Def TD5 sudden stop

[Fraz]

Been chasing this for a while now, second time its happened.

Both times the A/C was on, not driving it hard
On the Hwy at 100kmh the temp guage shoots to red, tacho loses power, no dash warning lights at all, and instant engine stall. Speedo still works.
The fuel circuit seems to switch off as ignition wont power fuel pump, glow plugs etc.
Give it 5 mins on the side of the road and everythings fine.

No excess heat in engine bay
No smell of coolant or leaks
No oil loss
Nothing out of the ordinary

Am I right in assuming the temp sender is dying and the ecu is protecting the engine from overheating?

[goingbush]

This is where a Nanocom would be handy.

What does the fuel gauge do ?

The Tacho Fuel gauge & temp gauge all use a common earth.

Could be an earth fault or dodgy connection to the temp sender.

With the engine running wiggle the temp sender plug & see if it dies.
Might be as simple & unplugging & cleaning the contacts.

[Graeme]

D2 TD5 engines have a small wiring loom that runs across the front of the engine to the coolant temp sensor, the MAF and a few other places so I expect the Def TD5 engines have this loom too. The wires get chaffed by the disintegrating plastic protective cover and wear the insulation causing various problems, usually by short circuiting the MAF 12V supply and blowing its fuse. Perhaps check the condition of these wires.

[Fraz]

Not 100% sure but I think the fuel guage was still on. When it happened I thaught it would be a great idea to use my shiny 2 week old nanocom, as soon as I plugged it in it blew a fuse. No power to the obd port but I'm not sure which fuse it was or what else died with it. I'll check when I head home tomorrow.
I'll give the connections a good clean up too but there won't be any real way to test to see if it was the problem :(

Thanks for the help!