LDV Commercial Range

The most likely cause of this is a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that is either blocked or on its way to becoming blocked and needs cleaning. Soot build-up in a DPF can restrict the flow of exhaust gasses, at which point you might also find the car’s computer will limit performance to avoid doing damage to the engine.

You can either try to force the DPF to regenerate, or you may have to have the DPF manually cleaned or even replaced.

The other possibility is a problem with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve which can also become clogged with soot and affect the vehicle’s performance and emissions. Either way a check up at a workshop with the appropriate scanning equipment is necessary.

Conventional wisdom suggests that a modern electronic fuel-injection system is smart enough not to flood an engine when starting., However, experience tells me that sometimes, you can get excess fuel into the engine if it doesn’t fire straight away. However, if you keep trying to start it, that fuel should pass through the engine, and it should eventually fire. So, I’d say your problem is something else.

A mechanic would probably start by checking things like whether the fuel pump is operating, the fuel and air filters, fuel pressure and whether the fuel injectors are pulsing when they should be. Your problem is likely to be a shortage of fuel rather than too much of it, so checking the fuel delivery pressure and rate is a critical step.

Start with the basics, including checking the fuse(s) that control these functions. But don’t dig too deep, because this is a warranty issue and is LDV’s responsibility to fix. The only exception would be if somebody other than LDV has fiddled with the car or somehow modified the dashboard or wiring. That could include an aftermarket workshop fitting auxiliary lighting or even possibly a different stereo head unit. Beyond that, it’s a pretty straightforward case of a warranty claim. Don’t make it your problem if you don’t have to.