Abrupt Engine Cut Out Stall?

It's normal. Happens the first time the engine shuts down during a trip.

 

I can almost sense now when it's gonna happen. It can feel like you went over a bump in the road! It can be subtle too. Like a whisper at the red light. Sometimes mine will shudder almost roughly when it's cold at a stop. it isnt supposed to do that until it warms up but it has happened.

Ive only got 2500 miles on my lil rachel, so it could just be something to adjust a bit my first service.

 

Sometimes it runs, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you'll feel it, sometimes you won't. There's no adjustment needed (or even possible). I don't even think about it anymore....the car knows what it's supposed to do.

 

If you are decelerating or at a stop, yes, absolutely normal.

If, on the other hand, you are accelerating and the ICE (gas) engine cuts out and you feel the car lose massive power, no, that would not be normal.

My guess - you are decelerating or at a stop, and you are rightfully being overly sensitive to what this newfangled car is doing. Relax. As stated before, IT knows what it is doing. You on the other hand haven't been acclimated . . . yet.

 

It happens more often with new engines and cold weather, but is possible under any conditions. The Prius always shuts down the engine in the same position. It does this to make restarting as efficient as possible. Sometimes the shut down will miss the target spot and have to rotate the engine around again for another try. That's when you feel the shudder.

Tom

 

Yeah, I typically get the shutdown engine shudder if I stop long enough when the car is still warming up and the engine shuts off.

Sometimes it's pretty rough. I always thought it was due to the car trying to really make sure it burned off all the fuel left in the engine, but spinning the engine over another time to line it up for the next start makes more sense.

 

If under hard acceleration you can have a situation where the traction control cuts power and it feels like the engine stalled but power is restored in a fraction of a second. Normal.

 

Thanks for adding that! I didn't think ahead.

You probably saved us from a bunch of threads about how their ICE stalled during acceleration.