Have bought a second hand smax which will intermittently take several times to start. It will crank over but not take. Its as if there is an issue with fuel or oxygen feed at start up. Once started it works perfectly.

Garage found fault relating to the MAP sensor which has been replaced but not sorted the issue.

No fault codes before or since.

Does anyone have an idea what might be causing the issue? Is this a common issue with smax cars with a simple solution. Considering the car runs well once started I can't believe that its a major fault. Something getting stuck?

Here is a video of the issue:

https://youtu.be/eHrI5fhlNRI

Thanks

Is it worse on cold starts?

Have you checked glowplugs?

No rhyme or reason. Issue could happen after a drive or first thing in the morning, warm or cold weather. Glow plugs checked and all OK. Thanks for the reply.

So it looks like after 4 trips to the garage we have a solution. It was the inlet manifold butterfly flap. It was getting stuck in the closed position intermittently after the engine was switched off. It's meant to close in order to stop air getting into the engine immediately after switching off the engine, then after a few seconds it opens again. Mine however wasn't aligned properly and was sticking closed. Anyway, valve was replaced and so far the car starts every time. Common problem apparently with the 2.0 tdci smax. Hope this helps others.