pug 406 starting and running problem (help)

[rsmski]

Hi all

can someone please help me??

i have a 1.9 td 406 and up until last week was running ok until we had temp overnight of -9, the following morning the car would not start, ended up with a flat battery and had to jump start, it took about 20 min of jumping before it fired, after a big puff of smoke out the back end it fired. now the engine is running but there seems to be a loss of power after 3000rpm and the engine management light comes on and i still have the starting problems.


can anyone help please???

cheers rich

[teamster1975]

Welcome on in Rich!
I'm not a diesel man myself but chaps in the know will be along!

[steve_earwig]

I think, with that low temp, the biggest worry would be the water pump had tried to freeze and made the timing belt jump a couple of teeth...

[puggy]

Go with steve on this , combination of cold possible icing in pump glow plugs
not top condition did you hear any unusual noises when you tried to start it ?

[Gary406]

if the belt jumped teeth would it not fail to start ??

what about the glow plugs, common in this cold weather, a dud battery ??

if engine management lights been on i would take it for a diagnostic test and get the codes

the puff of smoke will just be the unburt fuel from turning it over all that time i would think

[rsmski]

thanks all

the car is still failing to start correctly and not firing properly, how do i go about getting the setting for the timing?


many thanks again

[Gary406]

definatly sounds like what ste said // water frozen,

have you checked if it has anti freeze in ?

to get the right timing the belt will need to be removed, and pulleys set to correct position, there is holes on them were you put bolts through while changin belt

you may as well fit a new belt why it has to come off

[zarzamora]

Had the same problem yesterday morning. My 406 is a 1997 or 8 1.9 diesel. I managed to flatten the battery and am off out shortly to see if it starts. I've charged the battery and it's full.

I hope you have success with yours.

A guy at the local garage said that the cold start stuff works, but the diesel engine becomes addicted to it. He actually said, "I know that this will sound irrational and superstitious, but diesels can become addicted to the stuff, and won't start without if you use it too much!"

I'm desperate and will resort to it if I have to. Has anyone else heard this addiction syndrome mentioned before?
regards
stu

[steve_earwig]

I've heard that before about cold start sprays and I think it's nonsense - why did you use the spray? Because it wouldn't start. Why are you still needing to use the spray? Because you still didn't fix what was wrong with it.

I don't think you need to remove the belt, if it's not slipped then you'll be taking three steps backwards. I'm sure you could just line up the crank pulley holes up & then check if all the rest line up.

I guess you've not got a Haynes I don't think anyone's done a How To on here but they're a very common engine and I'm sure the instructions will be on the 'net elsewhere. Here for instance: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showth ... p=13561143

Hey, isn't that a computer forum?

[Gary406]

i had a starting problem with my 1.9 last year, it only turned out to be a duff battery.

this year my 1.9 starts 1st turn of the key dont even need any revs,

[rsmski]

im going to try and set the timing tomorrow once i have found the settings for it.......dont think it is the battery as a faulty batt would not cause the engine miss firing that i am having, i hope this works cos i need to get back to work.........any other ideas?



cheers

[Gary406]

yes, check your anti freeze, as ste says you dont need to remove the belt to check, obviously if it is out it will have to be removed

[DiscoPol]

I've heard that before about cold start sprays and I think it's nonsense - why did you use the spray? Because it wouldn't start. Why are you still needing to use the spray? Because you still didn't fix what was wrong with it.

The theory on the cold start sprays is that when used in excess they strip the upper piston rings (or something "upper" ) of lubrication on starting,and after a while this causes wear and leads to loss of compression, which is the enemy of the diesel engine as its one of the major things needed to get ignition, thus leading to requiring more and more "easy start" or the beautifully named "start ya b@stard" if people are interested i can dig out the post over on the land rover forum i use that explains it in a little more mechanical detail.

but in the OP's case sorry Im gonna go along with Steve on the jumped teeth, but make sure your battery is fully charged and your coolant has enough anti-freeze in before you go spending any cash at the garage.


Disco

[rsmski]

cheers for the info....i will update tomorrow once i have had a fiddle


cheers again

[rsmski]

thinking about it......when the car does start and sits at idle speed there is a slight mis rev ie its ticking over revs slightly higher then goes slower but this is constant high/low/high/low and you can set your clock by it, also noticed today that there is now some air bubbles in the fuel line....is this still looking like timing??


cheers rich