Sudden Engine Stall and Won’t Fire Up: A Mystery in Progress

I’m currently facing a puzzling issue with my GTR: it suddenly stalls and refuses to start. Here’s a breakdown of my experience and the troubleshooting steps I’ve taken. Just a note—over the past year, I haven’t been driving my GTR as much. I used to take her out a couple of times every two weeks for short, easy drives.

The First Engine Stall – July 2024

It all began when I tried to start the car one day, and it was dead. After replacing the battery, it fired up right away. I’m not sure if I went for a short drive that day or not, but a week later, I drove to the beach, parked for a few hours, and on the way back, everything seemed fine. Then, just a mile from home while taking a tight U-turn, the engine died. I tried starting it multiple times, but it just cranked. After a few minutes, it started again, only to stall as I got closer to home.

Thought it might be a defective battery, so I got a jump start and drove home. As I was backing into the garage, it died again. After another jump start, I let it idle for a minute, and—yup, it died again.

I started thinking it could be the fuel pump, alternator, or maybe the MAP sensor. I took it to the shop, where the tuner checked the logs and everything looked fine. They inspected the spark plugs (HKS) and found some minor damage, so they replaced those and the coils. After a test drive with no stalls, they sent me home to monitor things.

When I got the car back at the end of July, I drove it to work for a week with no issues. But after that, my drives became less frequent.

The Second Engine Stall – September 2024

One morning, I tried to start the car, and it was dead again. At this point, I suspected a defective battery or something draining it. I bought a Ctek charger and charged the battery for 24 hours. The next morning, it started up, so I took a quick 1-mile drive. After parking for 40 minutes, it was dead again. I jump-started it and drove home, remembering that my Ecutek connect was plugged into the OBDII. It had been connected for over two years without issues, but I figured it could be the problem.

Ecutek connect in OBDII

I left the Ecutek unplugged for more than a day, and when I tried starting it again, it fired up immediately. I thought I had finally found the culprit. Ecutek recommends unplugging the device if the car is parked for more than a week since it draws minor power even when off.

It doesn’t make sense to have it not start after a short drive and after a full 24h charge. Yet firing up immediately 2 days later without being plugged to the tender and without the Ecutek in the OBD. So it must be that Ecutek right? This time I was certain I found the issue.

But the relief was short-lived. The next day, after a drive to the gas station, and then to a shop, where I left the car running (wife inside) came out to see the engine died again while I was parked. Everything was still on AC/Radio.. just the engine,dead.

The Third Engine Stall – Mid-September 2024

A Common Pattern

Noticing a pattern, I realized the car seems to stall after medium drives and won’t start again until it cools down for about 10 minutes. The engine temp was always around 70-75°C during stalls, so it’s likely not related to engine oil. My gut says it’s the fuel pumps.

The car is back at the shop, and an expert electrician is set to diagnose it first to rule out any drains. They’ll also check the fuel pumps and tune logs to see if anything’s off. I expect to have the car back by early October after the shop owner/friend tests it for a few days.

Until then, the mystery continues…

IG: Blog page – @majj.garage
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