Peugeot 405 starting problems

We have a 405 turbo diesel car about 10 years old, with about 120,000
miles (genuine) on the clock. Recently the relay for the glow plugs
developed a fault, in that it would switch on/off several
times/second. That was changed, and I believe is unrelated to the
present issue.

Now the car is hard to start (perhaps 10 attemps needed), whenever
warm or cold (its about 17 deg C) ambient here on average. All 4 glow
plugs have been changed, and appently two were dead. However, changing
the glow plugs has not made the sligtest difference. It is no better
or any worst. Power is getting to the glow plugs. Leaving power on
them longer makes no difference either.

When the car does start (which it eventually does 95% of the time), a
lot of smoke appears for 10 seconds or so. After which the car runs
perfect.

Someone suggested it could be air in the system. He suggested letting
some fuel out on the outlet of the injector pump. I think I
mis-undertood him, and thought this would likely cure the problem, so
I let some out when the engine was running. With hindsight that was
not what he meant, but it made no difference to the problem.

Any other suggestions? From what I gather air entering the system
could be a problem, but how does one go about tracing such a problem?
A garage has had this twice (today will be a third time) and has not
managed to do anything useful with it. I'm loosing faith in their
ability.

I have the name of a fuel injection specialist company about 20 miles
from me. A visit to them seems it might be worthwhile, but is there
anything a home mechanic can realistically do to try to trace the
problem? A Peugot dealer might be worthwhile too. Whether the peugeot
dealer or the fuel injection specialist is the better bet I don't
know.

Any suggestions?

 

hi, in a 405 diesel i had the heater control box failed and apparently
"blew" 2 of the 4 glow plugs mechanic said when box fails it gives higher
voltage and knackers glow plugs, car was wild hard to start and when it did
smoke belched from it for a few seconds then all was well, car warm would
start no problems at all,..i took the glow plug out 1 by 1 and put my meter
across them,2 of them gave no continuity and i replaced all 4,..car was back
to normal starting with no smoke at start up at all.....perhaps similar has
happened to you,.KB.

 

I have exactly the same symptoms with my 405. I got it with 114,000 miles on
the clock and have taken it on to 131,000 in about a year. It has always
been a bit hit and miss on starting as you describe (with a cloud of smoke
after much cranking). Initially I put the problem down to glow plugs/glow
plug supply, so I cleaned and checked all the supply wiring and changed the
glow plugs. No difference. I also put a new battery and new air filter on.
No difference. Someone suggested it may be a fuel priming (air leak) problem
and advised me that I could check for this by hand priming the pump before
trying to crank the car. This also made no difference.

So I have given up for now and just live with the lumpy starting!

Cheers

Rob

 

I'd say it was air leaking into the fuel system. Check all the
connections and hose unions. Smear a little grease round them an see
if that fixes it. If you still have poor starting then I'd recommend a
visit to an injection specialist who will be able to check that the
injectors are working properly when cold.

 

I had this problem last year with my 1996 405 td estate,
would crank and crank until it eventually started with a cloud of smoke, and
then be ok all day,,
went through all the exact same steps as you,, Heater plugs, relays etc,
some one on this NG suggested changing the (rubber band type) seal
immediately below the fuel filter,,,,,, This I did,,,, and cured it,,,
good luck

Fitzy

 

I will try this and let you know how I get on.

Thanks

Rob

 

Hi,
I had self same problem on my old 406 ( same engine). Several garages
including a main dealer tried to fix it including checking for air leaks,
timer on glowplugs and replacing glowplugs. They together charged me an arm
and a leg. Problem was only there when STONE COLD, eventually took it to a
small back street garage who appeared to know what they were talking about.
They correctly diagnosed the fault as receeding valves lowering the
compression ( the clearances close up because of the recession - which
itself is aggravated by use of low sulphur diesel fuel ) They checked and
rectified the valve clearances and the engine performed perfectly
thereafter.

Hope this works for you, nice to know if it helps.

Ron