2003 X Type Diesel 2 litre saloon

[Ian Wood]

The car has done100,000 miles and has suddenly developed a fault. For no apparent reason the engine cuts out. It doesnt matter what speed I am doing .

9 times out of 10 if you switch the ignition of and then on agaiin it will re start, but the more you do this the harder it becomes to start. It has been put on a computer by a mechanic  but shows no fault. He advised that modern computers are not suited to older cars. Has any one had this problem or has an idea please?

Graham

[Big John]

Hi Ian

Can you give a little more detail?

Does the engine just stop dead? Any warning lights? Any smoke? Rough running? Noises?

Not sure I agree with your mechanic that yours counts as "an older car" in terms of reading the DTC codes. My cheap code reader is more than happy reading any DTCs on my 2.1 petrol from 2003....

Regards

John

[Ian Wood]

On 9/16/2024 at 8:48 AM, Big John said:

Hi Ian

Can you give a little more detail?

Does the engine just stop dead? Any warning lights? Any smoke? Rough running? Noises?

Not sure I agree with your mechanic that yours counts as "an older car" in terms of reading the DTC codes. My cheap code reader is more than happy reading any DTCs on my 2.1 petrol from 2003....

Regards

John

Hi John,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. Yes the engine stops dead. No lights, no smoke, no funny noises. The computer reads the DTC codes but advises no problems.

[Big John]

That sounds very odd 😞

Only thing that comes to my mind is a faulty ignition key switch or wiring, or possibly power to the fuel pump as, once started, a diesel just keeps running until its fuel supply is cut off or it is starved of air. For it to switch itself of "cleanly" without any misfiring, as you are describing, suggests that either, there is a fault in the key circuit (it thinks you have turned the ignition off). or the fuel pump is losing power and cutting the fuel off.

Maybe you could try rummaging around the wires inside the steering column (when parked!) and see if you can replicate the problem?

Regards

John