Engine Cut Out when Fog Light Switched On!

[triple e]

This seems totally unrelated but it has happened twice when driving.
When I switched on the Fog Lights the engine cut out. Luckily I was able to safely pull over and stop. Then was immediately able to restart the car and drive on as normal - not risking the fog lights for that journey.
At a loss to connect the two but as it happened twice seems there is a definite link - which I would like to deal with urgently.
Any thoughts and advice will be very welcome and appreciated.
My car is a 2001 Diesel with just 108,000 on the clock.
I'm a worried member looking for any help please

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by triple e

This seems totally unrelated but it has happened twice when driving.
When I switched on the Fog Lights the engine cut out. Luckily I was able to safely pull over and stop. Then was immediately able to restart the car and drive on as normal - not risking the fog lights for that journey.
At a loss to connect the two but as it happened twice seems there is a definite link - which I would like to deal with urgently.
Any thoughts and advice will be very welcome and appreciated.
My car is a 2001 Diesel with just 108,000 on the clock.
I'm a worried member looking for any help please

John , it may be worth checking there are no corroded connections under the engine bay fusebox.

Fairly easy to remove it and carefully check the connections too.

Brian

[triple e]

Brian,
Thanks will check out the connections - I'm sure this is not too obvious although might be just what you suggest. I'll let you know what I find.
If it is a failing connection somewhere it may take a long while to track it down.
Thanks, John

[Number 6]

I had a similar experience some time ago. Was driving when it became dusk switched the headlights on and the engine cut out, Switched the headlights off and the engine started up again. This happened several times over a period of time. Shortly afterwards the alternator packed up, replaced it and never had a problem since..

[klarzy]

Originally Posted by Number 6

I had a similar experience some time ago. Was driving when it became dusk switched the headlights on and the engine cut out, Switched the headlights off and the engine started up again. This happened several times over a period of time. Shortly afterwards the alternator packed up, replaced it and never had a problem since..

This could be a partial short or poor ground connection where the lights going on is enough to pull the feed to the ECU below it's working limit. A fresh alternator with a higher output means that the threshold is safely exceeded at any point. It does not necessarily mean that the issue is resolved...

[triple e]

Thank you gentlemen - I've a number of things to check out.
John