Water in my 1996 406 pls help!

[406owner2]

Hi all, storm passed and is now daylight. (time on post differs from actual time here)

I checked again and there is no noise coming form the fuel pump, i did not re-connect the pipes underneath the car onto the fuel filter, would that stop it from functioning ?

When i turn the ignition on, i here the usual click i guess coming from the relay compartment and the humming noise. But i don't here the 3 second "whistle" sound
i used to when switching on the ignition. wipers working, lights is working.

I disconnected the battery reconnected again, and pressed the inertia button.

Still no go, the good news i guess, there must be no water in the engine due to the pump not pumping i guess ?

How do i need to troubleshoot from here ?

If i need to take out the lifting pump, how does one proceed, i will take detailed pics and post them soon.

[406owner2]

Someone told me on the bmw's

On them the fuel pump does not operate when the key is in the ignition position except for a short burst to pressurise the system, it requires the engine to be operating for the pump to run (ECU controlled)

Is it the same for the 406's

It makes the most sense because i used to hear that 3 second burst "whistle" that i guess should be the "short burst" to pressurize the system. I have pictures of the underside of the vehicle and will post them soon as i have made them smaller.

[406owner2]

These are pictures from underneath, can anyone id which pipe i need to follow to drain the tank.

Does the the lifting fuel pump provide the pressure burst or is it something else that does that ?

Could it be perhaps blown relays not providing power to the rear pump ?

I'm going to hammer the pump loose so i can take it out.

[jasper5]

I think maybe you should go back to the beginning and take off the fuel filler hose at the side of the tank and drain off/syphon as much of the fuel/water as possible.Connect up the fuel pipes again and put some petrol in. Take out the plugs and give it a spin over to make sure there isn't any water there then refit the plugs and try to start the car.

[406owner2]

thanks Jasper, the thing is, i don't hear the 3 second pressurized
burst as described above, when turning on the ign. Could it be due to no fluid in the pipes, or does it have to make a noise anyway ? There is 1.5l of fuel/water in the tank, and the car used to start perfectly with only 1 litre of fuel and i always here the "pressurized" 3 second burst sound before starting, but not now.

Below pictures of the car's exact make and vin, as well as the fuse compartment in the car and in engine compartment,

Does anyone know where i can find the relay to the lifting pump to see if the relay might be blown ?

[steve_earwig]

INJECTION XU10J4R RPO 07192 (Fri 19 Jul 1996)

The relay is in the box with the engine management ecu.

[406owner2]

INJECTION XU10J4R RPO 07192 (Fri 19 Jul 1996)

The relay is in the box with the engine management ecu.

Sorry Steve i'm not as sharp as you i assume the serial you have just given is the relay part nr. Ok so i'll open the ECU box, i know it's a black box somewhere in there, i should be able to find it and have a look in there. In the meantime does this have any relevance to my car:

"Each of these use a vacuum type distribution pump, which means once the fuel has managed to get to the pump via means of initial priming it looks after itself by constantly sucking fuel. If the engine stops after a a short time it could be a blockage caused by running very low on fuel. First thing to check is the primer system. You may have the squeazy balloon type or the purflux set up with a hand primer button. The issue is common to be at this point but hard to diagnose.

What I have done in the past is disconnect the pipe going to the main pump and given a separate feed from a pipe submerged in a can of diesel, if it runs fine then it rules out mechanical and pump issues leaving it only to be a supply issue."

If so, the usual 3 second burst i hear might be the primer ? If so then maybe something to do with the primer ? or is this only applicable to diesel engines.

[steve_earwig]

No part numbers, this is your engine code and build code (with the actual date in brackets), we need these numbers to identify which actual engine you have and identify when it was actually made as there were numerous changes throughout production.

The relay is part number 4549 35 (RELAY 12V 20/30 AMP) but this number is unlikely to be written on it.

In the meantime does this have any relevance to my car:

"Each of these use a vacuum type...

None whatsoever.

[406owner2]

Thanks Steve, and thanks for ruling out the primer issue, i wish i gave you the vin nr earlier, didn't know it was so important, i know now why.thanks for the relay part nr !

Can you tell me what is making the 3 second burst noise, "pressurizing" the fuel line.

Now I have taken out what i think is the ecu, and pictures below
inside the box, is the encircled part below the relay ? i can see nothing else inside the box.

[406owner2]

it just looks like a plug to me, could the relay be inside the ecu itself ?

[406owner2]

Wait a sec, it could be the relay but it seems fixed, and there is no screw to unscrew it, let me go and have another look, if the relay is broken, wouldn't it cause everything else also not to work or is it specifically for the fuel pump ?

[steve_earwig]

It should be clipped in there. I think it also runs the injectors but I'll have a look at the engine schematic in a while.

This is the sensor diagram for your engine, the relay is #2:
http://peugeot406coupe.nl/catalogus/ima ... 19G20A.PNG

I must admit I'm finding it hard to imagine that the pump has stopped working at the same time as water got into the tank, unless... How long has the water been in there?

[406owner2]

Thanks Steve... got the relay in hand !, i guess i need to pry it open and look for a bad solder joint (only way to test it ?)

The best i can explain why and what happened:

The day this happened, it rained for 2 days on one, no stopping, while it poured down i went to the car to start it, the engine just cranked and cranked, so i figured i had run out of fuel, ran to the garage, got fuel, however i have a bottle with water that looks identical to the bottle i had filled with petrol, mistakenly used the wrong bottle and poured in 400 ml before realizing it was water.

So what it comes down to, the engine did not start prior to me pouring in the water, so something must've gone wrong perhaps due to the rain/humidity ?
there might actually be 2 litres instead of 1 litre in the tank because very likely i think something seized the very first time i went to try start the car in the rain. however the car is under a carport, perhaps over night fog slipped into the electronics, blowing the relay, but maybe it's not the relay, will try pry it open now...

[406owner2]

Removed relay, pics below.

From the picture from what i encircle i guess the arms on both transistor tingies needs to connect with their "heads" the round copper parts (for lack of describing it better) i guess if ign is on, these to both connect at same time ? Would indicate they work ?

Looking at the bottom 2 joints at top are suspect, but it seems not loose, i will resolder those 2 points anayway and go retry.

if this doesn't seem to do the trick i guess the fuel pump is the problem ?

[406owner2]

Ok guys, now i need some advice on how to proceed.

I replaced ecu and relay, what i find is that when i put the ign on, only one of those transistor thingies clicks,
the other one stays stationary, is this how it should be ?

Or

Does the other one only activate when actually cranking the car ?

Should both click/activate upon ignition ?