1.6hdi injector seal replacement….now won’t start, EGR?

[Tonka75]

Hello Peugeot folks, Looking for some tips please….

today have replaced all seals on all injectors on my 140k mile 2009 non DPF Partner, following lots of research from this forum and some great videos, am super disappointed that the car won’t start as I was confident the job had gone well!
Battery was disconnected before any work started. I removed / replaced injectors 1 by 1, all old seals accounted for and likewise the new. 2nd from left was the worst. but none as bad as many of the images I’ve seen for other vehicles. Job needed because of the amount of oil and carbon surrounding them, cam cover replaced also. Nuts tightened down correctly so I don’t believe I have a lacking vacuum issue around the injectors.
Plenty of battery and starter motor life, but just turns over. Checked the 8x fuel connectors all show fuel present. Can never be entirely sure but I was careful not to cause damage to Wiring or connectors But have checked this over visually.
Second attempt to restart did bring a few slight coughs but didnt increase. Very frustrated!
I have a fairly basic maxilink code reader that gives P0409 P1459 P0490 - all related to the EGR…. So am researching to potentially remove and clean tomorrow; but I don’t want to be led astray by these codes as they don’t quite make sense - I’m fearing a hicup with a sensor or the ecu, as in my head if the engine had run and then picked up some internal debris it would make sense for the egr to throw a code or two…but with a non starting car that previously was running very well it does not quite sit right in my head to strip out the egr….so any input would be gratefully received! I was trying to protect the turbo but annoyingly created myself more work it seems …..thanks in advance

[RichardW]

Can you read live data on your scan tool? That would really be the best place to start, to see if you have fuel pressure, crank signal and cam/crank synch. It's possible that you've just got air in it still.

[Tonka75]

Many thanks for the reply Richard! Live data did help - After many hours tinkering the car starts and runs fine. Problem was a broken wire on the camshaft position connector AND a bad fuel line connector on the 8mm return pipe. Those two fixed, she fired up as normal and without a stutter - as though the preceding drama hadn't occurred!

For the benefit of future readers:

I knew I had seal issues on the injectors and small amounts of oil feeding through the turbo. Carrying out the injector seal replacement was the right thing to do and having prepped for the job I actually enjoyed doing it. However, lessons were learnt! So my advice is in addition to the seal job, school yourself on the high pressure nature of the fuel system, its flow AND on torque wrenches. None of the great seal replacement videos I watched gave any time to restart hassles.

It's obvious that the studs need protecting and the seals and cam cover need the right pressure. I used both an old large 1/2" and a smaller modern 1/4" torque wrench; both had scales indicating NM low enough to check at the required 4NM....but I realised neither of my tools actually clicked at the lower forces, only higher. So lesson is, make sure you have a calibrated accurate tool before the job. Obvious to some im sure, but I took my 2x tools for granted! Ended up buying a Sealey STS104 which is a great tool for this job.

I had also underestimated my code reader, in fairness through lack of need and use. A great function that helped was to read pressure and codes LIVE as I cranked the engine. It is this method that revealed the Sensor issue, which the code reader hadn't picked up just ignition on and without cranking. The sensor is fed by a very short loom of 3x 1 or 1.5mm wires; all super fragile. I had been very careful in moving the main loom and fuel lines to access the injectors, but at some point in priming the fuel system, chasing an escaping socket or removing the air box I had inadvertently caused a wire to break. The car will crank but never start without the camshaft position sensor functioning.

Whilst trying to prime the system with the inbuilt pump and then an external bulb I eventually realised that there was a small amount of damage to the hidden lock ring inside the original green push fit connector on the 8mm return line, located above the drive belt housing. This was not obvious! And followed all sorts of dicking about with fuel, the filter and priming bulbs! And has led to a whole saga on replacing fuel connectors into old 8mm pvc hose.....holy moly! All new replacement connectors have an insert 0.5mm wider than the OE one I removed....this makes a difference : (

As an extra note, for stuck injectors you may find advice online for using an M12 bolt inserted into the fuel input thread, they for me were a fail straight away; standard M12 fencing type bolts from the hardware shop have different threads, dont even try! My solution was an over night soak of the injector port with carb cleaner and then a snuggly fitted deep socket placed over the whole length of the fuel inlet connector itself, add an extension bar and very gently start the wiggle wiggle. I felt it was safest, didn't involve banging (or scaffold pipe) and worked straight away.

[malc4]

Great feedback, thanks. I've used some of your tips with my limited injector work.
First try on friend's car ended up at garage. First a sheared bolt (previous mechanic had tried tightening bolts rather than replace seals?) and the tip of the leaking injector had mushroomed so no amount of wiggling would work. Garage eventually extracted it with two crowbars apparently..
However wish they had done a proper job on the fuel filter (a few months later after a no start/recovery, i discovered two missing screws on the fuel filter housing letting air into fuel and so .timing of fuel pressure buildup). also diesel fumes were still leaking into cabin that i tracked down to gunk at the bottom of the injector screw holes meaning that the bolts had been cut down to enable the clamps to tighten. however one hadn't been shortened quite enough so that it was still bottoming out/leaking despite correct torque (bet said mechanics don't use torque wrenches anyway:)..

Live data of the EGR valve should help you with diagnosis. More likely electrical than mechanical from my research (It was for me- turned out to be a short inside the connector plug)