Sometimes when I turn off my '96 excel, the engine will keep firing, even though it is completely off. I can take the key out and walk away from the car, but the engine is still putting along somehow. Most of the time it is just for a second or two but other times It goes for about a minute. If I try and start the car when it is doing this, the engine just revs. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I've had a lot of stalling problems as well, so it might be related.

My first thought is a problem with your ignition system, possibly the key cylinder.
It's not registering that it should be off, so possibly whatever actually causes the engine to stop. (not sure how it works) If it's a fuel cutoff I would think maybe a leaking valve.

Yea, I was thinking maybe an electrical or ignition problem too. If it keeps firing, it means that there is still power going to the spark plugs (somehow). I'm still not sure on anything lol. Thanks for the reply :thumbsup:

It's called dieselling. Your engine continues to run on because your timing is out, or the engine has a high-level of carbon deposits in it.

Mileage on the car? When was the last time you had an ignition tune-up?(spark plugs, wires, etc?

Low octane fuel will contribute to this, as well, especially if the car was meant to run on premium.

You can try a couple of things here. Run three tanks of premium back to back, and see if the problem goes away over that period, I would also recommend a bottle of injector cleaner on the first tank at least.

We must think alike lol.


I used to have an oil leak in the cylinder heads, but that was fixed a while ago.

It's over 260,000 km now. I replaced the spark plugs and leads not long ago, but the problem continued. I haven't taken the car in for a proper tune-up though. It might be a good idea.

It's made for standard unleaded, but I used to buy premium, as it did run smoother and cleaner. I can't recall if it stopped the dieselling problem, though. I stopped buying premium when the petrol prices went up.

I'll try using premium more. I had already tried injector cleaner too, but it made no difference.

Thanks a lot for the advice! I'll give it a shot.

deiselling only happens in carberetted cars is yours carbereutted or fuel injected? In carby cars sometimes there can be carbon deposits in the cylinders which glow red hot and ignite the fuel even after the ignition is turned off, in a carby car usually the only way the engine stops is spark cut not fuel cut..

In EFI cars the power is cut to the spark and fuel with ignition off

Hard to believe, but the car was EFI, so that's what made the problem so confusing. Since then, however, I have gotten a new car. The gearbox in the excel died and it was too costly to replace. I now drive a 2006 Elantra XD. I picked it up for just $14000! It's been good to me so far! :beer:

:liebe011: Thanks for all the help with my excel, I appreciate it!