Help please

[Expertamateur]

I am recently lumbered with a 2006 Peugeot 307cc with the 2 litre 16v petrol engine.
Alongside with the usual problems of the top not working, electric windows and door handle sensors not working I now have a problem that makes me want to have it towed to the nearest scrapyard.

There is an intermittent problem. It can start and run like a dream (although it sucks up petrol like its going out of fashion) or it can simply refuse to start at all. No rhyme or reason to it. Starting from hot.........or starting from cold. It may well start and not miss a beat or not even attempt to start. The only supposed clue is that I get the emissions warning light come on when it refuses to start. And sometimes the service warning light.

Can anybody tell me what this is all about? I am sick and fed up with wasting money on modern computers on wheels and I would probably accept any offer just to get rid of this POS. I am a born and bred petrol head but this rubbish has got me beat. My wife has a 2001 406 diesel that has been above and beyond my expectations and will probably go on forever without any bother at all. The 307 petrol is unfathomable and isn't fit for purpose.

[mickthemaverick]

I've just done a quick search on Youtube for' Peugeot 307 non starting' and it brought up a few videos with exactly that title . Have a look at them and you may find the solution.

[Expertamateur]

Thanks Mick. I'll have a look.

[PaulC5]

Have you plugged it in to a code reader yet since there should be stored fault codes with the emissions warning light having been on ? This should be your first check before doing anything else and if you have already done this, what fault codes did it give ?

[Expertamateur]

I don't have a code reader. I was thinking about getting one some time ago but when I looked into it there seemed to be a general opinion that most of them are a waste of money. Unless you spend hundreds they only give you part of the information you need. Even the posts on here don't seem to seem consistent about what to buy. I'm not in a position to go to a Peugeot dealership to be ripped off in a game of parts roulette.

[PaulC5]

Without a code reader or paying for a diagnostic, you may never find out what is wrong without replacing lots of parts hoping to find the faulty one before wasting too much money. You do not need to spend much on one that will read emissions fault codes and one that gives some live data is useful. As an example for £35 https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_FXNT200.html

A Peugeot dealer would do a diagnostic (UK cost about £120) and then decide from this what is wrong. They would not just replace parts hoping to get it right.

[PaulC5]

Something to point out, the emissions warning light will light up with others when the ignition is turned on (engine not yet started) to show the bulbs work. However, it will not go off until the engine is running provided there is nothing wrong. This is since it needs to check the various sensors are working and that can not happen without it running. Once running it should go off in a few seconds but if there is a fault it will stay on.

Reading your first post it could be you seeing the light on when it does not start is normal for the light and you might not have an emissions fault and if so a code reader would not have anything to see. In this case something that can prevent the engine starting sometimes and not give a fault code/emissions light is a failing crank shaft sensor and since these do not cost much is something you might want to replace.

A service warning might be something as simple as low battery voltage or brake fluid level low.

[Expertamateur]

I think I get what you are saying. The warning light I get does not necessarily mean there is a fault with that system. It could be something else. Without your understanding I would be at a loss to know what to do with a code reader. The one you linked to is certainly affordable but they won't send it to France. Thanks Brexit! I have a friend coming over at the end of August so I could get one sent to their address for them to bring. I really would like to get this damned thing running before that but it is what it is. At the moment it sits in the drive doing nothing because I can't trust it. Yesterday I tried starting it. Easy. Instantly running on the turn of the key. (showing the triangular "service warning" light) I let it run for about 15 minutes and then left it alone. I tried again later in the day and it refused to start at all. It is this behaviour that prevents me using it. I might get it started and it runs fine but I dare not shut it off at the end of the trip in case it decides not to start again. I can't risk it.

[PaulC5]

A quick search suggests a crank shaft sensor is less than £20 so I would be tempted to try a new one.

[Expertamateur]

I assume Youtube will tell me how to find it?

I just tried to buy the code reader thing but was stopped at the checkout. It sensed I was in France and rejected my purchase even before I gave it the UK address. There may be one on ebay or amazon but I will have to be careful. So many similar reader models.

[mickthemaverick]

yes there are a few videos on Youtube, be sure you watch the 307cc one!!

[MattBLancs]

I assume Youtube will tell me how to find it?

I can take a picture of the hole it sits in (which is actually on the gearbox bell housing rather than on the engine block) and roughly where that is relative to the engine. This will be two pictures as my EW10 engine is on a stand and gearbox on the garage floor at present!
But should give you a clue where to look.

[MattBLancs]

1 engine with approximate where crank sensor is hiding

2 gearbox with crank sensor circled

The coolant manifold fairly well covers up where the sensor is.
Remove the air filter housing (assuming it's in same place as on a 406) to get nearer first.

[Expertamateur]

Thanks for the photos Matt. You seem to have quite a collection there. My favourite of that lot is the 406 coupe. Design by Pininfarina I believe. Annoyingly many parts are unique to that model, hence hard to find.

[Expertamateur]

I managed to get the OBD II reader that PaulC5 suggested above. I got it direct from China. Spent a good half hour prising panels off the dash area to locate the socket to plug the reader into. No luck with the long list of Youtube vids on how to find it. Even though I searched specifically for 307cc info they seem to show only other models of 307 which place the socket in various places. I finally found it under the ashtray behind a panel.

It didn't come with any instructions but the packaging claimed it was capable of everything short of baking a nice wholemeal loaf. All it detected was something wrong with the heater! Oh, and the engine image was showing on the dash display at the time. The car handbook says that is about emissions warning. I have downloaded several mb of update, etc. from their website but again there is no instruction how to use it. When I connect the reader to the PC and open the software it claims there is no connection to the reader. It is looking like I'm on another money wasting loser on top of what the car cost me.

I wouldn't mind swapping it for a decent Peugeot van.