Am stuck at home waiting for a breakdown truck to turn up. :(

Engine turns over nicely but won't fire up.

It did this before, about a month ago, and that time the breakdown man squirted an aerosol into the air intake (Easy-Start or somesuch? He said it was ether anyway) to get it going. It was still spluttery when we tried to start it a few minutes later - it gradually got back to normal through the day.

I took it to the dealers the next day, but they said no fault logged, couldn't find a problem, suggested maybe dirty fuel had blocked something. But I didn't have any problems after that point.

That time it had stood unused for a week (probably for the 1st time in years) which I thought might be why it didn't start.

But it's showing very similar symptoms this morning, even though it was used yesterday (nearly 200 miles round trip).

It did show reluctance to start a couple of time before, when it spluttered into life after much coaxing - both times from warm (eg. after stopping for fuel on the motorway).

Any ideas? Anything I should ask the breakdown man/woman to check for when he/she turns up, in case there's "no fault" again?

Thanks for your help

David

Has it been regularly serviced?

Has it been regularly serviced?

Yep - every service from new, on time, at a Skoda dealer...

Possible fuel filter problem - has it actually been drained/changed?

Possible fuel filter problem - has it actually been drained/changed?

It's only had standard Skoda servicing. Looking through receipts it looks like it had a new fuel filter exactly a year ago today (at 160K).

The 180K service doesn't show anything about it - they may not even have drained it by the looks of things.

Also took it for a run on a dual carriageway just now - it got to 70 OK but after a few seconds it suddenly starting to lose power (luckily not a busy road) and I found myself slowing down. When I declutched it wouldn't rev to much more than 2000 revs. It felt a bit like the effect you get when you touch the brake pedal while using the accelerator as well & the engine management cuts the power.

But after changing gear a couple of times the power came back.

It's still spluttering when I start it, though.

That's why I asked if it had been serviced.

Thanks for your advice.

I double-checked my service receipts for the last year - the "Drain Fuel Filter (Diesel)" item isn't ticked for the 180K service. (Since it was a Skoda dealer, it looks to me from the service recommendations that they should have done this at 180K :( ) .

So is the theory that the fuel filter is full of gunk and this is stopping fuel getting to the engine somehow? If so, why is this only a problem on starting but once going (apart from the odd hiccup) it seems to run OK?

Will they be able to drain the fuel filter easily?