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I have a 1994 diesel Pajero (2800cc) that starts fine, but cuts out about 200m from home after a cold start only.

It then starts after a minute or so, and runs fine after that (with only one exception this morning, where it repeated the stopping trick a second time).

It has been doing this about every second outing from a cold start for the last month. Low fuel level in the tank is not an issue, and has no problems from a warm or hot start. The vehicle was serviced 6 months ago.

Any ideas?

Dave

The scenario you describe is not uncommon with Pajero's of this age.

I suspect the cause of the stalling is air in the fuel system.

After a long stationary period, typically overnight, air can enter the fuel system causing the engine to stall on its initial cold start. Once the engine is running the fuel system self bleeds meaning all the air is flushed out and the engine will normally run OK for the rest of the day.

The most common reason for this problem is a leaking front seal in the high pressure fuel pump.

The pump will need to be removed and dismantled to carry out this repair properly.

Removing and refitting the pump alone is about 6 hours in labour so as you can imagine its not a cheap repair.

The diagnosis above is an educated guess only based on past experience and contacts within the trade.