Stalling and Engine Management Light flashing on and off.

[chillertwist]

Hiya

I own a Peugeot 306 2.0 Xsi on an M Plate.

For a while, the engine managemant light flashes on briefly as I am driving along and the car lurches forward briefly and then goes back to normal. About 5 years ago, it had a similar problem and the MAP sensor was replaced to fix it so I wonder if this might be the same problem again.

In addition to the above, there is now an additional problem where the car stalls when I am stationary in traffic, or slowing to a stop. It happened the first time about a month ago, and the red and green lights on the immobiliser were solid so it wouldn't accept the code and I couldn't restart the car. A few blokes pushed me to a safer spot and I switched everything off and got out of the car before locking it with the keyfob. After waiting a couple of minutes, I could see that the immobiliser lights had changed to a single red flashing light, so I got back in the car and it started straight away when I input the code.

Yesterday, I was driving home in the rain and the same problem happened. I was in a queue of traffic and the engine just cut out all of a sudden. It was like the engine power just dropped for no reason. Again, I needed to be pushed to the side of the road and then reset everything because I couldn't restart.

Last night, I disconnected the immobiliser completely (pulled the plug out the back of the keypad whilst the engine was running) thinking that this was the reason I couldn't restart. I can cope with stalling but its the not being able to restart in busy traffic that gets me annoyed because i'm heavily pregnant and get a bit stressed out by it!

Drove the car this morning for about 3 miles, came up to a junction and as I slowed down it stalled again. Even though the immobiliser was disconnected, I still couldn't restart and had to turn the engine off, lock the car, unlock and restart again!! I'm getting a bit fed up with it now.

The following may be relevant.............1) My petrol is on the red both yesterday and today. 2) My car went through the MOT fine last week with no problems or advisories. 3) Both the Engine Management Light problem and the Stalling problem seems to be worse in wet weather.

Can anyone give me any pointers or ideas of what is causing this? I've got the car booked into a garage for Friday, but it would be helpful if I could guide the mechanic in the right direction!!

Thanks guys

[Matt]

Something wrong. Mine did the same couple weeks back.
But broken it for parts before its had the chance to fully break lol. Another thing which added to "reasons to break"

[chillertwist]

Something wrong. Mine did the same couple weeks back.
But broken it for parts before its had the chance to fully break lol. Another thing which added to "reasons to break"

Sorry your car died a death and had to be broken up. I'm really hoping mine can be salvaged because its been a great little car. Just wish I could get to the bottom of this little problem!

[spike2002]

By bypassing the imobaliser that rules that out i think you need to get it on pp and get any fault codes read i would say probly a duff sensor mayb.

Remove and clean icv as thats probly why its stalling at junctions you may need to replace it if cleaning doesnt fix it. Common problem with the 306
Also check the main loom conections from the engine loom to the car and check for corosion in them

[4WayDiablo]

As said the idle control valve (ICV) could be at fault or failing that the throttle position sensor (TPS) could be at fault.
As for where they are I don't know as its not very often an 8v XSI comes along. (I'm assuming that due to age)

I would definatly get the immobiliser bypassed as that could be the trouble if there are wires that have worn through or something it could cause the immobiliser to turn the engine off

Oh, and hi welcome to the club lol

[spike2002]

4waydiablo she has had imobaliser bypassed by disconecting keypad while the car is running

[4WayDiablo]

Oh okay I'd still disconnect it anyway. Silly things tbh they only seem to work right when pretty much brand new

[spike2002]

I disconected my keypad on my old 1.6 as i used to put the code in correct and the light used to stay red got fed up of it so disconected it while the car was running no trouble after that

[chillertwist]

Thanks guys! Sounds like the idle control valve could be the prime suspect! Anyone got an idea of how much a garage would charge to source the part and then fit it?? - just want to make sure i'm not getting ripped off!

I will ask them to stick the car on the diagnostic machine before rushing in, just in case there are other errors. I'm surprised nothing was picked up on the MOT but the garage I used for that are a bit dodgy I think - they charged me £250 for the test, 2 tyres and some light bulbs.....doesn't sound right to me!! I had cat to back done the previous year for only £50 more!!

I didn't break down on the way home tonight, but when crawling in traffic I suddenly had a dip in power and had to quickly get my revs up to stop it cutting out. At least i made it home without any embarassment!!

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it

[spike2002]

Get the garage or someone who knows what they are doing to remove the icv and give it a good clean then try it no new parts needed that way and only labour its a 10 min job max.

And yes i would say £250 was over priced £45 mot tyres presumeing you have 15" £50 each bulbs few quid each :/

[Matt]

Icv is an easy change mate, can be easily done yourself. Just give it a clean and see if it stops stalling.

[spike2002]

This link will tell you abit about the icv and how to clean it
http://306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-4283.htm...eaning+icv

And for idea on price of a non genuine one just so u dont get rippd off by the garage

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R...kw=306+icv

[Matt]

With icv if you do replace better to get a genuine icv rather than a copy

[spike2002]

^^^^ what he said but if you carnt afford one then a copy will solve the problem for a while

[4WayDiablo]

Shouldn't be much to get a local garage to do, only an hours labour Max because its fairly accessible

[Niall]

New genuine icv is about £80. The cheap copies work ok for a while but don't last anywhere near as well as the genuine ones (normally about a year before you start having issues again). Depends how long you plan on keeping the car.

Fitting is a 10 minute job but most garages charge a minimum of half hour labour.
I can guarantee the garage will not reset the ECU when fitting the new icv so tell them to remove the battery before fitting and by the time it's fitted, that should be enough time to reset the ECU. Battery back on and should be as good as good.

[bongo]

Sounds like MAP sensor or even bitron unit failure. Not exactly sure what the bitron does tbh but gets mentioned on these threads on the 6 forum and tend to play havoc in the rain.

[chillertwist]

Took it to the garage last Friday and they put it on their machine. The only error being thrown up was the lambda sensor, so i've got the car booked back in for tomorrow to get that replaced.

Mechanic reckons that his machine would have flagged up any valves that need to be replaced so i'm hoping that replacing the lambda will fix the problem. I will keep you posted and thanks for your help everyone.

[Matt]

Sounds like MAP sensor or even bitron unit failure. Not exactly sure what the bitron does tbh but gets mentioned on these threads on the 6 forum and tend to play havoc in the rain.

Bitron unit controls the fans?

[Niall]

Sounds like MAP sensor or even bitron unit failure. Not exactly sure what the bitron does tbh but gets mentioned on these threads on the 6 forum and tend to play havoc in the rain.

Bitron unit controls the fans?

Correct!

Dodgy icv won't come up on a code reader.