it's braking instead! Almost as if I'm hitting the brakes! And no, I'm not a noob at driving.

Anyway, the problem seems to have subsided. The past few days it hasn't happened. Very weird.

Many of you'll have mentioned that the injectors might be dirty. This puzzles me, because I would expect something like this to happen a few days before the due service-date. But this 'chocking' has started to happen as soon as the car came back from service!

[suhaas307]

For about 2 weeks, my car was absolutely fine. No problems whatsoever. And suddenly, it all changed last night.

While driving on the way to the petrol bunk @ 8 pm, opposite Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road, my car stopped right in the middle of the road, and thankfully, just 500 odd meters from the petrol bunk, in the midst of slow moving chock-a-block traffic! The experience was harrowing to say the least.

I managed to get the car started after 10 minutes of being stationary on the road, and limped to the petrol bunk in first gear with the hazards on. I had to keep the car on the boil and keep the revs high. if I had let the RPM fall to idle-speeds, it would have switched off again.

At the petrol bunk, we called Advaith Hyundai who said they would take 45 minutes to arrive at the scene. We tried starting the car repeatedly but in vain. After a while, the engine refused to even crank, and that's when I suspected battery failure too! After 30 minutes of waiting, they arrived. And miraculously, it started again! The car limped back home, at which point, I handed the keys to the service personnel and explained the problem in detail.

I'm waiting for some news today. Hopefully, it's a minor issue and should be rectified in a day.

I was pleasantly surprised by Advaith Hyundai's efficiency. They were quick to arrive and were very helpful. For the first time in 7 years, I was impressed.

[ricky_speed]

Hi suhaas307, I can completely relate to your issue with my 03 Santro.

See http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-stalls.html

Did you manage to solve this problem? My car has only returned worse after its 60k km service from Rishabh Hyundai. (I got the service done thinking that it might help).

After spending 10k on it, I am now told that some sensor (P7N7A) costing 4.5k has to be ordered which is not in stock. I am not sure if this will solve the issue so waiting to hear how you solved this!

[Pro-magnon Man]

Hi everyone,

I have been a silent follower of Team BHP for an incredibly long time, reading your posts and enjoying the discussions. However, now I've reached an issue that may require a higher power to intervene, hence the post.

So, I have a Hyundai Santro, almost 6-years old and in terrible shape. It is my wife's car and she'd given it to her mom (terrible driver, hope she doesn't read this). Her mom used to travel from their home to Gurgaon (about 30km) and back (another 30km) every single day of the week.

After her mom and dad moved out of town, the car was handed over to her sister, who killed it yet again, with her devil-may-care driving style and no real servicing or care. Thankfully, she had the car for less than a year or so, but now it is back with us.

That's the history, this is the problem:

The car developed a low rumbling sound that persisted throughout the driving process. The only time the rumbling would go away was when the clutch was pressed. Then, when it was released again, the sound would return. Showed it to a few mechanics and they all suggested that there was something wrong with the engine and not the clutch flywheel (which I was suggesting).

However, lack of time meant that I couldn't leave the car behind for the four days they wanted. Then, my sister-in-law got back into town and took the car out. Four-hours and 45-odd Kms later, the engine-oil light comes on and isn't going off. Mechanic says, something wrong with the crankshaft on the engine. Says they tend to break or chip off and that can cause the rumbling.

Says there's some problem with the clutch too - both have to be opened up - total estimated cost, INR 40,000. Normally, I take my car(s) to Imtiaz behind GK-II market (someone I found thanks to Team-BHPians), but he was out of town and I haven't been able to take the car back to him.

So, here's the status now: Car still makes rumbling noise, which goes away when the clutch is pressed. Engine oil light generally stays on, but goes off at times. Car blows out some, not much, black smoke when starting.

Is there anyone who's faced a similar situation or knows enough about cars and might care to help me out? Will happily answer any questions I can!

Thanks in advance for reading the (painfully long) post and (potentially unnecessary) details. Just wanted to make sure the history and driving styles don't have anything to do with it.

Please Note: All locations, New Delhi