There’s nothing worse than having your car’s engine stall while you’re driving.
If this happens, you’ll need to get off the road as quickly as possible before the wheels come to a complete stop.
Don’t confuse this situation with one where you have a lack of power in your vehicle. This is due to your alternator or battery failing to provide the appropriate amount of needed energy.
An engine that suddenly stalls will cause you to lose control of your vehicle to some extent, especially if you’re driving fast. You also won’t hear it anymore. This can happen with both old and new cars.
There are all sorts of reasons why a car engine would suddenly stop while you’re driving. To determine what your specific cause was, here are six of the most likely causes that you can examine and see if they match your vehicle’s current situation.
1) Engine Overheating
The most common reason an engine stops is that it’s overheating. Since the internal combustion chamber burns air and fuel to create thermal energy, it then becomes mechanical energy that operates the vehicle’s parts and components.
It also allows the alternator to convert this energy into electrical energy for the vehicle’s electrical components. However, if there isn’t enough coolant in the engine to keep temperatures within a normal range, the pistons can actually start to melt. This will cause the engine to stop abruptly.
2) Low Engine Oil
Since oil is what keeps all the moving metal components in an engine lubricated to make them operate with the least resistance, a lack of oil can be catastrophic.
If you have an oil leak somewhere that causes your oil level to drop below the minimum, there may be too much friction between the metal components that can actually cause the engine to seize and stop. Additionally, you risk damaging the engine if you let this happen.
That’s why it’s so important to regularly check your oil level.
3) Low Transmission Fluid
Like engine oil, a certain amount of transmission fluid is necessary for your vehicle to operate. If you don’t have the right amount of transmission fluid in your transmission, it can cause your engine to stop at any time while you’re driving, as your transmission can overheat and damage the gears inside.
Just like engine oil, you need to check regularly to ensure you have the right amount of transmission fluid in your vehicle.
4) Unsecured Engine
This is a rarer cause of engine failure, but it can happen if the engine mounts have gone wrong or if the engine has been repaired and isn’t properly secured in place.
If the engine mounts were broken or not used correctly to secure the engine, the engine would vibrate abundantly and likely stop due to the damage caused to components by the vibrations.
5) Electrical Problems
If your vehicle’s computer system or ignition system has electrical problems, it won’t be able to send the appropriate electrical signal to the engine. This will cause the engine to stop. You might see the check engine warning light flashing on your dashboard just before this happens.
If you do, you should immediately take your vehicle to the auto shop before the vehicle stalls while you’re driving. You never want to take risks when it comes to a check engine warning light.
6) Bad Catalytic Converter
The vehicle’s exhaust system depends on the catalytic converter to remove exhaust. But if the fuel contains too many impurities or if the car is running too rich, the converter won’t be able to handle it and will eventually malfunction.
Then the catalytic converter can become clogged or the exhaust pipe will be backed up with too much exhaust, which will overwork the engine and ultimately cause it to malfunction.