Cold start stalling and eratic idle

Qwerty

New member
Tadpole
Joined
Apr 26, 2019
Messages
1
Location
Victoria
Hi all, I have a 2010 Peugeot 308sw 2.0 HDi and it's done about 145,000kms. I have found that recently in the colder weather whenever I start the car first thing it starts fine, but has a slightly eratic idle where it almost stalls (or it does stall) and I have had to rev the engine over 2000-2500rpms on and off for at least 3-5mins before I can drive off without issues, after this the car drives fine with absolutely no issues for the rest of the day (I have noticed this issue slightly after being at work for 8 hours and driving home at the end of the day, but I don't really have to warm the engine up as much). If I don't rev the engine to warm things up properly before driving off (meaning keep revving on and off till the idle is no longer eratic), the car will either stall while it's idling in the driveway, or as I put the car into drive and take my foot off the brake it stalls, or the car drives ok up to when I reach a red light and then it stalls. But every time it stalls, it starts up straight away again. Also, in that first 10-15minutes or so of driving if I'm stopped and I step on the accelerator to go, it feels like there is a lag, again almost feeling like the car is about to stall before it takes off, but once warmed up, this also goes away and the accelerator is more responsive. The frustrating thing is that I've taken it to 2 mechanics who have both been puzzled as when they try to diagnose the issue, they tell me the car starts up perfectly fine and shows no signs of the issue, which I have been experiencing everyday when I first start my car for the last 3 weeks. The last mechanic did find one error code (which the first mechanic did not) and he said speaking to Peugeot, it could be an airflow meter issue. I didn't ask for the specific error code they found, I'll do that when I pick up the car tomorrow. He also asked if I park in a garage or outside, and I do park it outside at the moment so it's clearly in a colder environment than the workshop car garage, but he also said it shouldn't matter what temperature it is as it should still start the same even in negative temperatures, therefore, he thinks it's an airflow meter issue. However, I have already spent just under $500 trying to get this issue diagnosed by different mechanics and don't want to spend another $500-600 replacing this airflow meter if it's not the root of the problem, I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced a similar problem and if so is this the issue or what other issues could it be? Any help suggestions/help appreciated here as I love the car but this issue is really frustrating and if it's going to end up costing too much I'll just have to sell it.
 
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