AN APOLOGY......

[flygirl757]

Hi Guys and Gals,
A few days ago I posted a question for a friend and even got the car model wrong (amongst other things). I'm ever so sorry.
I've copied and pasted the original question with the model correction. Hope one of you can help. x

Hi Guys and Gals, I'm posting for a friend (I'm usually on the Citroen page for my Xantia).

She has a 2003 Peugeot 206 SW DIESEL TURBO (2 litre) and has spasmodic starting problems. Sometimes it starts on the first turn on the key and then other times it doesn't BUT once its been started in the morning its OK for the rest of the day. When it doesn't start, she has to leave it for about 30 minutes and then it will spring into life. When it's running, it's excellent with lots of power and runs very sweetly withy no burps or belches (sorry, don't know how else to describe it - lol).

She's had new glow plugs and a camshaft sensor (no idea what that is but I'm sure many of you will) but to no avail.

Any ideas, no matter how obscure, gratefully received as she loves the car.

Thanking you all in advance. x

[DHallworth]

It's a very difficult one to diagnose virtually. Does the car make any efforts to start? Does it feel like it's spluttering on one cylinder but not catching?

Have the fault codes been read to see if there's anything obvious?

David.

[moizeau]

When you say 2.0 litre, is it definitely a 2.0 litre HDI or a 1.9, glow plugs will make no difference with an HDI. It will say HDI on the top engine cover (as long as it's still there).

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

outside of my comfort zone really, but my first thought is electrical, maybe a mis-behaving Immobiliser

I wouldn't hold too much faith in that suggestion, but you never know.....

[Bick]

If its a 2.0hdi change the starter motor before you do anything else - they get very lazy and dont turn the engine over fast enough when cold so they vehicle will struggle to start.

[Hell Razor5543]

I agree with Bicks' suggestion. IIRC an HDi engine needs to be turning over at 800RPM before the ECUs will start injecting the fuel. On my C5 the motor was getting old, and sometimes it took a while before she started. I got a re-conditioned motor from GSF, swapped it out, and the engine turned over so quickly I thought the C5 was going to follow it round! GSF also (provided it was in the packaging supplied) gave me back some money when I returned with the old starter motor.

[Michel]

Starter motor. I’ve had this issue on 3 cars with this engine, changed batteries and glow plugs first... no difference. Changed starter motor, problem solved.

Normal symptoms - sluggish or slow to start first time in morning, or simply flattens battery as it’s not turning fast enough. If it does start, it’ll run fine and start fine for the rest of the day.

[moizeau]

What about the 'if it doesn't start, leave it for 30 mins'?
Good to know of this quirk

[Michel]

What about the 'if it doesn't start, leave it for 30 mins'?
Good to know of this quirk

Yep. They do that. It seems to loosen up the starter or put some heat into it on the first unsuccessful attempt. The Xsara Picasso Iam currently sorting out did that.

[moizeau]

Cheers for the info Michel, has anyone took a duff one a part so see if it's brushes, bearings etc?

[Hell Razor5543]

I don't know how much it would cost for a normal person to re-condition a starter motor, but when I got mine it was around £120, but about £60 was returned when I gave GSF back the old motor (in the original box), so they could send it off to Bosch.

[Michel]

Cheers for the info Michel, has anyone took a duff one a part so see if it's brushes, bearings etc?

I believe they simply get full of crud and dust and goo, and stop working. There’s someone on here who took one apart and cleaned it all up and it was fine. Can’t remember who and it was some years ago.

[moizeau]

The standard 'take it apart, clean it and put it back together' then, does usually work..

[crapday69]

My Xantia had sporadic starting problems, but only in the morning. My problem was if I parked facing uphill the deisel would run back into the tank hence bad starting problems due to priming issues, parking downhill sort of stopped this happening. When the car did start, it would last all day as what must have been a small air leak took hours for the fuel to drain away. Its probably nothing like your problem but you never know.



Gary.

[white exec]

Can think of a good few brushed motors that eventually get coated with carbon residue (from the brushes) that coats the whole inside of the commutator/brush end of the motor, and causes tracking and unwanted conductive paths. Applies not just to 12v starter motors, but to mains and battery tools as well. A good clean out, and checking brush length and free (sprung) movement usually gets it working again. New brushes cheap enough. For starter motors, the built-in solenoid contacts (and free movement again) also need checking.

As said, an exchange unit can be such good value, it might not be worth the effort of diy.