We bought a pre-owned 1999 Lexus SUV a month ago. It’s the first time we took on a long 500m drive and it suddenly stopped after driving 300m. Our first guess was that probably there’s something worng with the transmission.
At the workshop the mechanic checked for anything that could possibly go wrong, like the transmissions, oil, all the fluids, filters and whotnot. But found nothing wrong with it.
Does anyone know what could cause a sudden stop like this? Any clues for what we should be looking for in the car?
You keep crashing into trees?
Seriously, though - you need to describe exactly what you mean by “stopping” and exactly what happens (sounds like, feels like, looks like(?). Then say what happens next.
For starters you could at least say whether it is the engine that is stalling out - the car just dies - or if the engine keeps running but the car won’t go anywhere.
Describe it all as best you can.
It would help to know more details of how the car stopped. Did the engine quit and turn off or did it stay running and you coast to stop? If the engine died then I would suspect an electrical problem with the ignition of the fuel system as a possible problem.
I find myself wondering why the original post hinted so strongly at a tranny problem. I too would like more detail on exactly how it behaved when it died.
It’s hard to solve a puzzle with most of the pieces missing.
For quite some time, I have observed that a large percentage of people who have any kind of driveability problem seem to immediately suspect the transmission, rather than the engine.
Yes, the transmission could be problematic, but there is at least an equal probability that the totally unexplained symptoms are actually originating in the engine. In fact, if the vehicle came to a sudden halt, but then drove in a reasonably normal manner afterward, the transmission is probably the last thing to suspect as being faulty.
As has been said already, we need to have a real explanation of exactly what is meant by “suddenly stopped”. What driving pattern preceded the stoppage? Did the engine sputter before the vehicle came to a stop? Did the engine continue to run when the vehicle suddenly stopped, or did it stall? What did the OP observe regarding the gauges and warning lights on the dashboard immediately before the stoppage and immediately after? How long was the vehicle immobile? Were there any unusual noises or odors? Did it later drive in a reasonably normal manner?
Also, the title of the thread implies that this situation has occured more than once (“keeps stopping for no reason”), but in the very sparse details of the post, it appears that this problem cropped up only once, on a long trip. This is–at best–very confusing.
Additionally, we need some other information such as the odometer mileage, and the maintenance history of the vehicle. If the OP does not know the maintenance history, then–unfortunately–he/she has to assume that no maintenance has ever been done, and he/she has to perform the relevant major maintenance (based on odometer mileage and/or elapsed time) listed in the Lexus Maintenance Schedule. It is very possible that simply performing routine maintenance (such as replacing the fuel filter) will resolve the issue.
You really have to give us much more to work with here before anyone can accurately diagnose a transmission problem, or an engine problem, or…
I still just think this is a simple matter of continually crashing into trees. This is known to stop a car.
Hmmmm…Lexus1999, are you still out there?
stopped after 300 miles. How big is the gas tank, and how many miles per gallon do you get? It sounds like you ran out of gas to me.
I think that we may have asked too many difficult questions of the OP.
He/she probably wanted an instant diagnosis, despite the lack of details in the original post.
If he/she does not wish to provide those details, then I suppose that this thread will end shortly.
I’ll give this thread one more bump, in the hope that the OP can find it again.
Unfortunately, I think that our interest in providing help at this point is greater than the OP’s desire to clarify his/her hazy post.