Random Stopping Might Be Back - Or Not...

October 21, 2015

Hello folks. I don't think I ever got around to discussing this here before. I got my 100K 05 diesel in October last year and about February it began to randomly stop without warning - every few days, so off to the garage. The fault codes weren't much help. Three warning lights on the dash would eventually spontaneously disappear. Then it would happen again. It gradually took longer and longer to restart. Off to a diesel specialist for whom it refused to misbehave.

One of the things the latter mechanic mentioned was that he'd unplugged the injector control unit (I think I've got that right) in case some slight tarnish was happening within.

Fast-forward to last night and it had been working sweet as could be since Easter, then it wouldn't start to go home. Wait and breathe deeply, try again and push the gas, and it reluctantly started, and drove home fine with the warning lights on as before.

Today I went out and uplugged and replugged the unit - and the warning lights are gone! Seems fine again.

So my question; is this a known problem, if so is it the icu that's making the difference? Is there something more sinister going on?

October 22, 2015

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if the the 2.0 is it this ecu here which sits near the washer bottle, was the unit replaced?(if it does not require coding) and you think its the unit I would replace it is not hard to replace your self in the meantime I would get electrical contact cleaner (Halfords done one 3.99) and clean the contacts.

I have not had this problem and my cars are nearly touching 180,000 same engines.

October 22, 2015

Its the 2.2 but that unit is the same.

Today's update; having seemed fixed yesterday (though no driving) this morning it was very slow to start again, fault lights back. I was driving along when it cut out without warning, and did so a couple of times more on the way to the garage.

The injector fault codes refused to clear. They sprayed the connections with contact cleaner. Now it more or less refuses to do anything so is being lifted down to the diesel specialist 20 miles away for further tests before the new injector unit gets ordered.

if the the 2.0 is it this ecu here which sits near the washer bottle, was the unit replaced?(if it does not require coding) and you think its the unit I would replace it is not hard to replace your self in the meantime I would get electrical contact cleaner (halfords done one 3.99) and clean the contacts.
I have not had this problem and my cars are nearly touching 180,000 same engines.

October 22, 2015

what are the fault codes and have you searched them on the forum to see if someone else has had the problem their maybe an answer the in posts.

October 22, 2015

what are the fault codes and have you searched them on the forum to see if someone else has had the problem their maybe an answer the in posts.

Sorry I didn't make a note of the fault codes when I was at the garage.

October 27, 2015

Final - hopefully - update on this.

The Avensis was towed down to a diesel specialist, still showing fault codes, who according to the invoice;

"found Injector Contactor Connectors were spread apart. Gently bend/realign Connectors and refitted plug"

... since when car was driven back 20 miles and by me back home.

Tangential thought; there was a big problem towing the car, as the towing hook near the front was inaccessible to the garage's fixed bar system - without crushing the bumper. So they took it off to tow. At least, in so doing, they confirmed that there had been previous damage to the O/S as had been suspected due to the different headlight units.