Mokka won't start after a stall

My 68 plate Mokka 1.4 petrol has a random issue which I hope someone help with.....
Having always had a 1.6 or bigger engine I find that the Mokka is somewhat more prone to stalling if not given enough revs on hill starts or in hurried drive-offs.
However, the stalling isn't the problem; it's that sometimes after a stall, the engine cannot be restarted - as if the clutch isn't depressed. It doesn't happen often but typically always with an impatient queue behind. It's only happened about eight times in the 6 months I've had it, less so now as I'm now careful to over-rev but I still get caught out.
I can't say I've noticed if it happens after the auto-stop-start has attempted (and failed) or had an immediate re-stall.
I initially tried removing/reinserting the key, pressing pedals etc but it wouldn't start.
I read on a forum somewhere about some electrical circuits remaining active after the ignition's turned off and only going off when the driver's door is opened so in desperation I tried that and on the twice I tried it, I was able to restart manually straight away.
I'm beginning to think it could be something to do with the auto-stop-start; as if it's "getting confused".
I had it into the dealership and got the usual chocolate fireguard response and of course if the fault isn't apparent they can't fix it.
Has anyone any knowledge of this or similar effects that I can use to argue my case?
Davy

 

Hi mate did you ever resolve the problem because I just had the exact same issue today ?

 

Hi Wolf, in a nutshell - Possibly but I'm not 100% sure!
I returned it to the dealership who grudgingly admitted that there was a software update "to cure the tendency of these engines to stall" and they agreed to apply it - although never admitting to knowing of issues regards failing to restart. They did the work in January just before we went on holiday and the car was only rarely used after our return early-February until the lockdown - since when it's only done about 15 miles a week. However, in that time the fault hasn't reappeared, BUT I'm not doing anything like the mileage when I experienced the problems so I'm hoping, but not fully convinced the problem's gone.
Also, I finally managed to find someone locally who owns the same year/model and they said they too had experienced exactly the same fault and a reluctance of the dealership (not the same as mine) to admit the possibility of a re-start problem - which disappeared after a software update!
Incidentally, a friend who's a workshop manager for Mercedes once told me their dealerships do everything they can to avoid admitting to any "known" problems; so as far as I'm concerned, there was/is a problem with the software but because it probably costs dealerships to apply these updates they won't admit to a problem.
Good luck and let me know if you resolve it.

 

I've been having exact same problem with my 67 1.4 petrol Mokka particularly when going downhill and braking hard the engine will sometimes stall and refuse to start, even had the AA spending an hour trying to work out what was wrong they couldn't get it to start until they took out the spark plugs in case the engine was flooded, they weren't wet and looked fine but when they put them back it started which was a mystery. Then I had the same problem again where it stalled at traffic lights on a busy roundabout, but started after a few attempts, I took the car into the garage they gave it to thorough check but couldn't find anything wrong so did a software update for possible acceleration problems (at my expense) as that was the closest update they found to the problems I was having but that still hasn't resolved it. Is just stalled again or upon turning round on a slight slope when I braked hard to avoid a curb, it just died and refused to restart after multiple attempts, I waited half an hour and coming back to the car it still wouldn't restart then, just on a desperate hunch I lifted the bonnet wiggled the wires near the top of the engine (the bit the AA man removed to get to the plugs) and gave the top of the engine a hard thump with my hand, tried it again and it worked perfectly! so I'm wondering if the issue could be a fault wire or connector? As you can tell I don't know much about engines but so far neither the garage or AA have had a clue so I'm hoping this forum may help.

 

Does your problem occur when the Auto Stop-Start is disabled? At the time, I tried to get into the habit of disabling it as soon as I started the engine and the problem never happened, it was only with that feature enabled that I had issues. If not, then your problem does sound more like an electrical connection issue. Was your garage a Vauxhall dealership or an independent? If the former, I'd press them to install the latest EM update.

 

Since I posted last year we've been turning the Auto start/stop off all the time. Last year we paid for the latest EM update and they put in an update for acceleration and kangarooing problems. We'd also had a new ignition pack changed on warranty last year. It was OK over the winter.

However, since the weather has been hotter the last couple of months the problems have started again. Eventually we took it back to the garage and they changed the O2 sensor on warranty and were confident that was the problem. The next week it didn't cut out but the Engine light came on, so it went back to the garage and the changed the catalytic converter and were confident that was it. So has that fixed it? No! It's cut out twice, (upon slowing for a junction and changing gear) restarted after a few seconds with a sharp lurch. After a 45 min drive the Engine light is back on so its going back to the garage next week. We've started looking for another car since the error codes don't help and the garage (a Vauxhall main dealer seems to be guessing). Won't be getting another Vauxhall.

 

This happened to me at rush hour about 2years ago just as I had just gone over the crest of a hill and slowed to avoid another car which had broken down- I clearly wasn’t accelerating enough for the gear I was in. The car wouldn’t start no matter how many times I tried and ii was panicking as I was worried about the cars coming over the hill not seeing me in time to slow down. I got out of the car to phone for help but someone obviously noticed my predicament and phoned the police. The policeman arrived a few minutes later and tried the car. It started straight away and he accompanied me to a quieter road. Our mechanic could find nothing wrong with the car. The car has been fine for two years and the same thing has just happened again ( hence me searching and finding this thread.) Really frustrating when you are driving down a street which only a single car can fit down and cars are piling up behind you and in front of you.i tried about 10 times to no avail and I was worried I was damaging the engine , then suddenly it started. From reading this maybe I just need to open the door before trying to restart the car?