P0519 Code - Engine shuts off randomly

[Sidestroker]

I have a 2004 non-turbo Forester with 123,000 miles on it. It's a manual 5-speed transmission. Lately, I have had issues with the CEL coming on. The last time I took it to the shop after the CEL came on, they said it was the P0519 code that came on, and they said that the IACV was very dirty and needed to be cleaned, so they cleaned it. The CEL was no longer on, and I was good to go. They told me that if it ever came on again in the near future, they were almost certain that it would be the Park and Neutral switch that would need to be replaced.

 

About two weeks later, I was getting on the freeway, and the CEL came on. About 5 miles later, suddenly, all the lights on the dashboard came on and the engine just shut off spontaneously. It acted as if I had turned off the ignition when driving 60 MPH. So I coasted to the shoulder to pull over, and then I started it right back up again and drove it to another repair shop, who told me that it was the P0519 code that displayed. They cleared the code and sent me on my way. They had no explanation as to why this would happen. I then called the first repair shop and asked if this is symptomatic of a bad park and neutral switch, and they said no it's not. But I'm not so sure. Does anyone else think that a spontaneous engine shut-off can be related to a bad park and neutral switch?

[Fairtax4me]

Absolutely not. The park/neutral switch, also called the inhibitor switch will only affect engine STARTING. The switch provides a path for current to flow to the starter solenoid from the ignition key switch. If the inhibitor switch fails or is in the wrong position, the starter will not work, so the engine will do nothing when you turn the key. It can not affect an already running engine. It certainly will not affect a vehicle that does not HAVE one, a manual transmission car does not have a park/neutral switch.

Your car has a neutral position switch, which simply tells the ECU whether the transmission is in gear (doesn't matter which gear) or in neutral. It's a very simple switch, and has nothing to do with starting.

And your car has a Clutch start switch, which prevents the starter from getting power unless the clutch pedal is depressed. The clutch start switch will NOT affect an already running engine, it is used ONLY during starting.

 

 

P0519 Idle control system malfunction. This can be caused by a few things, least of which would be the valve being dirty. This will also not cause the engine to stall while driving at a steady speed.

 

This code could be related to the neutral position switch, as it does play a part in telling the ECU when to keep engine speed up for idling. This cycles the opening/closing of the idle control valve in different manner when the engine is idling, than when it is driving (your foot is on the pedal). Most of the time a stall due to a faulty neutral switch should occur during a gear change, or when slowing to a stop.

 

With a random stall, especially when driving at steady throttle, I think the code is an effect of the stall, but does not point to the actual cause.