Completely Baffled

[charco]

hi, im wondering has any1 any advice atal iv completely ran outa patience with my 2005 tx3 avensis 1.8 petrol. while driving in traffic one day the engine completely shut off. the ignition was still on, dash lights it even is turning over but wouldnt fire up. so had it taken to a family mechanic. the computer brought up crank shaft sensor fault so new one bought and replaced however it still refused to fire. the old sensor was then replaced believing that this wasnt the problem and low n behold it started. soon after it stopped again and after sum deliberation a new ecu was bought and fitted only to find that this wasnt the prob either. the electric wiring has been totally inspected and rewired (main stuff anyway) and gladlly it fired up. however after a week while on the motorway the engine cut out again in the same manner. i wonder has any1 any views on this the car has been off the road for 6months and has cost nearly 400quid and still the prob hasnt been rectified. any help ideas or maybe sum1 has encountered this before cheers..

[charco]

iv done a bit of research and wondered could it poss be a faulty lamda sensor? i had noticed when the car was going it idled very high.. could this be the prob?

[garethpaul]

unlikely - a faulty lambda sensor shouldn't cause an engine to suddenly cut out.

My first suspicions would be either an ignition problem or a faulty fuel pump - can you hear the fuel pump working?

When the car will not start, you could try spraying some "engine start spray" into the throttle body whilst getting someone to turn the key. If it fires up then dies again when you stop spraying it is a fuel delivery problem - e.g. faulty pump, blocked filter, etc.

Has it brought up any new codes?

Hope you get to the bottom of it.

[+robster+]

were the crank sensor plug pins inspected and the wiring to the ecu rewired with the signal wire back to the ecu shielded from interference?

is crank sensor pickup clean and free from scratching?

crank sensor seated properly and free from dampness?

could be something else like immobiliser

have you checked fuel pump relay or inline filter?