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406 2.1TD running on

I bought a 97 406 2.1TD Executive a few months back and everything has been peachy until today. A bit of background: It has just over

170,000mls on the clock, averages about 45mpg around town and doesn't use oil or water. It has been serviced at regular intervals all its life (it shows). I've been running it on bio-diesel for the past month without any issues.

I've noticed over the last few days that it has been taking slightly longer to stop when turning the ignition off. Today came to switch it off at B&Q and it ran on at tickover for about 4-5 seconds - no reving on its own and throttle inputs made no difference. When I came out and restarted it, it did so straight away as usual except after a few seconds the check engine lamp came on and stayed on.

Now every time I turn the ignition off it runs on for a few seconds and the engine lamp comes on and stays on whilst driving. It starts without hesitation (hot or cold) and drives/responds just a usual. I first suspected a faulty stop solenoid but being fly-by-wire I'm unsure as to whether it has a conventional stop solenoid. Does anybody have any ideas?

Your help is much appreciated.

Cheers Craig

Reply to
Craig
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Had a similar problem with a petrol Fiat. Cleaning up the ECU and fuel pump relay/fuse contacts seemed to cure it. Worth a try.

Reply to
MikeL

Thanks for the tip Mike, I tried removing all the relevant plugs and WD40'd them but it didn't change anything so gave in to modern(ish) electronics.

I ended up putting it into my local LSUK (with it being a Lucas EPIC thought it would be best) They diagnosed it as being faulty actuators within the pump and managed to do a rebuild whilst in situ. The final bill came to =A3268. When asked what caused it they reckon it was the bio-diesel I have been running it on - i'm a little sceptical as my previous 95

405TD ran fine for years as does my parents 97 range rover, still for now i've switched back to regular diesel and all is well again.
Reply to
Craig

I ended up putting it into my local LSUK (with it being a Lucas EPIC thought it would be best) They diagnosed it as being faulty actuators within the pump and managed to do a rebuild whilst in situ. The final bill came to £268. When asked what caused it they reckon it was the bio-diesel I have been running it on - i'm a little sceptical as my previous 95

405TD ran fine for years as does my parents 97 range rover, still for now i've switched back to regular diesel and all is well again.

Glad you got it sorted. Sorry to hear is was so expensive. Surely a second hand unit would've been cheaper, even a new one possibly?

Someone who knows more will be along shortly I'm sure, but I would've thought a fuel pump either works or is doesn't. Certainly, I've ran diesels on cooking oil over a longish period and never experienced such problems.

Reply to
MikeL

It's unlikely to be cheaper by the time it's been fitted. & you'll get more wear with plain cooking oil, whether or not it'll be significant's the important question.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

I ran my 94 SWB pajero 2.8 on neat veg oil and it used to run MUCH better on veg!! only issue I had was I had to change the fuel filter after starting to use veg as it cleaned all the crap out of the tank and the lines and dumped them in the filter !!

Reply to
Staffbull

The cheapest I could find a pump for was =A3427 +VAT, that was including the exchange of my old pump,

I don't mind too much at paying the =A3268 as they also flushed the fuel system and removed, tested and overhauled the injectors, so if you take that into account it was preety cheap by modern standards.

When I first started using the bio I changed the fuel filter twice in the first two weeks, first time it was black and covered in a jelly like substance, second time it was visibly clean but changed anyway. I prefered running the car on bio as it was smoother, quieter and a little more responsive at the expense of a few mpg but when i'm saving

12p a litre over regular diesel that doesn't matter too much.

I'd like to start back on bio but I could never afford a pump rebuild every few months if bio truly was the cause.

Reply to
Craig

The cheapest I could find a pump for was =A3427 +VAT, that was including the exchange of my old pump. I don't mind too much paying the =A3268 as they also flushed the fuel system and removed, tested and overhauled the injectors, so if you take that into account it was pretty cheap by modern standards.

Like you MikeL, I assumed that a fuel pump would either work or not and considering it was still running and starting as usual their diagnosis of bio ruining the pump still seems far fetched. Even though it is an electronically controlled pump surely it still has an electrically controlled pluger somewhere that cuts the diesel supply?

When I first started using the bio I changed the fuel filter twice in the first two weeks, first time it was black and covered in a jelly like substance, second time it was visibly clean but changed anyway. I prefered running the car on bio as it was smoother, quieter and a little more responsive at the expense of a few mpg but when i'm saving

12p a litre over regular diesel that doesn't matter too much.

I'd like to start back on bio but I could never afford a pump rebuild every few months if bio truly was the cause.

Reply to
Craig

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