Bloody Peugeot problems

matscooby · Post by **matscooby** » 01 Apr 2005, 02:57

Hi Guys,
I need some advice please.
When starting the car in the morning I always have to prime the system before starting otherwise it'll never go.
When it eventuallys starts its like driving through thick fog, a huge plume of blue and white smoke comes out the exhaust which last about 2 seconds. Even after leaving the car standing for an hour I have to re-prime the system to start it.
Once the engine is going it runs sweet as a nut with no problems.
Any ideas on what this problem could be as I'm stumped.
Cheers
Mat

Dave Bamber · Post by **Dave Bamber** » 01 Apr 2005, 03:04

Hi Mat, which Pug and what engine here?

christi · Post by **christi** » 01 Apr 2005, 04:36

I assume that this is a diesel....
your problem is that you have a leak in the fuel system somewhere between the injection pump and the tank.
Instead of leaking fuel out, it is allowing air in.
When the engine isn't running because air can get in, the fuel drains back into the tank, hence there is no fuel for the engine to start.
Potential reasons are:-
Cracked diaphram in fuel filter: i heard once that if you put cling film over the primer plunger (if you have that type of primer) and seal with an elastic band that it can get you home. A split diaphram was the only time that my first diesel failed to get me home in 150000 miles.
Split pipe: you just gotta look
Split leak off pipe: these are the small rubber pipes between the injectors
Badly assembled fuel filter: maybe you got two o rings when you should only have one (happened to me one)
Leaking joint: cover them all in grease to see if the problem goes away (for a while)
Another thing worth doing is fitting clear pipe between the fuel filter and the injection pump. VWs have this as standard so maybe you can fit a VW one. Then you can see if there are any air bubbles in the fuel when the engine is running (there shouldn't be)

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 01 Apr 2005, 04:47

another air ingress point on an XUD, which you will NEVER find, is the fuel pre-heater on the inlet bracket to the water pump. Only fitted from about 1987ish onwards, but is a complete swine. The sintered metal goes porus. everything looks just fine, and you can change just about everything in the fuel system, but still have the problem. The pre-heater is almost irrelevant. Bypass it, and you can guarantee that isn't the problem. A nice way to do this is to take the feed pipe off the heater, and put it up into the engine bay, straight onto the fuel fileter inlet. Looks nice and neat.

matscooby · Post by **matscooby** » 01 Apr 2005, 04:57

Sorry forgot to mention its a pug 306 dturbo 1995.
Christi thanks for the suugestions I'll have to check them tomorrow. But I do know there is no leaks on the pipes between the injectors or any leaks that I can see around the car.
Saying that I have just installed a new fuel filter after rebuilding the engine, it maybe the o'rings as suggested.
I'll take note of all idea's and I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers Guys

wockhead · Post by **wockhead** » 04 Apr 2005, 20:25

I had this same problem with me xantia 1.9td, had real problems starting, turned out to be a split in the fuel hose on the return to the tank, obviusly letting air in, replaced the hose and happy days!