HDI Starting issues

[Leedunn86]

right I’m starting to run out of ideas with what’s happening with my car, been having starting issues, and not necessarily when the car is cold, sometimes when you turn the ignition off then try to start the car up the engine turns over but doesn’t catch, have to leave it for a little bit and try again whilst pumping the accelerator seems to do the trick, the car had a new brand new lift pump around 6000 miles, been serviced new filters ect around the same time. Tonight I checked the battery nearly getting 13v with nothing turned on. Started the car with headlights, radio, fan ect on revved the car to 2000rpm and the multimeter reads well over 14/15v. So now I’m stumped my dad seems to think glow plugs but surely it’s not that cold around 5 degrees here atm so I doubt they even turn on. The only other thing I notice on the car is that there a little bit of diesel to the right of injector 1, so I’m thing a injector seal, but would this cause these symptoms :S

oh forgot to mention ive also put a fault code reader on the car and no faults show up so i dont think its MAF or Sensor related

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
Lee

[Toms306]

You're right about the glow plugs, wont even notice them on the HDi until minus figures, and even then it'll start without.

The MAF won't show up on a code reader, but shouldn't cause starting problems anyway.


The battery should be showing 14.4V when charging - but I guess you've rounded up a bit so that's probably fine. Might sound daft but are you turning the key quickly, or leaving it at ignition for a few seconds until the lift pump has finished priming? I've had an issue on two separate with the immobiliser getting stuck on (so no fuel to engine) with turning the key too quickly.

As for the injector seal, if it's leaking enough to reduce compression then that can obviously cause a starting issue....but it wouldn't fix itself just by leaving it for a bit.

[DeeTurbo]

With signs of diesel leaking around the injectors I would nip up the fuel unions that go the the injectors. There was a recall by Peugeot that was due to these unions coming loose.

A bit of pressure lose at cracking can cause your issue.

When I replaced my injectors one union leaked a little and the cause a starting issue, it basically took a couple more cranks to start. I reseated the union that was leaking and after that it's started first time everytime. You won't need to reseat yours as you haven't taken the union a part. Just try nipping them up a little and see how you get on.

[Leedunn86]

quick question tom, when you said the voltage should be 14.4v should it stay at that voltage constant or change ie go up and down with revs, beginnig to think maybe i got a voltage regulator issue on the alternator

will also have a look at the fuel pipe unions could be 2 issues resulting in these symptoms

thanks guys

[mcglynn]

Can you hear the fuel pump prime everytime yoy turn on the ignition?

IIRC There's a brown relay in the engine bay that can lead to the pump not running/getting power.

If you hear the pump running on those times you turn the ignition on and it doesnt start then your issue is elsewhere.

Id check that first though as the lift pump seems to have been the cause of many starting/running issues on here as of late.

Let us know the cause if/when you do find it as it can help someone in the future.

[Leedunn86]

when i do get to the bottom of the problem i'll post to let everyone know, thanks for the ideas will give it a good look on the weekend when i get some daylight and hopefully find a solution

[mcglynn]

Its hard as its intermittent.

Id say ita definately a fuelling issue as glowplugs dont make a big difference on the hdi engines due to the high fuel pressure.

[Poodle]

Have a look at the link iny sig, might find some useful info in there. If it's intermittent i'd be inclined to suspect electrical issues, or possibly immobiliser.

Pumping the accelerator won't do anything - these engines are fly by wire, so the tps doesn't influence anythung if the engine isn't running.

Maf wouldn't cause this problem.

It's normal to get some voltage fluctuation on the alternator output when varying the revs, but it shouldn't fall outside the 12-16v range.

If the leaky union was causing the issue you would have seem the p0230 code by now, so you can rule that out.

[Leedunn86]

Just bought a new brown relay is it just a matter of taking out the bolt at the top and wiggling the relay free or are there any clips and fastenings holding it in place ?

[Poodle]

Nope, just that bolt and the plug.

[Leedunn86]

Changed this the other day and so far so good, relay was a bit fiddly to change in the dark lol. Its got a split pin to remove then a red locking pin to release to get it out. Been jumping in the car and starting instantly but only time will tell.

[Poodle]

Split pin eh, not seen that before, interesting. Glad it's fixed the issue, fingers crossed it stays that way!

[powerandtorque]

There's normally an R-clip on the fuel pump relay socket from new, same as most of the late 90's PSA models that use the same style relay socket with the sliding latch. The clips are often not refitted when the relay is replaced given that it is quite fiddly to get at, particularly on HDi's etc where it's down the back of the ECU.