Results of this.
I thought that I would come back and let you all know the outcome of my issue.
It seems that my issue was a compounding of issues some of them related.
After the original posts and suggestions from members, (thank you very much). I checked and cleaned the plenum drains. Although draining was slower than optimum, they were not completely blocked.
Over about three weeks I persevered with the car, continuing as it had, cutting out randomly, sometimes not for a few days, sometimes a few times a day.
One day, it would not start at all. I called AA and the chap went through his diagnostic procedure. He thought that the supply of fuel from the under bonnet fuel pipe was poor. He took out the rear seat, there was a small pool of diesel sitting in the pump well under the seat. It seems that the garage who replaced the in-tank pump, cut the black plastic pipe and because it was now too short, bodged on an extension which was leaking. The AA gent unscrewed and pulled out the pump only to find part of the pump float assembly was just flapping around in the tank. He put that back properly then fitted a proper extension to the fuel pipe. After doing this he went back round the front of the car and confirmed low-pressure fuel was being delivered, he noted my nearly brand new front fuel pump was noisy, great! The car still would not start, then the battery started to fail with all this engine turning over activity. Finally he squirted easy start into the intake, the engine tried to start. The AA gent concluded that the problem was on the high-pressure side of the fuel delivery.
The car was transported to a local garage where after a couple of days they diagnosed a high-pressure pump failure. They fitted a new one at great cost. The garage then phoned me and said to me they had good and bad news. The good news was that after the high-pressure pump was fitted the car started and ran straight away in the workshop. The bad news was that they took it on a road test during which the car broke down, belching smoke and sucking (they found later) engine oil through the engine and filling the intercooler. On the same phone call he suggested that at least one of the injectors must be blocked for this to happen, probably caused by the failing high-pressure pump. Now, he suggested a set of diesel injectors, ouch! I sourced these myself using Ebay from Latvia, of all places. The garage fitted the new injectors, the car ran fine and I picked it up.
Two weeks later it cut out again, albeit very briefly. This time I noticed a bit more detail. Straight after cutting out, if you moved the ignition key to position 1 you could not hear the fuel pump start even though the rest of the system had initiated, ignition, oil pressure and other lights that cycle on when you start the car. If I cycled the key between off and position 1repeatedly, not starting the starter motor after a few turns the pump(s) would come on, made easier by the noisy front pump, and you can start the car and move off.
So again, now being 2 months after my original post I again, checked the plenums, this time I took out ECU, cleaned connectors with contact cleaner and made and broke them a few times. Got out my solder iron and resoldered the connectors on the board and anything else that looked iffy. The ECU actually looked ok, none of the reported 'tide marks'. I put it all back together again and it has been fine ever since, (1 week has passed).
I now have a week of travelling so this will be the test. In the meantime, I have bought a Facelift Tourer, KV6, off another member as my old diesel is going on the automotive naughty step now for being a pain in the butt!
Thank god for AA BRC, it is the only way it was worth keep repairing the old diesel, time after time and take the pain out of the finances. I can definitely recommend it, if like me you are trying to keep a car going that normally would have been scrapped a couple of years ago. I have had a clutch & hydraulics, road springs, water pump, high-pressure diesel pump, brake calliper, all on AA BRC paying the first £500.00.
Cheers
Toby
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