406oc.co.uk

Hi there people

I've been having some problems with my 406 ever since I got the engine rebuilt a while back.. The engine runs GREAT once it's started, but it can sometimes take a fairly long time for me to even get it to run. (it turns and turns and turns without it starting, then suddenly it purrs like a little lion cub). This happens when the car has been standing still for a while. Usually starts up perfectly if the car has been driven shortly before trying to start it again.

I took the car to the guy that helped me rebuild the engine(top). We checked that the coilpack was giving a spark(which it did). We checked that the fuelrail did it's job.(there is pressure and they spray fine when turning the engine).

We checked the "dead stop"-sensor(the sensor that checks the positions of the cams?) and that seemed fine. The "crash-sensor" is fine.

We tested with another multi-relay, we tested with a different coil-pack. The battery is brand new.
The immobilizer is disconnected.

Any suggestions as to what this POSSIBLY can be? My greatest fear here is that the drivebelt\cambelt is out of perfect allignment and that this is causing the problems with the startup of the car.


When I first got the car the remote didn't want to unlock\lock the car.. I turned the ignition on, pushed the fob button and waited 30 seconds untill I let go. Took out the key and the key then worked great.. However it doesn't ALWAYS want to unlock.. suddenly and without warning it can just stop working.. And I have to repeat the sequence above here. It will then work again..

Just really frustrating..Especially with the car not starting like it should.

Could ANYONE please help me out?

Also, I appologize for any gramatical errors or horrendously bad descriptions here. I'm from Norway, and english is not my first language

Best regards
-Remi

Hi mate and welcome, no need to apologise for the English it's better than most of the youth who live here

The issue you have with the key fob could be fob battery or possibly the reciever unit.
As for starting, if it was diesel I'd say air in fuel every time with the symptoms you describe, as for petrols I'm not sure.

Post your model and year and it will help people with diagnosing the fault.

His profile says: Peugeot 406 SV 2.0 (XU10J4R)

Sorry I can't be of any other help!

Ah.Sorry for not being spesific the first time here..

It's a 2.0 petrol engine (XU10J4R). 1996model.

Correct.

It's a 1996 model. with a 2.0 litre (XU10J4R) engine.

If the spark plugs are fine, and the coil pack is fine, and there's fuel in the system, and the battery is OK, could there a bad earth (or a short caused by water) somewhere affect the ignition like this?

He said that this happens after the car has been left standing for a while, indicating to me that the battery is being artificially drained even when the ignition isn't on, but that the car starts fine if it hasn't been left for very long (indicating that the alternator is doing its job and charging the battery properly). To my mind, that means there's a short or a bad earth or something. Water under the carpets, in the spare wheel well, in the CD changer/amplifier/sat nav unit, or under the bonnet somewhere, possibly. Get a voltage reading over the battery?

In terms of mechanical skills and knowledge of a car's oily bits, I am an amoeba compared to most of the guys on here (Jasper, for example, who has been a mechanic for more years than I've been alive, whereas I've never so much as changed a spark plug) so I wouldn't set much store by what I'm saying - if someone else comes up with another idea, go with theirs

The guy that helped me last time checked that the grounding was okay aswell.. Checked for continuity and everything.
I have had water in my spare-wheel well.. I've dried it out twice since I got it back in November.

I'm just really puzzled about all this whole start-problem

Pug406sv wrote:The guy that helped me last time checked that the grounding was okay aswell.. Checked for continuity and everything.
I have had water in my spare-wheel well.. I've dried it out twice since I got it back in November.

I'm just really puzzled about all this whole start-problem

You need to ensure your rear light clusters are water-tight; that'll be where the water ingress has been happening. Also check behind the headlining where your radio antenna is. If your car has a sunroof, check the drains around it aren't blocked, or it will leak water in.

Most importantly, check under the floor carpets - if there's a short, that's where it's likely to be occurring; there are some important electrical connectors hidden in the insulating foam underneath the carpets in the driver/passenger footwells; water ingress into the car will cause the water to pool in these places (hidden by the carpet itself, which may be dry even though the foam underneath is damp).

You'll also want to ensure all the equipment in the boot is dry; you know that water has been leaking in to the boot of your car, meaning there's a risk to any electricals back there - if your car has a CD changer, amplifier, and/or sat-nav unit, all three of these devices (AND their connectors!) should be cleaned of any water-borne grime and thoroughly dried out. Don't forget to remove the lights themselves and ensure the circuit board the bulbs are connected to are clean and dry - if water was getting in through the rear light clusters, then that's where you might find a short exists.

Again, I'm not saying that's what's caused your problem, but I'd sort the water ingress problem out sooner rather than later if I were you.

I don't think the waterleak is causing the problems. The battery isn't drained either. The engine turns and the starter is doing it's thing..but there seem to be no spark at times..

I have NO idea what could cause the coilpack\plugs to not give a spark intermittently.. It's SERIOUSLY starting to annoy me here.

In the event of the immobilizer acting up, there fuelrail shouldn't be spitting gas either right? The keypad is disabled and the ribbon on the back of it is disconnected.

You say the head was recently rebuilt ? it might be worth checking
that the timing belt is not one tooth out , i've had that in the past
with petrol cars , bitch to start but once warm ok , just a thought .

I'll have it checked out as soon as possible...

Would me driving it for a bit hurt the engine?
Could this have damaged the engine I mean? Driving around with the cambelt\timingbelt one tooth off it's "mark"?

I had the car in for a checkup at my local Peugeot STEALER..

They read out faultcodes(or atleast tried, There were NONE).
And read out the live parameteres (which looked perfectly fine according to them)..

- So..This leaves me with 70£ less money..

I've tried taking the minus lead off the battery, took out the multi-relay and sprayed it with electronic-cleaner, same with the ECU(After waiting about 10 minutes with no power on it both before and after spraying electronic cleaner on the parts)..

Checked the groundings and everything is hooked up properly... checked for cracked hoses etc, found none.

I know there was a hole in my fuel-pump a while back, which was mended.. I do however hear some pump or something when I turn the ignition on.. Starts slow, then gets faster and faster the longer I wait with the ignition on..

The car often starts making LESS of a hell for me in the morning if I wait a while with the iginition on before attempting to start the car...

This situation is starting to seriously piss me off now.. Anyone have any leads on what MIGHT be wrong?

I've tried coming up with some logical possible culprits myself:

- Bad grounding
- TDC\ CPS(crank position sensor)
- Faulty\bad fuel-pump
- Bad ECU?
- Bad MAF\MAP-sensor?

Does the rev counter move (even if just a little twitch) when you're cranking it? If it doesn't then you might have a bad flywheel sensor

ihad a mondeo with the same symptoms,
one day it wouid start somedays wouidnt spark/fire,

iused to have to roll it and put the car in gear , crank sensor was iffy,

Some new tests have been performed..

Checked compression..

Was 13-14-14-15. Which should be okay enough..

There's lots of pressure in the fuel-lines going to the rail..

The car starts with start-gas??? Which would indicate a petrol problem? What in sweet jesus's name could this be?

The fuel-pressure regulator? the injectors?

I happen to have a complete XU10J4R engine at work as a spare.. So I could always just swap the entire fuel-rail with injectors and all to see if that makes it any different..

I can't say I've seen the rev-needle jump when I try to start the car either The TDC has been checked though.. I could always try to replace it.
What would be the best way to remove the TDC? It's seems a BIT tricky... I have a "open" airfilter, so the airbox is out of the way..