OK, this is a strange but very bothersome and worrying one as it's
happened twice in last three weeks

First time

Start car, revs slowly fall, engine dies

Restart same thing

Manage to get car to stay running by holding down pedal, notice
petrol gauge at eighth of tank so limp to garage - put petrol in,
car remains running

Then today - five mile drive from work, beastie running perfect,
stop to pick up kitty litter, two minute later rstart car and same
behaviour as above - petrol gauge at three quarters this time so
not low on fuel

Have left it to cool for an hour, going to wash it now, and will
restart after that and see what happens (maybe it doesn't like
being dirty!)

Will report back after that what happens, but any thoughts?

Thanks

chris (not having a good day - email system on desktop not working
across entire government dept this morning so trying to work solely
from blackberry, and now this!)

The CKPS (crank position sensor) on these cars is known for intermittent failure and is apparently a pretty common occurance after time. Many folks carry a spare. Short of a better suggestion, I might try a new CKPS.

From reading various threads over time, can only agree with you Ross. (how's about a clean).

Chris, Blackberries are just about coming into season, send everyone out to pick 'em, and have a Jam session.

Agree with Crank sensor.

Also how long since the fuel filter was changed, if more than 2 years, or unknown, I would change it, coz it really does sound like fuel starvation.

Another thing raising its head lately is the black goo inside the throttle housing, around the disc, which reeks havoc with idle speed. Clean it was a solvent soaked rag.

I also agree with CKPS. I would also check these;

idle speed control valve (stepper motor)
dirty throttle
fuel pump

I experienced the failures of both CKPS and fuel pump recently, the symptoms were really close.