Just spent the afternoon doing a bit of towing - A rescue job for a felllow member and locost builder; He has a Skoda FAbia (diesel) VRS that cut out and decided it didn't want to play the game any more. There are no fault codes stored and the engine management light is off.
The car tries to start but doesn't quite make it. Lift pump runs.

Any ideas?

We're all out of em.

Do what the main stealer would do and give it back to the customer, the comptuter says it's OK so it must be

fuel solenoid???

Brothers Volvo had faulty injector that dropped pressure in the system . If started on brake cleaner it would run OK but not restart if left. Fuel solonoid would cause engine to cut out and not restart, a right P.I.T.A to get at if it has the security cover

Thanks for the quick responses fellas. It's a PD system (Pumpe Düse) which has an integrated pump/solenid/injector assembly (x4) and I suppose (by the sounds) a lift pump in the back of the car.
Would a single ropey injector assembly cause the thing to not start though?
Any idea how to test this pump solenoid? (I'm assuming this is the one controlling the lift pump) Or it's location?
Talk about over complicated....

check the fuse box - a relay will have 109 written on it, should be grey with the text upside down, if it isn't then it should be replaced, could well be the cause. Do a search for 'VW Tdi sudden death' and you will see it is a common issue. New part is £15 and is made massively more robust.

HTH

I had a major problem with my VRS a few months ago. There is a common problem with the engine bay loom. What happens is that water gets into the loom behind the battery and o/s side inner wheel arch.
The loom in this area bends under the ABS unit just like a u bend under a kitchen sink that collects water. The problem is that the water in time rots the wires So be careful as wires could snap when touched. I'm not saying this is your problem. But I would defiantly remove the harness tape to let water escape. It'll take an hour max to remove the airbox and battery etc to sort it.

Carl

[Edited on 20/4/08 by carlgeldard]

Skoda lovers may remember the thread a few weeks back where I asked for helpful advice on behalf of a woman at work who had a Skoda that kept dying suddenly , eventually the dealer offered her a fantastic deal on a new car as they were struggling to find the fault economically, so she is now driving around reliably , not sure who got the old one.
Not a hijack just another bit of info for the pot!
atb
Mike

It ran if we took the air intake pipe off....

Which meant that the engine was starved of air. There was lots of oil around the intercooler bottom hose connection....
anybody guessed it yet?

......and shrapnel in the intercooler

Turbo had gone phut.

bugger.