306 s16 - starter motor

natumbri

natumbri

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Hi all,

I have a suspected starter motor problem in my 306. I understand from looking around the net that a starter off any XU/XUD motor will fit, and people have even had success with starters from EW engines.

So - my question - which one should I get? I assume the newest variant that fits (because, you know, progress, and all). Will one from an EW really fit?

Anyone want to bring one to the French car day today...?

Cheers
Nik
 
What exactly is wrong with it? These are repairable to some extent . Only fatal problem is when the stator magnets fall off the casing and stick to the rotor. That's game over. If your problem developed over time (unreliable starter not wanting to spin at all sometimes and spinning briefly other times and then nothing) then it may be exactly that.

Either way, these starters are pretty standard across the range of cars of that age. The only difference I found was the orientation of the end alloy casting that houses the reducing gears. You can easily swap yours on though.
 
Anything but diesel. They have a different number of teeth on the pinion and ring gear.
 
schlitzaugen said:
What exactly is wrong with it? These are repairable to some extent . Only fatal problem is when the stator magnets fall off the casing and stick to the rotor. That's game over. If your problem developed over time (unreliable starter not wanting to spin at all sometimes and spinning briefly other times and then nothing) then it may be exactly that.
Click to expand...
Interesting. The symptoms are slow cranking and sometimes no cranking. I mucked around with a few things this morning, and it's back to working. Didn't start yesterday. Today, it started when I had it jumpered to another car. After that it started on the battery, no worries.

I think I'll probably just get one, swap it over and then consider what to do with the broken/breaking one.

Noted re the diesel ones - thanks Peter.
 
Sometimes the contacts in the switch barrel wear to such an extent that there isn't enough current to engage the solenoid. This is a common problem in 205/405 and Xantias. I haven't had enough experience with 306 to know. The fix is to add a relay between the solenoid and the switch. What you're describing sounds more like the starter itself however. You need to isolate the problem, by connecting a reliable +12V to the solenoid directly.
 
I was thinking about a new battery - but wanted to try to see if I could narrow the problem first.

The switch barrel wear problem is interesting, but I don't think that's what I'm experiencing - I assume the click I can hear is the solenoid engaging, even when the starter doesn't crank.
 
Back emf from the solenoid arc across key contacs, any and all cars will do this, Fit a relay. Any 306 starter will fit except diesel as stated, found the same thing with my diesel starter.
 
Thanks all - as usual, I see that others have been through this before, and have been assisted:

Peugeot 306 XSi (2000 manual)- won't start...

Hello, I fitted some new rear shock absorbers to the 306 - I drove it off the car ramps and into the garage. Turned off the engine. Went to start it a less than a minute later (car shuffling) and it won't start! Ignition lights come on, but it won't turn over. Makes all the usual noises when...
www.aussiefrogs.com

I particularly like @blahblah's wiring diagram. Seems pretty straightforward and worthwhile.
 
natumbri said:
I particularly like @blahblah's wiring diagram. Seems pretty straightforward and worthwhile.
Click to expand...
lol, "meaty cable". You can get that at most places.

I thought I'd be clever and put the relay close to solenoid on first attempt. That didn't last long. The heat from down that way destroyed the relay reasonably quickly.
 
Could anyone point me to a guide to removing the starter motor from an S16? Will I have to remove the inlet manifold? Anything else? Will I need a new gasket for the inlet? Will I need any other bits?

My plan is to pull it out, check it out, refurb if possible or replace if not, put it back together (running through a relay).

Cheers
Nik
 
Whilst it is possible to dig your way in from gearbox side, you might find it easier to remove the inlet manifold. The starter on later XU engines is smaller and only retained by the three bolts in the gearbox housing. If you can get your hand up in there, and undo the main +12V cable and the solenoid wire, you're well on your way.

If you do remove the manifold, consider it a bonus opportunity to replace the oil filler/breather hoses.
 
Relay in car; car started.

I'm still suspicious of the slow cranking starter motor. But it has always been slow, and slow cranking is better than no cranking.

Not much space in that part of the engine bay: does working on a French car qualify you for Français par le sang versé?

Thanks again all for the pointers.

Cheers
Nik
 
Starter is easy stuff, slow is not good, battery or wiring or starter? At least the relay rules out your key block and woring.
 
Ok, so I would like to replace the starter. It seems the sensible thing to do is to remove the inlet manifold, which is in the way. I would like to give this a crack, but I wonder if anyone could explain how I should go about it?

I found the attached exploded view of the manifold in the internet. It would be super helpful if someone could tell me which bits to undo and which bits to leave alone. It would also be helpful to know what hoses/lines/other things not in the picture that I'll need to disconnect or otherwise worry about. Finally, it would be really useful to know if I need to buy any parts in advance, in order to get the job done successfully (other than a starter, obviously!).

Here's the picture I found:

hf14n14a.jpg
 
Oh, and if there's anything else I should be doing while I'm in there, without making it bigger than Ben Hur, I'd be keen to know about that too.

@PeterT mentioned it being an opportunity to replace the oil filler/breather hoses - which ones are they?
 
Rebuild starter, you can buy new brush sets, clean commutator and also buy a new solenoid switch. As long as the magnets on the starter (magnetic stator) do not detach your on a winner.
 
My 406 has an EW engine, although it may be a different arrangement to yours. I have, with assistance due to a back problem at the time, changed over the starter motor. This, although awkward, is do-able without removing the inlet manifold, etc. The biggest problem is is connecting/reconnecting the cables. I also found that disconnecting the top radiator hose, and moving it to one side, at the engine end gave better access.
 
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