Peugeot 405 starting problems

We have a 405 turbo diesel car about 10 years old, with about 120,000 miles (genuine) on the clock. Recently the relay for the glow plugs developed a fault, in that it would switch on/off several times/second. That was changed, and I believe is unrelated to the present issue.

Now the car is hard to start (perhaps 10 attemps needed), whenever warm or cold (its about 17 deg C) ambient here on average. All 4 glow plugs have been changed, and appently two were dead. However, changing the glow plugs has not made the sligtest difference. It is no better or any worst. Power is getting to the glow plugs. Leaving power on them longer makes no difference either.

When the car does start (which it eventually does 95% of the time), a lot of smoke appears for 10 seconds or so. After which the car runs perfect.

Someone suggested it could be air in the system. He suggested letting some fuel out on the outlet of the injector pump. I think I mis-undertood him, and thought this would likely cure the problem, so I let some out when the engine was running. With hindsight that was not what he meant, but it made no difference to the problem.

Any other suggestions? From what I gather air entering the system could be a problem, but how does one go about tracing such a problem? A garage has had this twice (today will be a third time) and has not managed to do anything useful with it. I'm loosing faith in their ability.

I have the name of a fuel injection specialist company about 20 miles from me. A visit to them seems it might be worthwhile, but is there anything a home mechanic can realistically do to try to trace the problem? A Peugot dealer might be worthwhile too. Whether the peugeot dealer or the fuel injection specialist is the better bet I don't know.

Any suggestions?

Reply to
Dr. David Kirkby
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hi, in a 405 diesel i had the heater control box failed and apparently "blew" 2 of the 4 glow plugs mechanic said when box fails it gives higher voltage and knackers glow plugs, car was wild hard to start and when it did smoke belched from it for a few seconds then all was well, car warm would start no problems at all,..i took the glow plug out 1 by 1 and put my meter across them,2 of them gave no continuity and i replaced all 4,..car was back to normal starting with no smoke at start up at all.....perhaps similar has happened to you,.KB.

Reply to
k.barrett

I have exactly the same symptoms with my 405. I got it with 114,000 miles on the clock and have taken it on to 131,000 in about a year. It has always been a bit hit and miss on starting as you describe (with a cloud of smoke after much cranking). Initially I put the problem down to glow plugs/glow plug supply, so I cleaned and checked all the supply wiring and changed the glow plugs. No difference. I also put a new battery and new air filter on. No difference. Someone suggested it may be a fuel priming (air leak) problem and advised me that I could check for this by hand priming the pump before trying to crank the car. This also made no difference.

So I have given up for now and just live with the lumpy starting!

Cheers

Reply to
robh

I'd say it was air leaking into the fuel system. Check all the connections and hose unions. Smear a little grease round them an see if that fixes it. If you still have poor starting then I'd recommend a visit to an injection specialist who will be able to check that the injectors are working properly when cold.

Reply to
Phil Cook

I had this problem last year with my 1996 405 td estate, would crank and crank until it eventually started with a cloud of smoke, and then be ok all day,, went through all the exact same steps as you,, Heater plugs, relays etc, some one on this NG suggested changing the (rubber band type) seal immediately below the fuel filter,,,,,, This I did,,,, and cured it,,, good luck

Fitzy

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Reply to
Fitzy

I will try this and let you know how I get on.

Thanks

Rob

Reply to
robh

Hi, I had self same problem on my old 406 ( same engine). Several garages including a main dealer tried to fix it including checking for air leaks, timer on glowplugs and replacing glowplugs. They together charged me an arm and a leg. Problem was only there when STONE COLD, eventually took it to a small back street garage who appeared to know what they were talking about. They correctly diagnosed the fault as receeding valves lowering the compression ( the clearances close up because of the recession - which itself is aggravated by use of low sulphur diesel fuel ) They checked and rectified the valve clearances and the engine performed perfectly thereafter.

Hope this works for you, nice to know if it helps.

R>

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Reply to
Ron Hagley

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