Starting problem with a Peugeot Boxer 2.2 130 HDI.

[dpround]

The engine fires readily, but stops after a couple of seconds. This is completely repeatable it fires every time and the amount of time it runs for does not vary much. The van was running fine and has been parked for a few weeks. The fuel filter is not blocked - plenty of flow with the outlet pipe off and the low pressure pump running. Fuel pressure looks OK (200 - 400psi) EGR passes the diagnostic computer's test - not sure if that proves anything. No engine fault codes. Any suggestions would be very welcome before I throw parts at it! Does a stuck EGR sound plausible?

[mickthemaverick]

I feel while being parked up you may have got an air bubble in the HP fuel rail which is the root of your problem. A bleed of the high pressure system may help.

[PaulC5]

Is the fuel pressure psi as you say or bar ? If psi it is very low.

[dpround]

Sorry about the wrong units on the fuel pressure, the numbers were in bar not PSI.

It turns out that the problem was the EGR was stuck open. I had a spare EGR and just connected the wire to that instead. From comparing the live data it was clear that the one on the van was stuck. (The parameter labels were far from clear on the diagnostic, but easy to sort out when you can see what the valve is doing!) I swapped the EGR and the van now runs as it should.

I wonder what was happening to cause the symptoms. The EGR was stuck 50% open so too much exhaust was getting recirculated but I am surprised that the engine could not idle under these conditions.

[dpround]

Also interesting was that the motor on the stuck EGR was hot after trying to start a few times and messing around with the diagnostics. I need to check what is normal, but that might be a useful diagnostic for a stuck EGR?