Engine cut out on motorway

[clive_gti]

I was travelling on the motorway at the weekend @ ~70mph over ~30 miles (everything normal DSG in 'D', Cruise Control on, Air-Con on) when suddenly the doors unlock and all the needles on the instrument cluster dropped to 0.  I tried pressing the accelerator and there was no response so I drifted over (indicators not working) to the hard shoulder and stopped.

When I stopped I realised the engine was not running and there were no fault lights displayed.  From memory the only things displayed on the dash were the time on the highline display and the air-con controls were lit up so there was some electrical power.  I tried to restart the car by removing & re-inserting the key but on turning to the 1st & 2nd positions there were no lights on the instrument cluster (battery, abs etc.) and no needle movement.  Not even the time displayed now at this point.

After less than a minute I popped the bonnet and got out to check if there was anything obvious wrong like one of the battery terminals coming loose but all was OK.  Just before I closed the bonnet I heard some electrical 'noise' from the engine area, the same as you hear when the key is turned in the ignition (before starting) and when I got back into the car the dash was back to normal and the car started as normal.

I continued to drive for < 10 miles towards the next exit and the same thing happened again twice so I stopped for about 10 mins in case it was something overheating.  After starting I took the exit and continued home for 40 miles without any problems.  I drove the car for ~20 miles yesterday and there were no issues so i'm a bit baffled by this one.

The only thing I can think of is that before the problem occurred at 1st I pressed the "ECON" & "RECIRC" buttons on the air-con controls (a trick i was reading about on here) to bring up the speed in kmph on the display.  I've never done this before and was just messing really so it was on for about 5-10 mins before the car cut out.  Long shot but could this have caused the problem?

Edit: Car is totally standard 2006 with 50k miles and I regularly do motorway journeys on my daily commute.

[clive_gti]

Couple more questions:

1. Can a DSG car be towed?  If so do I place it in neutral?  The handbook is a bit unclear on this as it says not to move the car while in N as the gearbox is not lubricated.  But also says the car may be towed in N for up to 50km.

2. Is there any point in paying my VW dealer to check for fault codes (£50+VAT) if there is no fault light displayed on the dash?

[Top Cat]

I dont think you can tow a DSG.  
Also your fault sounds like a loose earth somewhere.  

[Richn83]

I think there are stipulations on the speed and distance it can be towed for but I have definately read the towing procedure somewhere.  I think it might be suggesting that you shouldnt free wheel while in N down a hill etc or as you come to a set of lights or a junction.

Best bet would be a tow truck that lifts the front wheels.

[clive_gti]

Cheers guys

I just phoned my local dealer and the service guy didn't know if it was safe to tow the car, muppets

He also said they could put it on the computer and see if there were any faults logged but I think that's unlikely as there are no lights showing.  Might just chance it and see if the fault occurs again, will keep the number of a recovery company handy though!

[Richn83]

not all fault codes switch on a MIL so you could have an intermittent fault like a short to ground (loose wire) etc that could be stored.  Although if everything went dead then its unlikely anything was on to store the fault! 

[martziniuk]

Possibly a dodgy relay. I had an issue with no dash lights, everything was dead. Turned out to be a £10 relay with lots of fault codes.

[clive_gti]

Well, car has behaved itself over the past week but I left it into my local VW stealer today for a look.  No fault codes or issues and they carried out the coil pack recall.  So I collected her and drove 15 miles home, now she is dead 

I turn they key and nothing.. no starter motor & no lights on the instrument cluster.  When I open the drivers door the highline illuminates to show the door open but other then that, nothing.

Anyone know what might be the problem?  Only thing I can think of is that the previous owner had a tracker fitted which I have never activated but it has not given any problems in the 3 years I have owned her.

[PDT]

Faulty ignition switch?

[clive_gti]

Got her recovered to the VW garage thismorning, hopefully she's still not starting when they look at it!

Will update thread with diagnosis in case it helps anyone else out.

[Andy]

Hopefully they can find the fault now the car is doing it again

[clive_gti]

Dealer says its a faulty relay and there was a fault logged this time..

£99 for part including 1.5 hrs labour
Also need to pay for recovery and don't know what that bill will be yet but I know the guy so hopefully not too bad!

Hope thats the end of it now, any questions I should be asking them.. fault code etc?

[clive_gti]

Was the ignition relay, £7 part ended up costing me £184 ah well...

[Rasco]

I think I have the same issue, car just dies, the engine runs fine then just cuts out, no warning at all, no warning lights before, the power and electrics just cut off. Then after a few minutes I try the ignition and all the dash lights come back on like the ECU is doing a reset? The car the. Drives fine no EML no nothing, it's happened three times in two days it's at the vw garage today they test drove it twice, obviously no issue and ran the diagnostic twice, no issue! Did the ignition switch defo solve the issue?

[Paradox1]

I dont think you can tow a DSG. 
Also your fault sounds like a loose earth somewhere. 

Cant help with the problem but I know for sure you can tow a DSG car.

Just put it in N