Peugeot 405 srdt wont start!

[lamlam]

I recently bought a diesel pug, got it all registered and drove it to the petrol station for my first tank of diesel. Soon after i left the station the "water in diesel fuel" light flashed and then went off. When i started it later in the day the same light stayed on for a few seconds before turning off. The next morning i couldnt get it started and havent been able to start it since.

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Thinking the diesel i put in was the problem, i drained it all out and bought some quality diesel and put that it, stired it up as much as i could, pumped it into the injectors and it still wont start. Can anyone shed some light on this situation? I'd love to get her going again and on the road. Perhaps my fuel filter still has some water in it? I cant imagine it being much...its all a bit strange to me.

94 405 SRDT

[pugwash]

my 95 wagon shows this light off and on even shortly after i replaced the filter ,have you trided priming it with the hand pump rubber bulb on the drivers side of the engines queeze it till it goes hard i suspect you have a air leak possibly in the filter allowing the fuel to leak back to the tank, the water in fuel light is trigered by a senser in the bottom of the filter housing ,im pritty sure theres a drain screw or tap in the bottom of the housing that allowes you to drain off the water ,these plastic housings are prone to warping and distortion ,or have a go at replacing the filter ,but you will have to hand prime it and crank a fair bit ,i will check mine tomorrow to familiarise myself .PUGS

[lamlam]

Thanks for your reply and you are on the money. After working on the car for nearly 2 days, i found out that i had an air leak in the priming bulb somewhere. I replaced it and she fired right up. Im not sure i ever had water in my diesel fuel, it was just a coincidence and after all that, im led to believe that when you get air in your fuel line, it triggers that "water in diesel fuel" light. Thoughts on that?

[Rod Slater]

There is a screw valve at the base of the fuel filter housing (front of engine) this filter also works as a water trap. It is good policy, from time to time, to squeeze the fuel priming 'bulb' and at same time crack open the drain screw at base of filter housing, squeeze the priming bulb a few times and purge any dirt and water from the fuel filter, keep squeezing the bulb as you tighten the drain screw.

ALSO
It is good policy for ANY Diesel owner to have a can of aero start on board, when engine cranks, but does not fire, just direct a few squirts of aer-start into the air intake stream and if the reluctance to start is fuel related then the engine will fire and run for a few revolutions. if there is air in the injectors, doing this a few times will get rid of the air.

Also, if the glow plugs, or glow plug relay are faulty, then the aerostart will ignite without the need for glow plugs and the combustion chamber will soon become warm and in a few seconds your Diesel will be running sweetly and ready to drive away.

[andrepug]

get Start Ya Bastard - a very satisfying product!

[Rod Slater]

get Start Ya Bastard - a very satisfying product!

Yes, of course, a very satisfying alternative to Aero Start, but alas, it casts disparaging images upon the automobile on which you use it!

[pugwash]

My son had a mate who used to drive an old mazda diesel ute it was so tired he had to run a tube from the air cleaner up through the dash board ,used to give it a squert defor he started it from inside the cab .PUGS PS my air in fuel light goes on all the time even after i cleaned the filter bowl out and replaced the filter ,i also drained the tank at the same time .

[lamlam]

Thanks for all the info guys! I'll get a can of that stuff and throw it in the glove box. The saga does continue here. After i replaced that priming bulb, the car started right up. The next day it started right up but i didnt run it anywhere. I didnt start it at all the following day and then today, it wont start at all again. The priming bulb looks to be air tight, there's plenty of fuel and i know the glow plugs are good. It did kick once this morning but never started. Do i still have a small air leak somewhere? It looks like i am going to be a purchaser of aero start for life here.

[pugwash]

power going to the glow plugs ,and are they heating up ,disconect the wires and check them with a multi meter ,to see if they have a circuit ,the one behind the pump is a treat ,i still think its air when you pump the primer douse it stiffen up as it fills with diesel you could try a small clean fuel tank feeding the bulb from above like hanging on a step ladder or from the bonnet and see how that effects it, as this way it cant run back to the tank. my diesel guy told me to disconnect the glows before using eazy start ,PUGS

[lamlam]

When i replaced the primer bulb with another one, it never really stiffens up. It is always a bit soft really just like the last one. When i squeeze it, it takes a while for it to go back into shape but never really gets firm. Ive checked all the hoses and fuel lines for leaks. Im not sure where a leak could be. All the hoses look good but there has to be a leak somewhere. Any idea's?

[Rod Slater]

The way you have described that it sounds like it may be suffering from an EDF problem?


(EDF? Erectile Dysfunction)

[Luke G]

When my 405 was having problems starting I tracked down the problem to the fuel filter housing. After replacing the large o-ring on the bottom of the housing the problem went away for good.

[pugwash]

undo the output hose on the filter[,this hose is after the filter so make sure it dousnt get any crap in it that will stuff up the pump] pump the bulb and see if its delivering any diesel ,could be a crack in the hose anywhere back to the tank ,amazes me that it can suck air and not leak fuel ,but the same thing has happened to me .PUGS

[lamlam]

my car has EDF... hahahahaha

[lamlam]

I think I'm onto something here. When i squeeze the primer bulb and pump fuel into the lines, it gets to a point where the pressure releases and i can hear the fuel trickling into one of the injectors or beneath it. So does that mean I have a leaky injector seal? I've got spare injectors believe it or not. Is this my next course of action?

By the way, i unscrewed the plastic screw on the bottom of the fuel filter and nothing came out, must be plugged up or something because fuel used to run out of there. Thats not a problem though is it?

[pugwash]

that the filter has no fuel in it ,because the hand pump isnt pumping ,try what i said in my last post ,to see if its fueling up ,maybe what your hearing if fuel dripping into the filter housing usualy when you pump the bulb its squishy then goes hard then it has pumped up the filter housing and pump ,if it dousnt go hard its not pumping ,sure its in the right way round ,it has a non return valve in it im sure PUGS

[lamlam]

Hey Pugs,
You were right about the lack of pressure in the fuel filter. I had an air leak in the hose that goes from the top of the fuel filter to the injector pump. There was a small black cylinder that was attached to the middle of that hose and it was letting air in. I since removed it and put in a new hose directly to the injector and my fuel bulb gets firm! When i turn the lower bleed screw on the fuel pump, diesel comes out so all that appears to be good now. However, the car still wont start! It doesnt even try. It seems to start every second day or so and i thought it was directly related to that air leak and the lack of fuel getting to the injector pump, however, it still wont start and i thought it would fire right up and run normal. Im very puzzled. Next step has to be the glow plugs and whether or not im getting power to them consistently. I thought it would start even if the glow plugs were on their way out. Is there something else going on here?

[dalderton]

My info from a 405 SRDT expert and my personal experience regarding glow plugs and starting is to switch on ignition wait till the glow plug light goes out then slowly count to 5 or if it is a cold day count slowly to 10 then engage starter. A 405 diesel will not start easily without glow plugs even when it is hot and will be very difficult to start if even 1 is faulty. Check them out,with patience and the right tools they are not that hard to change.
Regards Dennis.

[pugwash]

have you tried easy start or as my diesel guy says give it a sniff ,i had to use it after fitting a pump to my sone 306 HDI he told me to disconnect the glowes before i did it though ,has to do it twice before it got a hold of the fuel ,now heres another idea from left field ,theres a solenoid valve on the top of the pump on the end where the injector pipes come out ,it controls the fuel flow to the pump when its powered up the fuel flowes to the pump when its not it stops, its like an ignition switch its what turnes your engine off ,is it possible that its got a bad connection thats causing this intermittent fault ,iv jest re read the complete post to try and get an overview of whats been going on ,it would appear you have had a combination of things ,hose leak, primer bulbe etc ,mine has a connector on the front of the pump for the solenoid can you get a test lamp on the input to see if theres power there ,if the solenoid failes it fails ,,not usually intermitent ,the possibility of it failing right now is slim, but who knows ,you could also check with a multi meter to see if theres a circuit through the solenoid itself ,i had one fail on an old L300 van i had the diesel guy just unscrewed it and lifted out the little valve that it operates then screwed the top the coil part back in, making realy sure you dont drop any crap into the pump ,started fine but you couldnt stop it ,had to stall it everytime, till i got a replacement solenoid ,dont realy know if any of this has been of any help ,id be inclined to give it a sniff ,PUGS keep up the good work your on the down hill stretch

[lamlam]

I took your advice and bought a can of start ya bastard. The car did shudder when i sprayed it in the intake but it wouldn't start at all. I'm going to replace the glow plugs and hopefully that should fix the problem. There's nothing else left to check!

[pugwash]

the car your wrecking or do you have another ,PUGS

[lamlam]

I'm not wrecking the car i hope to be driving again. I have 3 of them. 1 is my daily driver, 1 of the others runs and drives and the third is my parts car. The add i listed was for the parts car. The good thing about all this is that i try all the things we talk about on the other cars first before i try them on my own. The second car i have starts so easily it's ridiculis. Even with a nearly flat battery, it starts. I noticed yesterday that my glow plug light never comes on. After i researched it, all signs pointed to bad glow plugs or a lack of power to the glow plugs. I just replaced the glow plugs and that light on the dash still doesnt come on so i must have some kind of connection problem to the glow plugs.

On a positive side, the fuel system is in good working order now and i dont have any leaks, the bulb gets firm fast so i know thats not an issue anymore. So how do i check if the glow plugs are getting power? I probably need a multimeter but whats the procedure?

I tell ya, by the end of this, i'll be a fully fledged srdt expert. Thanks for all your help!

[lamlam]

Using a multimeter this morning, i found that i am not getting any power at all to my glow plugs. I tested another diesel pug i have the same way and it was getting almost 12v to all glow plugs. I have changed the relay and still no power at all. It would seem that my wire is no good i guess. Anyone have any suggestions? Im planning on replacing that wire all the way through with a new one and see what happens. Thanks for your help!

lamlam

[pugwash]

have you checked the fuses ,can you run a wire with a fuse installed from the glow plug rail to the battery positive[ similar size to whats run there already ,as they use a bit of power ] ,see how that effects the starting issue ,my wagon wont start without glow even when its hot ,so you could be onto something ,PUGS

[lamlam]

I have checked all the fuses and they are all working. One thing about the fuses thats a little confusing is the fuse box under the bonnet on the passenger side. When i read the owners manual, it states that there should be some 10A and some 30A fuses in there and mine are all 30A. I dont think that would cause the problem because my other 2 wrecked cars have all 30A fuses in there too, Im just trying to cross one more thing off the list.

Today i ran a positive wire from the battery to the glow plugs. Im not sure how to put a fuse in it though.... Anyway, i ran that wire and let the plug heat up for about 10 seconds and then tried to start it but no luck there. All my work so far is leading me to believe that my glow plug relay is bad, even though i tested it so i went back today and i now know i have 2 working glow plug relays that both make the glow plug light come on in my other car, but they wont make the light come on in my daily driver. The glow plugs never get charge. So....Is it possible that the connection between the ignition module and the glow plug relay is faulty? It seems as though the glow plug relay doesn't know it needs to be turning on.

Im probably going to have to fly the white flag pretty soon and get a mechanic out here. One more thing.... is it possible to check the fuel shut off solenoid on the injector pump with a multimeter? I dont think its faulty, but i couldnt hear it clicking on either one of my cars. I'd like to know for sure.

Is it time to call stumps here?

lamlam