I'm in need of some wisdom from anyone who may be able to suggest a fix to my current problem!
Car had just returned from the garage on Saturday morning following a re-con nerside caliper and new indicator/headlight column switch to pass the MOT. On my way down the outside lane of the M3 southbound near Eastleigh yesterday doing approx. 75 ish when the engine just suddenly died. Managed to get over to the hard shoulder and she wouldn't start again (turned over fine though). Had a quick look under the bonnet to check for anything obvious but no signs of any issue so attempted a restart to no avail and rang the AA. They said the current wait was 90 mins but they would put me on priority as I was on the motorway! They called back to say they would have someone with me in approx 1 hour! After I had waited a while I tried restarting and she fired and ticked over okay for about 5 mins. I was in a queue waiting for the AA to pickup the phone to tell them I was okay when the temp guage reached a point where the fan normally cuts in which I think I heard and it cut out again and wouldn't restart. I put the phone down thinking perhaps I will let them come after all and waited another 5 mins before trying a restart again. She started fine and was running for about ten minutes and this time I lifted the bonnet and increased the revs and let the fan cut in and out twice (with no cutting out of the engine) whilst in the phone queue to the AA again whn the guy with a low loader turned up. First thing he said was 'I have just come from another one of these - a white one with an alternator problem, followed by 'I wouldn't trust an old car like this on a long journey'! - Very helpful. Anyway, I explained the symptoms and he checked the fan cut in and out without the engine cutting out before he escorted me back onto the motorway at which point I came off the slip road to head back home. A couple of miles down the road it cut out again - temp gauge at same position as before and fan on. She started about a minute or so later and I managed to get her home again (approx. 20 miles) by keeping the temp down below the fan cut in point. Jumped in this morning to go to work thinking I would keep the temp down but she wouldn't start at all.
Do these sound like symptoms of a dodgy DME relay or something more sinister or heat related? Any help gratefully received as I had to use my wifes VW Sharan this morning which is an issue as it's now half term.
Car had just returned from the garage on Saturday morning following a re-con nerside caliper and new indicator/headlight column switch to pass the MOT. On my way down the outside lane of the M3 southbound near Eastleigh yesterday doing approx. 75 ish when the engine just suddenly died. Managed to get over to the hard shoulder and she wouldn't start again (turned over fine though). Had a quick look under the bonnet to check for anything obvious but no signs of any issue so attempted a restart to no avail and rang the AA. They said the current wait was 90 mins but they would put me on priority as I was on the motorway! They called back to say they would have someone with me in approx 1 hour! After I had waited a while I tried restarting and she fired and ticked over okay for about 5 mins. I was in a queue waiting for the AA to pickup the phone to tell them I was okay when the temp guage reached a point where the fan normally cuts in which I think I heard and it cut out again and wouldn't restart. I put the phone down thinking perhaps I will let them come after all and waited another 5 mins before trying a restart again. She started fine and was running for about ten minutes and this time I lifted the bonnet and increased the revs and let the fan cut in and out twice (with no cutting out of the engine) whilst in the phone queue to the AA again whn the guy with a low loader turned up. First thing he said was 'I have just come from another one of these - a white one with an alternator problem, followed by 'I wouldn't trust an old car like this on a long journey'! - Very helpful. Anyway, I explained the symptoms and he checked the fan cut in and out without the engine cutting out before he escorted me back onto the motorway at which point I came off the slip road to head back home. A couple of miles down the road it cut out again - temp gauge at same position as before and fan on. She started about a minute or so later and I managed to get her home again (approx. 20 miles) by keeping the temp down below the fan cut in point. Jumped in this morning to go to work thinking I would keep the temp down but she wouldn't start at all.
Do these sound like symptoms of a dodgy DME relay or something more sinister or heat related? Any help gratefully received as I had to use my wifes VW Sharan this morning which is an issue as it's now half term.
