I sent my 36,000 four and a half year old 1.9 sdi into the main dealer for a cam belt change since it was past the four year deadline for the original belt. This car has always started like a dream - I don't even need to wait for the heater plug light to go out and it would start instantly, within a half second and run clean from the first turn of the key.

I got the car back last Friday and since then, starting has been really poor, with sometimes three and four rough chuggy attempts on the starter and then clouds of grey smoke and a rough half minute while the engine warms up with plenty of revs. This is too much of a coincidence to me after a major intervention like change of cam belt. Once running, it goes ok, but it could be a touch down on power tHOUGH I COULD BE IMAGINING THIS - if it is down, it isn't drastic. Even two hours after a twelve mile run, I get the same kind of palaver, chug cghug chug cough start smoke.

I've never touched this engine at all with anything but a duster after checking the oil, but it seems to me the belt could be slightly mistimed, or maybe something hasn't been put back after being disturbed in getting to the timing belt.

Any ideas please?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Sounds to me like the fuel pump timing is out... Has your economy changed at all??

SDI down on power, (sorry :P).

Get it back to the dealer pronto.

Sounds to me like the fuel pump timing is out... Has your economy changed at all??

SDI down on power, (sorry :P).

Get it back to the dealer pronto.

LOL - yeah - down on power - that's why I said I couldn't be sure.

I phoned the dealer and they said they'd have it back on Thursday. I was sort of hoping that there might be a simple fix like a disconnected wire or some such wishful thinking solution.

I haven't done more than about fifty miles so I haven't been near the filling station yet.

The way it chugs when I try to start it makes me think it is actually getting the squit of fuel too early, so your fuel pump timing point rings true. It's really rough and then, I disappear in smoke like a WW1 destroyer trying to hide. This from a car that never even made a bad diesel smell on a cold morning is a bit much.

Souns like timing off to me too.

Got the car back from the dealer last night. Problem entirely gone. It started without a cough this morning after a chilly night on the drive. He said they'd checked the entire job over and the only change they made was to some seals in the fuel line. Apparently, they have to break the fuel line to do the cam belt change. He said it was a resting pressure problem caused by a failed seal after the line was opened up.

This doesn't make sense to me. If air was leaking in, the pump would surely supply less fuel. How would that create a coughing smokey start up. The mixture would surely be weak, but diesels run very weak anyway unless you floor the pedal.

I'm wondering if it was mistimed and he just didn't want to say so because it would reflect badly on the workshop.

Got the car back from the dealer last night. Problem entirely gone. It started without a cough this morning after a chilly night on the drive. He said they'd checked the entire job over and the only change they made was to some seals in the fuel line. Apparently, they have to break the fuel line to do the cam belt change. He said it was a resting pressure problem caused by a failed seal after the line was opened up.

This doesn't make sense to me. If air was leaking in, the pump would surely supply less fuel. How would that create a coughing smokey start up. The mixture would surely be weak, but diesels run very weak anyway unless you floor the pedal.

I'm wondering if it was mistimed and he just didn't want to say so because it would reflect badly on the workshop.

Sounds like they didn't bother to test this properly after the work was completed. If they had, surely they would have realised something was wrong and rectified it before returning the car. If they did not bothered to check then it's just as likely that they didn't get the timing correct in the first place. Good to hear that all is well now!