312 motor sudden death

[farrout]

recently upgraded to 1996 lwb sprinter from trusty rusty 1990 mwb 308d. new van has new dealer fitted turbo and fuel ancillaries by previous owner in attempt to solve intermittent sudden engine cut out.mb dealer diagnostics have always shown no fault.motor starts/runs well good power etc,but then will cut out ,4 times in the 6 months i have owned the van,all systems power steering etc fail.dicey on roundabouts and the fast lane. any clues?l

 

[GEORGEROV]

Had the same fault on my 500 when I first got it and the reason the previous owner sold the car I think!. Would run perfectly most of the time and then once a fortnight would just die. Eventually traced it (took 3 months) to a nut cross threaded on a coil terminal. Initially the connection seemed tight but occasionally would loosen off when temperature under bonnet was right!. This obviosly wont be your problem but a similar electrical connection might be doing the same thing. Worth a thought maybe.

 

[farrout]

thanks for clue

will put on my head torch and crawl about looking for loose wires or potential earths

 

[television]

Could this be the crankshaft sensor going OC at times when hot,,does it re start immediately

 

[farrout]

does restart and or bump if rolling at speed ,but subsequent engine performance iffy to say the least. over heat an interesting avenue.i'd like to be earning and learning but walking the distances reqd. wont cover extra time in nursing home.any further views welcome

 

[dava]

Earth wire to block, beside starter, as well as were it fits to the chassis under battery, look for bad connection. Also the main wiring harness is clipped to the block by a metal clamp just back of the starter. This rubs through on the metal clamp and shorts to earth.

 

[farrout]

i was thinking this must be a common enough fault ,but being a chippy my mechanical knowledge some what restricted.glad of all help and opinions so far