broke down on A500

[chris_harvey]

i was on my way back from derby to liverpool and that car started playing up . i had me foot on the gas doing about 60 - 65 and it started to feel like the power was coming on and off as if i was taking the pedal off and on but i wasn't it was like it was starved of diesel then coming back then going i geared down to try sort it out and it worked for a few miles then it happend agen i was gettin worried . i had over a quarter of a tank of diesel so it wasn't that then all over a sudden whilst doing 60 the car engine just died luckily ther was a lil pull in/small hard shoulder for me to stop in i stoped checked the water check 2 see anythink obvious under the bonnet to find nothing .
i set of agen got about a 3 or 4 miles onto the m6 and it started agen lacking power and pulling back if you get what i mean . i stoped at sandbatch services and sat ther for about 20 mins with engine off and checked around the throttle body and throttle cable everythink looked OK . decided to try and get home the 35 od miles bk to liverpool before i left the services i put another 10

[howlinmadmartin]

not sure what others think but could be diesel starvation have you changed the fuel filter lately, if not maybe now is the time to do so. also have you checked the sediment filter at the rear of the car on the inside of the o/s chassis under the boot floor, these have a habit of being all full of crud. hope this helps. :lol:

[Yoshi]

Yeah, as above, sounds like fuel getting low and the crap in the bottom of the tank circulating.

[chris_harvey]

yer i regularly service the car . the fuel filter was changed about 2 months ago so i think that is still ok , i havent yet changed the sedimenter as only had the car about 8 months . as for the fuel getting low i dunno wether it could be that as ther was about 10-15

[chris_harvey]

I've had a look at the sedimentor filter today what an awkward thing to get to ha! I can't work out how to get it down do I loosen the nut on the top ? Or does it spin off like a fuel filter? Also is ther any symtoms for a lift pump on it's way out ??

[lurch_917]

most of the people i know have just bypassed the sedimenter with a bit of pipe as it can cause a  load of probs

[john656]

is your fuel gauge correct?

[chris_harvey]

As far as I know yer it's never been wring in the time I've had the car

[ChrisW70]

As far as I know the sedimenter stays on the chassis - there's a small (about a penny size) plastic drain plug on the bottom that you can unscrew to drain the contents - the tab usually breaks off so be careful how you go about it.

[chris_harvey]

ill try takin that out this afternoon see how it goes .   as i said before is ther any symtoms of a worn lift pump ??? or could it be to do with the diesel injectors ??

[ChrisW70]

I think typical lift pump failure symptoms are loss of power and/or stalling, doesn't sound like your on/off description but that's not to say it has to be a definite power loss.
To check the pump, open the bleed screw on the top of the fuel filter on the bulkhead and turn the engine over - if no fuel is pushed out it definitely points towards the lift pump being suspect.
Price of a lift pump is 15 to 20 quid, part number is ERR5057 so for a few quid it may be worthwhile replacing anyway if you're gonna have the motor for some time.

[topless matt]

I would have said that there is a little hole in the fuel pick up pipe in the tank.
When the fuel reaches this level, in your case 1/4 full, it starts to draw in air every now and then as the hole becomes exposed as the fuel moves about in the tank.
Id suggest getting the tank below 1/4 and seeing if the engine dies and then refuses to start, that will show if air is getting into the system in the way that i described.