Hi there,

My 1.9 16v mjet 150 developed a fault yesterday which I initially put down to dirty diesel, but I think there may be more to it. I was driving from Edinburgh to Glasgow and pulling off the motorway it started to feel hesitant. It that cut out at a set of traffic lights and refused to restart.

10 minutes later tried it again and it started, but felt like it needed to be kept revved. Got to destination and at lunch time it started 1st time and idled happily for 20 minutes - no issues at all.

Home time in the evening it started fine and drove fine until again after about 30 minutes the car started to feel a bit lumpy, hesitant revving - though power etc all still there. Stopped off at a shop and then again it refused to start again for 10 minutes.

This morning, it started straight away and then cut out on me when I left it idling. Left it for a bit and making no difference, though more or less flattening the battery hasn't helped.

OBD doesn't show any faults at all. Car has done 60k so I'm now think Crank / RPM sensor? Any other suggestions?

EGR is always the first suspect.

Egr surely wouldn't cause those symptoms plus would throw a fault code / go into limp mode?

Sounds like an issue I had recently on the same engine, however mine was without power so may not be related but never say never. Mine was diagnosed as the timing was out slightly. New belt and timing to fix it. ?

A clogged EGR doesn't trigger any error code and at the mileage of your car, it's something you should check any way.

A new egr is only £81 at GSF car parts with their new customer offers. ?

Well I've started with a new crank rpm sensor for 20 quid- shall see how she behaves tomorrow...

EGR is probably just a cleanup job, no need to buy one before checking it.

Hey guys, well I changed the crank rpm sensor yesterday and she started and ran great that evening.

This morning however was a different story. Was cutting out at basically every junction, then refused to start and I had to basically abandon the car. Went back for it and of course it started first time and ran fine all the way home (though didn't take any chances and kept the revs up).

I've checked and cleaned the erg today - seemed pretty clean tbh and spring wasn't sticking at all. I started the car without it and it through a fault code - though seemed to idle quite well. Tried it again without it and it refused to start again...

I've now checked the fuel is diesel (scientific way with a match) and also replaced the fuel filter. Definitely fuel in it and I could hear the system re priming when I turned the ignition on and off a few times. Again refused to start.

Car seems to start fine when its completely cold. Some times runs fine, other times keeps dying.

Any other thoughts?

Complete shot in the dark here, but with you saying it's cutting out at traffic lights etc how is it idling, I'm thinking (probably wrong though) idle control valve if it has one

Seems it starts and runs fine (most of the time) if completely cold. After aprox 20 minutes it starts to feel rough and all the problems start.

I'm guessing the problem is lack of fuel getting to the cylinders, but what would cause it?

I'm thinking I may need to *try* and get her to a diesel specialist.

Problem solved last night - turns out my tuning box is dying and was affecting the fueling even when turned off. Unplugged it at fuel rail and fault went away. Plugged it in again and it came back.

Nice one, I was about to start slagging off fuel pumps lol

Remap people, remap

If you want profi tuning u should come in our land.

Timing belt now changed along with waterpump. Garage said previous mechanic had it 2 teeth out and marked with tipex ?

Going to try and get company to replace tuning box otherwise I'll go the custom route. I like the flexibility of changing maps on the fly though. If I did tune the car further (ie turbo changed etc) I prob would need to go the proper route

I did mention timing, was that causing the problem? When I tried to diagnose my issues, I had no idea it could have been timing.

I will try the box again over the weekend. If it completely behaves suggests the belt had slipped, but does seem a bit strange as car ran fine when cold or box unplugged.