Seems to stall easy

[fl4kk]

I've stalled it a few times too. This is by far the hardest manual to start up in that i've ever driven. I end up wasting quite a bit of gas starting up because i live in a small town with lots of stoplights and a max speed of basically 25 to 35mph.
Everything above 2nd gear is a breeze though.

 

[LS1notFOUND]

just have to get used the engagement point and not be afraid to bring them revs up beyond 2 grand.

 

[oldertech]

It involves you getting use to it, and it getting used to you. I'm sure the clutch has some settling in to do, as well as the gear shift gates will get more relaxed to a degree. And who know what the computer is "learning" about our driving techniques. We get so trained to the cars we come from that a new one seems so alien until all is used to each other.

 

[flogge]

Coming from a 4.3L V6 S10 to the Sonic. Very easy to avoid stalling that motor. I also have a Yamaha R6 so I'll probably have to treat my Sonic more like the bike when starting/stopping.

 

[RichieRocket]

I just turned 7000 miles on my HB. I stalled it once a while back and was a little shocked, but didn't think of it again until this thread came up. I've been driving manuals for a couple decades now and this one has it's quirks.

THis morning I was waiting at a red light, turned green and I wasn't paying attention...boom, I stalled it. So I immediately tried to start it, no crank over, nothing! Waited a couple seconds, starts right up! Of course there's a whole line of cars behind me...so I rush, give it gas and start letting the clutch out. For a split second I realize the engine didn't rev up when I hit the gas pedal Then it stalls again Uuugh! Then I finally get going...talk about embarrassing!

Has anyone noticed some kind of starter electronic lock-out for a second or two after it stalls? It's weird...

Don't know what happened right after the restart, it could not take the 1/8~1/4 throttle for that split second and sputtered?

 

[Thaifight-R]

Has anyone noticed some kind of starter electronic lock-out for a second or two after it stalls? It's weird...

Don't know what happened right after the restart, it could not take the 1/8~1/4 throttle for that split second and sputtered?

lol That literally JUST happened to me an hour ago. haha.

 

[oldertech]

This just came to mind today. Could we have different revisions of firmware/software on our cars? Is it happening more to early build as opposed to later? Mine came up ready to ship on 11/28/2011 and with 2,000 miles, I haven't experienced this. Just a thought.

 

[jayrq2o1]

I'm happy to read these posts. It makes my stalling not seem so bad. I've had similar issues with revving it to 900-1000 and then trying to blend in the clutch, then suddenly kaputs. Usually happens on colder days, but it happens far enough from my house on the way to work that I can't blame a cold engine. My dad says its my inexperience in driving stick, but when we test drove it before I bought it, he stalled it twice! And my old man was born in 49', so he's been driving stick from the minute he got his license (actually before that, he stole a military Jeep at 8).

Nevertheless, it seems its a common problem, but so far, I'm glad its a rare occurrence. I think it might just be the clutch being really new and the lack of violent rocking back and forth from my friend's corolla that forces your head in and out of the headrest screaming, "CLUTCH CLUTCH CLUTCH!"

After my long drive to Florida and back and daily commuting back and forth to work, its only happened once.

 

[sdgdf]

I know what you all mean, its easy to stall. I've done it a few times, "ghost" stalls where the car doesn't buck the engine just dies. That's because its a very weird engine. Think of it this way, before the turbo spools its just like a N/A 1.4 with an exhaust restriction. That means no low-end torque near idle, even though the car has insane amounts of it from 1800RPM on up. You just have to keep that in mind. The car is also weird in that if you take off and give it too much gas, it'll get up to 2k RPM and spool the turbo, which draws out clutch engagement. Gotta give it enough gas to take off smoothly, but not enough to spool the turbo. I've got it down where I no-gas launch just about every time.

The MR2 Turbo I had was 10x worse, that's how I know about this. It had almost no torque below 3000RPM, which is where the turbo spooled. Made taking off on steep hills very difficult.

Comparing the Sonic to my Fiero is very odd. The Fiero has more power from idle-2000RPM, then the Sonic has more until about 4000RPM, then the Fiero pulls harder to 6k. Its weird cause the Fiero has a pushrod V6 (built for torque and low RPMs) and the Sonic has a small DOHC 4-cylinder that you'd expect would love revving.

 

[SteveSonic]

I haven't stalled my 12/2011-built 1.4T yet; maybe just luck. Maybe the Trifecta guys can look into the wastegate management logic. It may be overly tied to RPM and not enough tied to load. I experience a turbo spool-up / tire spinout problem if my clutch letup is too slow and my accel pedal press is too quick. The engine seems to rev up quickly once the RPMs pass 2k. Again, maybe the wastegate is closing very little before 2k, and too quickly after 2k.

 

[opsethb]

I have a 1.4 LTZ,mine seems to want to stall in reverse. There is no feedback (Feel) in the throttle.

 

[AndrewGS]

I stalled mine today. lol

 

[dvn]

I've stalled mine a few times. There seems to be a fine line between not enough throttle and too much.

 

[Jeffnj]

I've got the 1.8 auto and have yet to stall it hehe

 

[AxelRipper]

I've only stalled my 1.4t by not paying attention and trying to start out in 2nd or 3rd (sometimes intentionally). That or trying to creep around in either of those gears.

Without throttle I've been able to get up to 4th gear. Just idling and being gentle with the clutch.

 

[Screamer4]

Tiny engines are super easy to stall. Add a turbo to the equation and stalling is even easier, since until the turbo is spooled it is nothing but an obstruction in both the intake and exhaust tracts. Then to complicate things even more you have tons of sound isolation so you can't easily hear what's going on, and you've got electronic throttle so you can't really feel what's going on either.

The solution is 4k rpm clutch dumps. All. The. Time!

 

[thebook92]

The solution is 4k rpm clutch dumps. All. The. Time!

I tried that once. Decided that it wasn't worth the transmission replacement at 5000 miles. Actually, I've found that holding the revs at 3k and letting the clutch out quickly instead of dumping it works just as well.

As for stalling, I've done it quite a few times in the 1200 miles I've had the car. I like to use almost no throttle, though, so that might be most of the problem.

 

[LS1notFOUND]

In first gear you can actually roll around w/o any gas, let the clutch out slow and you'll see. You also have to remember there's not a whole lot of power in these so anyone used to more beefy motor and lower to the floor clutch engagement (read not new vehicle) might have some time to get used to it.

The "lug protect" is just the motor fighting to not stall, the computers in all cars will do what ever it can to protect from stalling, "sonic don't want to die" 2-3Krpm clutch out and ease of the gas pedal does pretty good. Also have learned to drive in that sub 2krpm realm and watched fuel economy increase...lots of shifting though then.

 

[xtremek]

I've stalled it a bunch of times. Been driving sticks since I was 9 (farm trucks). You can bump start it, but the throttle has to be open. No bumping when the throttle is closed or your going real slow. I'm uised to being able to play the clutch and do some rough 2nd gear take offs, so this is different to me. If you're over 5mph, crack the throttle and push the clutch back in.

 

[Danny5]

I stalled it the other day by engaging 3rd at like 10mph. whoops