It seems like a scary situation. Your car shuts off while driving. Hopefully, you are not on a highway, or someone is following a little too closely, because this is something that can happen at any time and often without warning.
Here are several reasons that can cause your car to shut off without any warning. Here is why you might get turned off, action to take when this happens, and reasons on how to fix it.
Reasons Why Your Car Shuts Off While Driving
In newer cars, there are lots of functions and mechanisms and sensors that go together in order for your vehicle to run smoothly. Some parts are more common than others and can be part of the reason for your car shutting off while driving.
If you have a new car, the check engine light might also come on. This also gives you a better idea of what is wrong with your car and helps you work on the reason why your car shuts off while driving.
In older cars, you have to realize it on your own, because their is no way to read the memory of your vehicle.
#1. Faulty Crankshaft Position Sensor.
This is the most common reason for a car to shut off while driving. This mechanism is crucial for your car engine to function properly.
If the crankshaft position sensor is working improperly, it can trigger the check engine light to come on. The crankshaft position sensor is controlled by the engine’s computer, so if the computer sees an issue from the dash, it will turn the check engine light on.
One of the other signs of a faulty crankshaft position sensor is that the tachometer is also not working correctly.
In order for the computer to get information about the engine speed from the crankshaft position sensor and transmit to the tachometer on the drive, the crankshaft position sensor has to be working properly; if not, the tachometer might start working only sporadically or intermittently.
In this case, the crankshaft position sensor is faulty. Third, your fuel economy won’t be what it usually is for your specific make and model of car.
Your gas mileage will be significantly lower than normal, indicating a faulty crankshaft position sensor, which could cause your car to shut off while driving.
Fourth, your engine may not start if you have a faulty crankshaft. The computer will be unable to give the engine any spark, which would cause it to crank, but not start.
Last, during driving, the engine could run very rough or stall out. This is the main issue we are dealing with here, as the faulty crankshaft position sensor can cause the car to shut off while driving.
Essentially, if you have a faulty sensor, it could throw a misfire, or possibly cause the engine to stall.
#2. Faulty Fuel Pump or Fuel System.
The fuel pump serves the purpose of providing the engine with the right amount of fuel to run properly. If the fuel pump is unable to provide the right amount of fuel, the engine will not run, and it will turn off.
For this issue, the downside is there is no workaround for a tank fuel pump that is broken or faulty- you have to have it repaired or replaced.
It would also make sense to check the fuel filter as it may be the root problem instead of the pump. The fuel filter’s purpose is to clean the fuel going into the engine, so if clogged fuel will be hindered going to the engine.
The last thing that could be faulty with the fuel system is the fuel supply line. This is how the gas is supplied to the engine from the fuel tank as it gets there.
If lines are broken, damaged, or clogged, there is no route for the gas to get to the engine, making the car shut off while driving.
A faulty fuel pump, or an obstructed or broken fuel filter to get the right amount of gas to the engine, or in this case not enough, can cause your car to suddenly shut off when driving.
#3. Empty Fuel Tank.
This is something that many people have experienced in their lives at least once.
You are simply driving around and are distracted and don’t keep an eye on your fuel gauge. You lose track of how much fuel you have and your car shuts off while driving!
Another reason could be an inaccurate fuel gauge.
If it’s faulty, you may have thought you had enough fuel to finish your trip, gauge said you did, but you can still run out of gas unexpectedly.
Even if you run out of gas from a human error or a faulty fuel gauge, you should still take your vehicle to a mechanic and find out the real problem and why the vehicle shut off while it was being driven.
#4. Alternator Issues.
The alternator is responsible for constantly providing electricity to your vehicle. So if the vehicle shuts off suddenly, there’s a good chance that the alternator is down.
Once the alternator is broken, it stops providing power to the car, and the essential systems will notify you with a flashing dash or by the engine shutting off completely.
If you pay attention to your car and how it operates, you can usually start to notice an alternator going bad over time.
As the alternator goes bad, it will send an intermittent amount of power to your vehicle, and you should get your vehicle to a mechanic to prevent it from shutting off while driving.
Alternators aren’t expensive and are relatively easy to fix by a reliable mechanic or technician.
#5. Bad ECU.
The ECU in vehicles is akin to the computer which controls the vehicle’s functions and systems, keeping everything running properly and conveniently.
The engine control module controls internal combustion engine actuators to ensure that the engine is operating optimally regarding performance.
If you have an issue with your car’s ECU, you can lose power as a result of this issue. Usually, there’s a sign (indicated by the check engine light on your dash).
Once this light comes on, you should go to a mechanic immediately, since a check engine light does not necessarily mean that you have an ECU problem.
If you decide not to go to a mechanic after the light comes on, you can develop more problems, and ultimately, worse problems.
Also, you cannot attempt to fix an ECU yourself as a means of saving money. You must take it to a certified mechanic to avoid your car turning off while you are driving.
#6. Issues With Your Ignition System.
A car’s ignition system is in charge of providing power to the engine, in order for the engine to work correctly. If your ignition system is faulty, then it could cause your engine to suddenly stop working, and your car will shut off while driving.
To remedy this, the first thing you can do is put your car keys back in the ignition and turn it again – if the engine doesn’t start, this represents ignition failure.
Your problem may possibly fall directly along that line, without requiring an entire ignition system replacement. For example, your ignition relay may be bad, which means the mechanism that operates (not only your ignition system, but also the amount of electricity going through the ignition system) has stopped working.
If you know which one to change, you can perform this repair by yourself. However, if this is not the problem, you will need to take your vehicle to a mechanic to repair the ignition, to ensure that you do not eventually turn off while driving.
What to Do if Your Car Stops Running on the Road
It can happen to anyone. It’s good to know what step to take when and if you find yourself in this situation so that you can be prepared.
Having your car shut off or stall while you are driving is a very scary incident, therefore being better prepared will lead you to a much safer approach when the time comes.
Get your car off to the side of the road
The first thing you need to do when your car shuts of while you are driving is to maneuver to the side of the road. Try not to panic and calmly guide your car to the side or the shoulder.
Because your car will be losing the ability to brake and steer, you need to pull over while slowly losing speed to prevent at the least a few cars from crashing into you and to prevent you from crashing into the car in front of you.
Doing this will allow you to control the situation much safer for everyone involved. If you realize slowing down is a difficult challenge, then try your best to find a safe place to maneuver your car to and then stop using the emergency brake.
This will cause you to make an abrupt halt, but as long as you try doing this away from the road, this is a helpful option to avoid coming to a halt and passing through the middle of the road.
Find Some way to Restart Your Vehicle
At this time, your vehicle should be moved away from the road and the next step is to try and restart it so you can drive to a safe location or get a technician to you.
Once you figure out the reason for the shutdown of the vehicle, then you can control a way to find a fix to restart your car.
If you can drive again, then go to any mechanic. If your vehicle doesn’t restart, then you can call road sides assistance to summon help.
Use your emergency lights to make other vehicles aware.
If your vehicle is off at the side of the road and you cannot get it to restart, then you need to use your emergency lights to inform other vehicle drivers that your vehicle is stationary.
By flipping on your emergency lights, you are alerting other vehicles drivers that you will not be merging back into traffic and your car turned off while on the road.
This allows a safe distance from other (vehicles when figuring out your next steps.
Call your emergency road services number or roadside assistance service.
If a vehicle turns off while driving and is stationary on the road or highway, you need to make that emergency call for assistance if you can’t find a way to get the vehicle to restart.
How to prevent your car turning off while driving
To reduce the likelihood of your vehicle shutting off while driving, you have to regularly maintain your vehicle.
You really need to check important areas like the engine on a regular basis to make sure they are obeying any signals you might see on the dashboard.
You need to have a discussion about getting the things that have to happen, what parts need to be maintained regularly and a general schedule to keep your vehicle operating safely and setup efficiently with your technician.
By regularly maintaining your vehicle, you lower the chances of a vehicle shutting down while driving, which can cause a host of other sorely expensive problems for your vehicle.