AndyRH

Thanks for the interestig comments - if I had more knowledge and experience I might give it another go... The Skoda-Seat garage did replace the engine-speed sensor; is this another name for the cam-position sensor? anyway instead it's on ebay now... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270579183664

Hi Ian, Still nothing definitive to report unfortunately and car is about to go on ebay as a "Spare or Repair". My car runs fine if it can start but if turned off, even for just a few minutes, might not restart. It might be a problem relating to the crank speed/position sensor, possibly being magnetised? This was the oppinion of the last AA technician; he managed to get the car started twice at the roadside (which was twice more than either of the two previous guys); this involved first time resetting the ECU (temporarily disconnecting; with the keys out); second time this didn't work but easy-start did (we left the engine running the second time). I might have been wrong about the fuel pump priming; I now think Confused_Cheese is right and it only pre-primes when the tank is part empty; the car's priming fine just now but not starting. Good luck with your car Andy

Hi My Fabia 1.9tdi has intermittently been refusing to start, possibly due to the fuel system - has anyone experienced something similar? Started a couple of days after an annual service/MOT - car wouldn't start - AA couldn't do anything - general garage couldn't do anything - and then on to Skoda franchise (near work). After several weeks, car returned; they had replaced two sensors (which had triggered faults on the ECU) and put in temporary wiring but two days later same problem. On to a different garage (since this time near home) and although they have been more responsive and communicative, problem reoccurred two days after return to me. It's difficult to diagnose since once the technicians have got it started one way or the other, the car starts absolutely fine and they need to wait a or two day for the problem to reappear. Before, everytime the car was started, you could here a whooshing sounds (as the fuel system was primed) - now, I never hear that sound. But why? When it refused to start, the AA technician did the usual checks and saw that fuel was reaching the fuel filter. The ECU logs various faults and so has now been checked by a specialist but appears ok. If anyone has experienced something similar, how was it fixed; it's been two months and probably 1/3 of the car's value so far. Skoda Fabia 1.9TDi 02 reg 80k miles previous owner drove 30k in 5 years; I drive maybe 20k per year majority motorway thanks Andy