Stalling engine under heavy braking

[pbottomley]

I think i have one here, anyone got anydeas as to why my beast stalls when i brake heavly, in or out of gear hot or cold?

[mirabelle]

As with most things mechanical, there could be a multitude of reasons, but sudden cutting out generally tends to be electrical, and I suspect the original cause may have been weak engine or gearbox mountings including the gearbox steady cable, which allow the engine & gearbox to move forward under braking. This could cause a temporary electrical break in the following areas: earth strap gearbox to body; low tension lead distributor to coil; or high tension lead distributor to coil. As soon as the engine stalls through lack of spark, the weight of the engine & gearbox fall back to the original positions completing a circuit to earth. Hope this is of use to you. I'd be interested to know the outcome.

[Willie]

Crumbs!! If it stalls instantly as opposed
to spluttering I would imagine the violent
braking is causing a break in the electrical
department. You could check the steady cable
from the gearbox to the cross member which
stops the engine from crashing through the
radiator on heavy braking. If it is too slack
you may cure the symptom by adjusting it properly and while you are under there check
the earthing cable to the chassis. Otherwise
it will be a thorough check of all electrical
connections.
Willie

[Willie]

Further to the above,before you disappear
underneath, a simple check for loss of earth
wouldbe to connect a piece of wire from the
engine/gearbox to a nice clean part of the
chassis and then see if the fault has gone.
if it hasn't then your trouble is not loss
of main earth.
Willie

[pbottomley]

Ta peebs would of cheked today but with the snow and all, thibk i might leave it till tomorrow! thanks for the hints.

[James Goodwill]

This may not be electrical. I have a similar problem - one I have not resolved really. The car will stall when coating or braking at (say) traffic lights. I've always felt it was fuel starvation, and idle speed. When you take your foot off the accelerator the engine revs. drop to almost stalling point, and then recover slightly. The problem is cured when you up the idle speed to 900 rpm+. But I think 900 rpm is a little high for idle speed. I was always told the idle speed was correctly set, when the charging light just faintly glowed. Not much help, I know, but do we have the same problem?

[Willie]

Lo stalling on deceleration is usually an indication of too slow a tickover,(while you
are slowing you are also depressing the clutch whch drags the engine revs lower).OR
a slightly weak mixture. try enriching the
mixture by turning DOWN the mixture control
nut by a flat at a time to see if it cures the problem.( enriching the mixture will
make the tickover slower so you may have to increase the tickover speed too). A check
on the colour of the spark plugs may help
the centre of the plugs should be a light tan
colour, if white the mixture is weak.
Willie

[pbottomley]

sorted twas timming, carbs, roter arm, point etc etc , perhaps tuning the car would of been a better execrise to do before i asked for help ! DOHH

thanks anyways ppl for the time and effort

[Andy]

I get this too, usually when the engine is cold. I thought perhaps it was the petrol in the tube between float chamber and carb needle being forced away from the jet as the car slows. It's not electrical as the stall seems more of a fade than a cut.

[Gareth]

Hello there!

Andy - try putting the choke in earlier. Works for me!!

Also, have a look at the idle setting and mixture control. This might have a bearing.