# Rabbit 2.5 engine stalled



## r32_2010 (Sep 26, 2005)

VW Rabbit S 2008 
Manufactured: Feb 2008
5 speed manual
Certified (15,800~ miles).

The car stalled when taking off from a stop this morning.
I had been driving it for about 5 minutes at that point and had taken off from a complete stop at least 2 times before it happened.
I was at a light and took off but even though I was pressing the gas it sputtered and died.
It was rainy and damp.

I’ve had the same problem before during a rainy day.
I guess it has to be the coils, right?

The recall covers up to 2007.5 but I guess mine being Feb 2008 could still have been built with a defective batch of coils.

My GF’s 2003 Jetta acted up during damp rainy days and you could actually see the current arc up in the engine bay. VW replaced the coils.

Can it be something else?


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

check for codes on vag com.

i had it happen to me, but it was stallign due to a VERY VERY lean mixture.


----------



## r32_2010 (Sep 26, 2005)

Will do...Have to find someone with a VAG


----------



## KulturKampf (Nov 30, 2009)

any female would do :laugh:....no but for real there is a good chance that A. your engine isnt getting the air it needs or B. the coils are malfunctioning but i believe that would throw a code could be wrong tho


----------



## eatrach (May 13, 2004)

well my jetta gave me an "engine check light" code, and it wasn't running properly. Will take it to the dealer to see what's up.


----------



## rabtownr (Dec 13, 2008)

No need to take it to the dealer if you can avoid it.... 

I've had very similar issues on my 09 rabbit. Once after very heavy rain, and once for no apparent reason. The first time I never stalled but upon entry into a rotary I down shifted to second and my engine misfired... engine puttered, loss of power, almost stalled.... check engine light came on a few seconds later, followed by the EPC which is aggrevating haha. 

Second time my car had a hard time starting, extremely odd for the age of the car, and when it finely did it was clear it was mis firing. So I shut it off and tried again, only to see the check engine light after a clean start. I took it for a drive and there were no misfires. Checked it with a scan tool a little latter in the day, again it confirmed the misfires cleared the codes and went my way. 

My cars fine though, just a couple hiccups I guess?...

You don't need a vag com specificly to pull codes, if you know anyone with a general OBDII scan tool you can pull codes. Thats what I did, and it just confirmed the mis fire and told me which cylinders.

Even if you dont have access to either vag com or a scan tool, theres no harm in removing the coils yourself, which can be done fairly effortlessy, and reseating them. Thats all it took for my engine to act appropriately again. 

Just FYI... it is my knowledge that if you are unable to clear the codes (due to not having a scan tool/vagcom) you will still see your check engine light even though the problem may be fixed. It takes a few cycles of turning your car on and off to clear itself. Anyone feel free to correct me on this one.


If your engine light hasn't cleared and no one can shed any more light on your issue THEN take it to the dealer.


----------



## r32_2010 (Sep 26, 2005)

rabtownr said:


> No need to take it to the dealer if you can avoid it....
> 
> I've had very similar issues on my 09 rabbit. Once after very heavy rain, and once for no apparent reason. The first time I never stalled but upon entry into a rotary I down shifted to second and my engine misfired... engine puttered, loss of power, almost stalled.... check engine light came on a few seconds later, followed by the EPC which is aggrevating haha.
> 
> ...


I have a regular OBDII scanner so I can try it.

On mine the check engine light never came on.


----------



## rabtownr (Dec 13, 2008)

r32_2010 said:


> I have a regular OBDII scanner so I can try it.
> 
> On mine the check engine light never came on.



oh right, in that case you wont see any codes. I'm not too familiar with the vag com to say if you would be able to get any information about your car stalling without it throwing the CEL. But if the CEL light isn't on then your car has nothing negative to report.

You aren't having any issues with the car currently then? i.e you don't feel power loss, or misfires?


I still suggest pulling the coils and checking them out, because after the heavy rain that I suspected caused my car to act out, when I pulled the coil that came up on my scan tool as misfired, it looked dirty, like it had misfired. Compared to the other properly working coils it looked a mess. I cleaned it up a bit and reseated it and my car was fine. Point being I suspected it got water in it somehow or something, not quite sure, but you can do a visual inspection of the coils to see if something similar occurred with your car.


----------



## dogsanddubs (Jul 6, 2008)

i had the same issue repeatedly in wet/humid weather last year.
had to replace n80 evap purge valve.

similar issue came back less frequent in the fall, and had to switch out coils for cylinder 1,3.


----------

