Will Not Start

[cnh237e]

I have a 1998 "S" plate 1.8i petrol saloon 406.
It has 110k miles on the clock
There are times it simply will not start. There is not a pettern as to when this will happen.
It can be months between events or just hours
The weather and air temp can be wet, dry, cold or warm - it makes no difference.
The engine can be cold or warm.
I can start it move it a matter of feet, stop it, leave it for several minutes or hours then go to start it and it won't. I can repeat this any time in the future and it will start.
I can drive it 200 miles, park it, leave it for an hour or 2 then try and retstart and it won't. other long trips will be fine.
I can park it on a Friday on my drive leave it all weekend and on Monday morning it won't start. Most Mondays it'll start fine.
I can drive it to work. At the end of the day it will not start, but will start fine after work for several weeks in a row.
The car is serviced more than any other car i've ever owned. The tank is always above 1/4 full.
When it won't start the engine turns freely but does not fire. It's as though the entire fuel / ignition system has been removed.
When this happens generally leaving it for the duration of 1 song on the radio before retrying does the trick and the engine fires.
When it runs it NEVER cuts out.
The car has been to many garages (some Pug specialists) over the years all have tried this and that but all have ultimately failed in solving the issue.
The flywheel sensor has been changed - made no differnce. Within a metter of weeks the issue returns.
The annual full service also does not stop it - again after a matter of weeks / months the issue returns.
I use BP, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Shell, Sainsbury's and Total fuel 95 octane.
On Mondays and Fridays it travels 100 each day - between that it does 2 trips of 7 miles per day.
Any suggestions?
I am getting fairly close to setting fire to the wretched thing

[cnh237e]

Done some more research and now suspect the immobiliser system. I don;t have a keypad immobiliser but i understand there is a system of a chip in the key and a pick up circuit around the ignition switch.
Is there anyway a layperson could check to see if this is faulty?
I do not get any indication on the dashboard.
Any suggestions??
In the meantime I will start to remove the key and reinsert it into the ignition to see if that gets the car going. (Previously i had left the key in the ignition whilst I waited).
Tried this once with success so far - but you can't plot a trend with one or even 2 points............

(Been to main dealer but they want £50 for 1/2hr or £100 for 1 hour just to look at it without any guarantee of success. If i was an overpaid footballer who had money to waste this might be an option.....)

[leestudd30]

My 97 P 406 has the keypad immobiliser but it was unplugged many years ago. Am I right in thinking it is linked to the fuel pump? Is there anything you can unplug, cut out?

[RobTurbo]

Where are you?

I can either diagnose with pp2000 or remove the immobiliser from the ecu altogether.

[cnh237e]

Thanks to you both for replying.

There is nothing I know of that I can unplug. There is no evidence of a keypad ever being fitted to the car so I don't know what to suggest.


I am in Peterborough Mon-Thursand Essex (Southend area) Friday evenings & weekends. Is that any good for you?


Since last update it has failed to start a further 3 or 4 times. It's now becoming almost a daily event. I have removed the key and reinserted before trying again. It has started every time bar once - and that was when I very quickly reinserted the key, thus possibly not putting enough distance between the key and the ignition switch. I am beginning to think it is this keypadless immobiliser system and that the fault light on the dash simply does not work.

[cnh237e]

OK suspect I have found the root cause.
Last weekend I inpected the air filter. The paper section was clean and in good condition. The white 'scouring pad' type material underneath the paper section was dirty immediately above the main raw air inlet. This filter was fitted in Nov 2011 during a full service and the car has done less than 4,000 miles since then. I rotated the filter round so that the other end of the filter was now over the raw air inlet.
In addition i also removed the main inlet pipe a checked for blockages. (Suspected a small dead animal could have been in there restricting air flow. It was clear). what i did notice was that the very start of this pipe terminated by a piece of flimsy bodypanel behind the front wheel arch. This bodypanel seemed to block the opening of the pipe. I repositioned this inlet pipe so that it's opening now no longer gets blocked.
Since this the car has started faultlessly every time.
Prior to this it was becoming an issue almost 100% of the time.
As i did 2 things i can't say which was the true root cause.
I could turn the filter back round and see if the problem returns (or wait 6 months and see if after the filter has dirtied up again the fault returns). If this does happen then i have to question the design of the filter / air intake system which clearly indicates a filter replacement 2x a year or every 5k miles.
In addition since doing these 2 mods i have noticed that the running temp when fully warm has dropped from c.88 deg C to c.80-82 deg C on the temp gauge.
Not sure if this will now make the auto choke stay open.

Roll on the next scappage scheme.....I have a contender for a PX for something reliable.....

[keppler]

Where are you?

I can either diagnose with pp2000 or remove the immobiliser from the ecu altogether.

Hi rob,
Im sorry to nab you on this thread but I have a problem with a peugeot turbo (Its on a 407 2 litre) and after seeing your name and all, I was wondering if you could help me? In particular I was wondering if you could tell me how to determine if the repeat sensor on the turbo is malfunctioning with peugeot planet 2000?
Any help would be much appreciated man, cheers.