406oc.co.uk

Hi
My 406 hdi 110 won't start. Went out this morning on a long trip. Came home had some lunch. Got in the car and tried to start it and it turns over ok. Just won't fire up. Tried a little bit of the easy start in the air intake and it nearly worked but once it sounded like it was about to fire up it cut out.

Just wondering where to start with the problem. Plenty of fuel in the tank, brand new battery in march. Was thinking of checking the glow plugs and maybe the heater relay says in the haynes manual that earlier 406's have a relay later ones have it built in to the ecu. How do you test the heater relay if it has one? Is it just a case of substitution?

Another thought that occured me is whether theres any fuel getting through? Is there an easy way to find out?

Seems very strange, had this car for 3 years and never had any trouble starting it. So any help or advice would be appreciated. Couldn't call the AA out as i don't have the home start on my policy. Added it on tonight so if i can' t get it going tommorow morning i'll be calling them tommorow night.

Thanks
Marco

HDi's don't reallly use the glow plugs unless it's really cold (I think), so not sure. Maybe a crank sensor?

Lift pump?

My first thought too - can you hear the pump priming the system when you put the ignition on?

I'll have a look in the morning but i'm thinking you are right. I'll keep you posted.....

marco2002 wrote:Couldn't call the AA out as i don't have the home start on my policy. Added it on tonight so if i can' t get it going tommorow morning i'll be calling them tommorow night.

Not possible to push it 1/4 mile down the road?

I'd bet on lift pump too - one word of warning, the fuel is the lubricant for the HP pump, meaning it could be damaged by prolonged attempts to start with a dodgy lift pump. I don't think you'd hurt it cranking it a good few times, but prolonged attemps to tow-start could be bad news.

Hi everyone just a quick post to let you know it was the lift pump AA came out and gave the fuel tank a tap with the mallet in the middle. Started first time. Will have to get a new lift pump sorted soon. Had a look on GSF's website and the pump costs about £69. Any ideas how long it takes to fit a new lift pump?

Thanks Marco

It took me 30 minutes to change mine. The hardest bit was taking the back seat out! Under the back seat on the driver's side you'll see a plate held in with 3 pop rivets (I think some estates have a plastic press-fit cover). Drill these out and underneath you'll see the top of the lift pump. Undo the electrics and quick release fuel pipes then, using a wide-blade screwdriver and a hammer, carefully persuade the castelated retaining ring to unscrew. Some people have had problems - I was lucky and mine unscrewed fairly easily with gentle but persuasive force. Lift the old pump out but watch out for fuel spillage. Fitting the new one is easy, but make sure you tighten the ring just enough to provide a good seal. I used large self tappers to reattach the plate. The good book says to prime the pump by turning the ignition on 6 times, waiting for the pump to stop priming between each sequence.

There are cheaper pumps out there, but I went for the proper Bosch one from my local Bosch distributor at £96. The local stealers wanted £213 plus VAT!

Your tank-slapping excersise will only give you a week or so (been there).

There's a thread somewhere I did when my pump failed and there's also a bit of kit you can buy to remove the retaining ring.

From what I've been reading, the banging the tank should be a last resort - they can fill the system with swarf as they fail so probably not something you'd want too far through your fuel system...

Forgot to add, after changing the pump, change the fuel filter.

I've seen 3 in-tank pump failures now (only 1 of them mine!) and all 3 have been caused by the commutator wearing down to the base, so the modes of failure were all electrical, not mechanical. The actual pump parts (the mechanical bits at the bottom) have all been in perfect condition. The ones I've seen have all failed after between 95k and 125k.

Ok, so forget everything I said about not banging it Useful to know what it is that does fail

Getting new lift pump from gsf this afternoon £125 quid. Car's gong into garage on monday to get it fitted.
Managed to get around ok by doing the tank slapping thing for last 4 days. Just glad its getting done before xmas....

when you take your car in for the lift pump to be changed, try and make sure the fuel level is below halfway in the fuel tank, It makes changing it much easier and avoids spills.

You could do the pump change yourself, it really is easy and only takes about 15 minutes