This has happened to other fellow forum members where there cars are traveling at highway speed and their car suddenly dies. It is in fact scary stuff. I would no longer feel safe driving the car if it were me. I will just give the keys back to Alfa and say good riddance. My car stalled and died going about 15 MPH and it was a very scary moment for me. I cannot imagine how it would be going 90-95. I would crap my pants, heart attack?.

No car and I mean absolutely no car should have a bugs or issues where the result is complete engine shutdown. Its just ridiculous! I personally sent a complaint to NHTSA back in 2017 to have the Giulia recalled for these stalling issues but nothing came of it.

You can read more below:

https://www.giuliaforums.com/forum/...778-alfa-romeo-giulia-issues-problems/11193-total-engine-shutdown-survey-2.html

https://www.giuliaforums.com/forum/...ifoglio/10721-engine-turns-off-left-lane-highway-going-75mph-25.html#post150169


This is my official NHTSA complaint:

August 31, 2017 NHTSA ID NUMBER: 11020747
Components: ENGINE NHTSA ID Number: 11020747
Incident Date May 17, 2017
Consumer Location CORAL GABLES, FL
Vehicle Identification Number ZARFAECNXH7****
Summary of Complaint
CrashNo
FireNo
Injuries0
Deaths0

THE ENGINE STALLED FOLLOWING FUEL TOP OFF. IT STALLED MOVING IN SLOW TRAFFIC.

 

THE ENGINE STALLED FOLLOWING FUEL TOP OFF. IT STALLED MOVING IN SLOW TRAFFIC.

this is a very old issue and has been fixed with a software update

 

^^ you forgot to add....Panic immediatelly, loud noises, hand waving!!!

Geez, you have no idea what the issue with OP’s car really is but that will not stop you from making dramatic statements....

Most of issues you linked to have been resolved with RRTs year and a half ago but yeah lets advise the OP who just joined the forum to immediatelly start general recall effort with NHTSA....ever wondered why your complaint didnt go anywhere?

How is the Infinity going?

 

^^^^ I think you have it backwards... I am not making any dramatic statements. OP made a dramatic statement by saying his car shut off going 95 MPH!! and I am simply reacting to what was said. If you don't find this "dramatic" and alarming then I frankly dont know what will.

Many manufactures are PROACTIVE and issue voluntary recalls when dealing with potentially dangerous engine stalls. Below are many voluntary recalls from other major manufacturers. Alfa Romeo's approach was different/ is different. They haven't patched all cars and RRTs are only applied when a car is inhibiting issues and the customer comes in complaining about it.. but of course when it happens its already too late. Perhaps issuing a recall so early in the introduction would have been catastrophic to the brand and they opted not to. But then that would mean they were playing with peoples lives for the sake of more sales.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/business/chrysler-pacifica-recall.html

https://6abc.com/automotive/volkswagen-recalls-281k-cars-because-engines-can-stall/2354520/

https://www.carprousa.com/2018-toyota-camry-recall-over-potential-engine-stall

https://www.news4jax.com/consumer/mitsubishi-recalls-cars-and-suvs-over-engine-stalling-issue

Regarding my Infiniti... I am enjoying it very much. She's a beauty! 5300 miles so far and no issues and haven't visited my dealer yet...crossing my fingers

 

To answer the question buried in the original post: the ECM (engine control module) is a circuit board of electronics buried inside a protective box bolted somewhere in the car. If you have the 4 cylinder engine it is on the engine side of the right side wheel well and pretty easy to spot. If you have a 6 cylinder engine there are 2 ECMs and I do not know where they are located. The ECM controls the electronics on the engine, such as ignition and valve timing, turbo bypass valve opening, and coolant valve opening (probably a bunch of other things).

If you had failures like headlights and radio that have no apparent connection to the engine it seems likely that you had some systemic electrical fault. A sudden disconnect of the battery has the potential to cause a voltage spike (the alternator generates the spike when the charging load from the battery suddenly disappears) that has the potential to damage lots of things, for example. Since the battery has a quick disconnect on the negative terminal I would look there first. A bad battery also has the potential to intermittently connect to the car. Of course you could have been hit by an EMP any military bases along your route?

If someone has messed with the wiring, such as to upgrade the audio system or install rear window tint film (long story) all bets are off regarding what could go wrong.

 

nevermind - i think its obvious ;-)

 

Dunno if you've read this. Might seem familiar to what you experienced.

Well, after a blissful 2 months post Transmission ECM debacle....

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...3&share_tid=38520&url=https://www.giuliaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38520


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hy everyone, thanks for the advice and a little bit of friendly arguemnts. The car is with Alfa as we speak and will be with them for the next ten days so I’m happy to report I’ve been given a wonderful fiat 500 ? haha. They seem to think once this issues fixed I won’t have any more issues, and it’s under the warranty so I’m not paying anything. Only down side is I scraped my wheel dragging the car to the side of the road but I don’t they’re going to fix that! Thanks guys for your advice and links, chris

 

. Only down side is I scraped my wheel dragging the car to the side of the road but I don’t they’re going to fix that! Thanks guys for your advice and links, chris

Going so soon?



Tell them you scraped the wheel due to the fact you had to pull over because the car had a warranty fault and you would like it fixed under warranty - and see what they say ...

 

If you had road hazard protection they might. Give it a shot. Sorry for the fright. One of the design flaws of the Giulias has been a bad rain scuttle on right hand drive models. They forgot to think about it when they flipped the drawings. It ended up draining on the ecu. I think this was for Quads. It's been fixed as well. Hang tight, I hope they get it back to you quickly.

 

Glad to hear that AR is addressing this issue for you, and that you have a free loaner car.

The ECM (Engine Control Module) is a computer of sorts that monitors the engine and tells it how to work. The car has many, many computerized control modules, one for almost everything you can throw a dart at. Body (BCM), transmission (TCM), an so forth. One module acts as the main brain of the car and almost nothing happens without going through that module. I'm not sure if that brain is the ECM or BCM.

Being an electronic device, it is prone to failure just like a light bulb. It might last fifteen minutes or fifteen years. Having owned my Giulia about a year and a half and my 4C about three and a half years, I can say that the total amount of module failures that I've heard of is extremely low, almost un-measurable.

A module failure could be caused by a voltage spike, or a voltage drop, a bad connection or a few other things. I'm sure the dealer will check all the possible paths and (hopefully) find the cause and address it as necessary.

I can share a bit of experience with you. My 2015 AR 4C wouldn't start one evening at the grocery store, (yes she's my daily driver). When she did start, she barely ran. Every possibly idiot light was on at the same time. I drove home and then to the dealer. The dealer eventually traced it back to a shorted fuel sending unit. They replace the component (on the 4C that is the entire fuel pump assembly inside the fuel tank) and she's been fine ever since. Uhm, well, she hasn't had THAT problem since. My 4C was less than a year old at the time.

My point being that who would have ever guessed that a shorted fuel sending unit could upset the entire car??? Certainly not me.

 

^^ MacGeek once posted Giulia’s and 4C’s electronics architecture, I cant find that post but it was incredibly telling, 4C has more of a traditional architecture while Giulia is complexity wise very different story.....to the point that they are still everyday refining thing up

 

Maybe MacGeek can post the link here. I missed that post and I'm sure it's good reading, if that sort of thing hold your interest. But yes, the 4C is a minimalist's, a purist's car with minimal computer control, it's a true driver's car.

The Giulia on the other hand, is a nice blend of passenger's car mixed with driver's car mixed with luxury mixed with performance. I'd really like to see what she'll do on the track with no computer inputs, but that's changing the topic (and there is a thread on this already).

 

So...sorry it’s taken so long to reply to my thread but....I STILL HAVENT GOTTEN MY CAR BACK FROM ALFA!! It’s been 4 weeks, two loaner cars and very little information. the last time I spoke to someone at the dealer they told me they are now replacing the soundsystem and amp? And the part should have been there Monday and I would get a call but I’ve had squat! Honestly part of me just wants them to take the car back because the service has been god awful. I’m just not the complaining type, I don’t like causing a fuss and I don’t like making peoples like a nightmare. I just wanted my car back ?

 

Any short can wreck havoc on the rest of the car, even if the short is inside the radio amplifier. The computers that actually run the car are voltage sensitive and do all kinds of strange things when the system voltage is low. But four weeks? That's nuts. Oh, wait, we're talking about AR who's motto is, "You want it when?"

Have you contacted FCA yet? A formal complaint can speed up the process. I've had to call FCA numerous times with my 4C, but never my wife's Giulia. I've always talked with my service manager first and made sure he knew about the call. He has always been as frustrated as I was and later thanked me for barking up the other side of the tree.

The thing that amazes & pleases me, is that once I get the car back and go for a short drive, all is forgiven and forgotten. The car is that pleasing to drive.

 

I got mine back today, not quite 4 weeks. I know exactly what you are going through.
They have to learn how to speed up the process, there's too much wait time at the dealers while people on different time zones sort out the next step.