C5 1.6 Hdi Diesel - Engine Fading/stalling Whilst Driving

[jonnie45]

Hi

 

I wondered if anyone can help.

 

I have a 2005 1.6Hdi C5 diesel

 

Yesterday and today the engine faded whilst I was driving, lights and dash stayed illuminated so no loss of electrics but engine faded not unlike when trying to jump start and the motion of the vehicle is driving the engine rather than the engine driving the car.

 

Its cold here - day time temperatures of 0 deg C.

Both times I had just left home so from a cold start.

Both times the car started instantly when first turned on and re-started without complaint when I pulled in to the side of the road.

 

Suspects?

 

I don't know if the ECU controls power to the fuel pump but if it does then my ECU is a bit dicky, it seems to have an electrical connection issue - I get false errors now and then. This will be fixed soon ( ongoing situation between me, a second hand car salesman and his buddy mechanic and their electronics friend - too complex and frustrating to list here ).

 

I am hoping its the low temperatures, I am in a rural area and I very much doubt my local fuel station will have even thought about winter fuels, they are independent and a rule unto themselves.

 

I would be more confident that this was the problem except for the fact that the car starts first time when I go out in the morning and also RE-starts first time after the engine fades - I would have expected any kind of filter restriction to not show such a clean recovery.

 

Just wondered if anyone had suggestions on my list of suspects or other ones I should be thinking about.

 

Thanks

Jon

 

 

 

[paul.h]

Does the engine management light come on when it stalls ? When was the fuel filter last changed ? If the petrol station sells a lot of fuel then by now I would have thought it would be selling winter diesel but I would think summer fuels would still be ok unless you are getting below freezing - this gives some info and it looks as if winter fuels should be sold from November https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_diesel_fuel .

 

It could well be an ecu/wiring problem that is stopping the engine so you could have a look for any damaged wiring around the engine.

 

Ideally you need to plug the car into a code reader that does live data so you can see what is happening rather than guessing.