Ive got a peugeot 206 1.4hdi trendy, with 279 000km on the clock (173 000 miles) and Ive been getting the same issue over and over again.. Low fuel pressure!
It all started in 2024 may, when on the highway I felt a very tiny hesitation as if one injector is cutting out / intermittently misfiring, but I did not paid any attention, since it was likely a one time issue, and did not lasted too long. Its like a tiny... like a spike or a sudden drop (max 0.5 seconds)...
And oh boy I could not be more wrong!
- In the July of 2024 it got worse. Under heavy acceleration on an evening, between 2000-3000 rpm the car tended to hesitate, as if an injector was misfiring, and actually got a CEL + antipollution fault and the car shut itself down. About 2-3 minutes (and multiple tries) later I could restart it easily and drive it like nothing happened..
I took it to a garage and told me, that it had low fuel pressure and changed the fuel filter since it had 30-40 000 miles on it.
- After that the car was okey for 1.5 months (1000-2000km / 600-1200miles) when it started to hesitate again! In 2024 september, in an evening, during a heavy acceleration on an incline I tried to shift to 5th gear but when I pressed the clutch and the car shut itself down AGAIN, without ANY warning! I could not restart the car again for a few minutes.. Finally I managed to restart the car and continue my driving. Then 5-8 minutes later an other incline came on, hesitation and slight misfire started again, got the CEL light, and it shut down.. But now I could not start the car for 2 hours. It got towed. During towing I somehow managed to make the engine to come alive and I was being towed with the engine running, being in Neutral. During towing the car shut itself down for like 2-3 times, without any warning.. only the previously appeared CEL light was showing up.
I took it to an other garage, they said the same, low fuel pressure, lets start with the fuel filter. They changed, it was okey for... 1 month.. (((but also since this time (2024 september) the car did not stop when I pressed the clutch pedal anymore! Never! Like the clutch pedal issue was eliminated...)))
- In 2024 october, I had to go to my workplace. It takes around 150miles / direction. (2.5 hrs). Towards my workplace in the morning, sunny day, there were NO issue with the car. High rpm, highway, inclines, under load (2-3 passengers sitting in the car). Then in the evening (it was raining) I went to the airport to pick up a person, and of course... this little s**t started again. Incline, during acceleration it started to hesitate again. I managed to get INTO the airport, shut down the engine but when I tried to turn it back on.. I COULD NOT! It simply would not start. I used the pump in the engine bay and it started after a few try.. On the way home after around 10 mile, during the acceleration on an incline, the car started to hesitate aggressively and shut itself down with the CEL light... I shifted to 4th gear, it spun up around 2700rpm for a few seconds then CEL light again and shut down everything.. We took it to home and I could not start the car for 1.5 days. We took it to the garage, they said, that the car turned on for the first try for them, works fine, without any issue. The faulty codes were... again... Low fuel pressure, but the live diagnostics showed nothing..
The garage told me that they changed the hand fuel pump (next to the air filter housing) + the diesel lines (yes, under the airfilter housing too), airfilter, EGR valve (to Nissens) and put into an OEM gasoline filter.. They mentioned that the diesel fuel lines were taped together on some parts with insulating tape. Which was strange...
- The car was running SMOOOOOTH as hell guys! Until 2025 january.. The car started this trouble again. On the highway to my workplace, (cloudy, cold day) the car started to hesitate, like intermittent misfire then a HUGE BANG, strange noise from the engine, powerloss, but no CEL. It got towed into another garage... they found out that the brand new (1 month-1000km old) EGR valve blewed its lower section off. They said that they have never seen anything like before. The bottom metal part of the EGR was missing! Its electronic control unit remained attached to the valve... It got replaced by a Wurtemberg EGR valve...
- 2025 march... I am on my way to my friends house in the late evening (10-11pm), its around 110 miles... i was driving on a main road (around 90km/h OR 56 miles/h) I felt a few misfiring during acceleration, but nothing more. I stopped for a break and I felt/heard that the base rpm dropped for a very tiny bit.. for like 0.5 sec. Like the car could not even hold the base rpm, but it did not stop! I revved and it worked fine. Also this was the ONLY time when it showed any issues on base rpm. On the way back to home, (late in the evening in March) I tried to make an overtake. Pushed the pedal to the floor went up to 2300rpm the car started to hesitate during acceleration, got the CEL and shut down again.. I could not restart it for hours. Took the car to the garage, LOW FUEL PRESSURE... They removed the injectors and took it for inspection. They found nothing! At around 267 000km the injectors were all perfect! And they got an ultrasonic clean of course. Again, the car was running smooth, no issues, even the consumption dropped by 0.3liter/100km..
- In 2025 may I went to my work, again.. To get there? NO PROBLEM! 150 miles in 2.5hrs.. easy peasy... It did not matter how hard I accelerate.. it worked... After the day , on the way home it started again.. During acceleration on mountain roads it was slightly hesitating, but I got home. I took to the garage, and told them to change the Fuel Pressure Control Valve / Suction Pressure Control Valve (SCV). They changed, and the car become smoother again! Consumption dropped by 0.2-0.3liters/100km..
- Then after a month in June 2025... it started again. I was on a highway when during acceleration it started to hesitate... again! I got to the destination, and shut down the car. It rested for 6-7hrs. At the end of the day, I was going back home, when it started to hesitate again as it was climbing onto the highway... I did not dare to go faster than 90km/h, 56miles/h since I knew.. If I push it furhter we are stuffed.
- Then until around october 2025 the car had almost zero issues. The hesitation, the intermittent misfire was almost disappeared, only 1-2 times I managed to feel it.. In July, I even went for a 60-80km of serpentine on a sunny day. 2500-3500rpm, 2-3rd gear all the way baby! ZERO ISSUES! Ran like an angel!
- But in 2025 october.. AGAIN! It was a cloudy day, as I was accelerating as climbing a hill on a highway, pushed the pedal to the floor and it was hesitating again! Not too much! Like a 0.5 seconds as the fuel lines would have been cut off for a very short time, but the car did not shut off..
After 2 weeks I had to travel again. I went for around 300km/200miles in the morning, with 0 issues. Highways, hills... 0 problem! Then as I was coming back in the evening, after around 20 miles as I was climbing a hill... it started again! Luckily the car did not stop, and there was a guy, with diagnostics tools. We checked and we found out that the fuel pressure spikes... See the attached pictures. (Top line: Required fuel pressure, Middle: Given fuel pressure, Bottom: rpm). When the computer asks for 1500 bar the car can deliver 1800-1900 bar! LIKE WTH? Or spiking between 1300-1800bar! WTH???
- I was mad and got a tip, that the crankshaft position sensor tend to mess around with the ECU and manage it to shut down the high pressure fuel pump... So i got it changed in the beginning of 2025 november! The car was smooth as new! Even my grandma noticed that it accelerates very very smooth and nice.. It lasted until today!
- Today I drove for like 10 minutes - 6 miles, stopped for 1 hour to do some paperwork in the city, drove 2 miles to the grocery store (stopped for 20 min) and then for 10 minutes 3 miles to pick up the kid at school! On the way home, outside the city center, flat road I wanted to accelerate to 100-110km/h. The car started a very slight hesitation! Not as jerky and strong as used to be! Smooth hesitations, and after 3 seconds the CEL back on and the engine was shut down again... I managed to pull aside to a bus stop, and called to get towed again... I tried to restart the engine, but did not start at all! One time, it reached the base rpm, pushed the gas, engine spun up to 1200rpm and stalled. After 10 minutes the help arrived, the engine cooled down, and I decided to give it a try.. AND GUESS WHAT? The engine was running again, as there were no problem at all... only the CEL was on the dasboard. I am surprised that I could restart the engine so fast..
AND I AM LOSING MY GODDAMN MIND! What could cause this issue? How the heck is this possible, that sometimes I drove 1000+miles without ANY issue, other times it barely makes to the city center??? HOW? Someone said they had to change the whole ECU. Some said its the fuse box that acts up! Due to the new parts the engine - when it works - smooth as anything! Like brand new. Its an euro 4 engine, which consumes a bit more than the euro 3 version, but the consumption went from 5.8l/100km (40.55MPG) to 5L/100km (47MPG), in the city in winter, due to the injectors getting cleaned and the new pressure control valve (SCV). Someone said that they added some stp diesel cleaner, then went for high rpms, the engine coughed, blasted a huge ass smoke and then never happened again! I am honestly lost on this! I love this car, I have the RC seats, JBL sound system (original) and alloy wheels (GTI, 16 inch), and metallic blue... But this issue makes my life so much harder.
Conditions of the fault:
- The engine stalls when the clutch is depressed (without a check engine light) and then does not restart immediately. At first it needed a few minutes, later sometimes half a day, then the issue disappeared on its own.
- Hesitation and jerking occur in about 99% of cases when the engine is fully warm, under heavy acceleration or while holding a constant RPM. It never happens during deceleration.
(Fully warm = coolant at ~80°C / after 40–60 km, when the entire engine block has heated up.). These hesitation very very short time periods.. 0.5 seconds or even shorter!
- When the engine is cutting off, I hear a click, like when I turn the key into ignition. The battery, parking brake and check engine icon shows up only
- When I manage to restart the car only CEL light is on with a low fuel pressure code stored
- The fault is intermittent. Sometimes the car runs perfectly for months or 2000–3000 km, then for the next ~500 km it starts “acting up” and tries to stall several times a week.
- If the car starts hesitating or jerking while driving, either accelerating harder or lifting off the throttle makes it behave normally again for a few minutes, before the issue returns.
- I checked the fuel system by revving the engine in neutral to higher RPM (~3000) while watching the hand primer and fuel line for possible air ingress. There were no bubbles in the line, and the hand primer was rock hard, indicating no air in the fuel system.
- Even if the car stalls due to low fuel pressure, it can always be restarted within a maximum of one day, and then runs fine again for days, weeks, or even months without any issues.
Autumn 2024- Fuel filter (replaced three times)
- Engine-bay fuel lines and hand primer
- EGR valve (it also triggered a check engine light at one point
- Injector testing and ultrasonic cleaning (they were within factory specifications at 273,000 km)
- Glow plugs, injector sealing washers, etc.
- Live diagnostics with the factory scan tool: all values and parameters were completely within specification; even during repeated hard accelerations, no abnormal readings were detected.
- Fuel pressure control valve (SCV)
- Crankshaft Position Sensor
(Top line: Required fuel pressure, Middle: Given fuel pressure, Bottom: rpm). When the computer asks for 1500 bar the car can deliver 1800-1900 bar! LIKE WTH? Or spiking between 1300-1800bar! WTH???
Thinking outside of the box is better than sitting in a dark one.
