Not quite the best description, but it'll have to do! Its a 2001 1.9TDi 100 estate, 75k mileage. Symptons are when starting from hot:

1. Idle at about 1200rpm instead of 850 or so

2. Sometimes when at idle goes up and down between 900 and 1200rpm

3. Start up when warm - shoots up to 1500/1600 and then down to 1200

4. Sometimes goes back to normal idle, sometimes stays up high!

5. Ok when starting from cold - only does it when starting from hot, but its sometimes ok!!!

Think thats about it, I've booked it in for a check over a week on Monday, but would like some ammo, its due a service in about 1000 miles so I'm going to get that done as well as I'm off to Dresden in it at the end of July so there's no point in two trips to the garage. The title of the thread is the best way I could describe it, on race cars I've had that are similar its been a sticky throttle cable, but I thought they were fly-by-wire now.

Any thoughts anyone?

I'd guess at the idle stabilisation control.

Diesels don't have a throttle in the physical sense, of course - so it can't be that!

But as you say, the "throttle" (i.e. amount of fuel added per cycle) is controlled electronically so as Ken says, it might be something electronicky that needs resetting. If it were a petrol car, I'd ask if the temperature gauge has been playing up, as the symptoms sound similar to the ol' coolant temperature sensor problem. Don't know if it affects diesels in the same way, though, but just in case: if the temperature gauge sits at 'cold' every now and again and doesn't rise, then the sensor could well be on the way out. If it is that, it's a fairly easy fix...

HTH

fouled up egr valve??

is it a pd engine or a normal pump injected engine??

Its the PD100 engine ... someone else on a diesel forum has suggested the egr! Last few days its been ok, but its booked in on Monday for its service and hopefully the will be able to see whats happened from the download.