1996 Boxer Harmony 2ltr Petrol

Just a thought... On my 1996 Symphony I can clearly hear what I believe to be the fuel pump priming for a second or two when I turn the key one click.

can you?

Sorry just read back through the thread and have seen that this has been covered a little. Just to add that the pump is clearly audible.

Thanks anyway.

Just a long shot.

Have you tried giving the engine some throttle whilst trying to start it? (In fact is the throttle working the throttle body on the inlet side of the engine OK?) The throttle cable end inside the engine compartment has a series of grooves on its body into which engages a simple wire C-shaped clip to establish the correct degree of throttle cable slack. If that clip has rotted out or pinged-off then the throttle idle level should still be maintained by the engine ECU unless, as happened to me in France in 1996, the speed sensor on the crank has failed. In short if your crank sensor fails the engine can be persuaded to run to get you home by maintaining circa 1500+rpm, but it won't idle at its normal level, and I suspect it probably won't start without partial throttle either.

Unfortunately the diagnostics system on this older Marelli ECU don't help - I never was able to successfully read the flash codes - but apparently my local Peugeot dealer (for all their numerous and fundamental shortcomings) were able to detect crank speed sensor failure.

Hope this helps.


Bartfarst

Thanks Bart, something else to try. Regards Grahame

Grahame T wrote:Thanks Bart,

Psst - Grahame - his first name is Slarti

Frank

Quite correct Frank. If you remember I got an award for designing Norway.....

Bartfarst wrote:Quite correct Frank. If you remember I got an award for designing Norway.....

Yes! it was the fjords that clinched it but we're going off topic ain't we?

Frank

Thanks for the info Frank. 
 
Slarti, my thanks and apologies for not knowing your name.

Regards to you both, Grahame

Thanks for the info Frank. 
 
Slarti, my thanks and apologies for not knowing your name.

Regards to you both, Grahame

To Frank, Slarti, Chris, Mike and anyone I've missed who offered advice re my starting problem.

Today, after much probing under the bonnet, checing connections, removing verdigris from fuses and much scratching of head, the beast still wouldn't start. On the point of calling in an auto electrician I suddenly thought about the click from the bulkhead area I  reported earlier. This was coming from what appears to be a large relay attached to the ECU.

Casting caution to the wind and as a last resort prior to giving up, I gave this thing, whatever it is, a gentle tap with a hammer and, lo and behold, the beast sprang into life on the first turn of the key.

Hopefully that's the end of my problem, for now anyway. Here's hoping that it will start when the engineer comes to remove the alarm tomorrow.

Once again, thank you all for your input. 

Best regards. Grahame

Good result Grahame I'd replace that relay if I was you, you don't want it packing up in the middle of nowhere.

Frank

Grahame, that's great news: the "Edinburgh Spanner" once again proves its value in solving problems!

I agree with Frank: changing that relay would be prudent, although that might not be the problem of course. After changing it might be worthwhile taking the top from the relay to examine its internals. Pitting of the main contacts or other evidence of arcing probably means that you've found the source, but if it's dead clean then the fault could recur. In older vehicles, based upon a number of previous incidents, my first port of call is often to check earth points: earth faults can cause the strangest of issues and, of course, can be 'pigs' to find.

Bartfarst

Hi,
That relay was one of the many, many, many, many, things I changed when trying to sort out my van. From memory they are still available from peugeot dealers for about £20 and are not difficult to change. They are a double pole relay, one side switches the fuel pump, don't know what the other side does, could be ecu or ignition,
Chris

Once again, thanks for your input gentlemen. I'll see what I can do about acquiring a new relay.
Grahame

Hi,
Sorry I no longer have any details of the relay, it all went with the van. If you contact your local peugeot agent they should be able to help,
Regards,
Chris

Thanks Chris.