407 problems related to the way the engine is started!?

[garageman]

Hello everybody,

Occasionaly I experience problems with engine and air conditioning.

The engine sometimes gets very noisy and stutters (see http://www.forum-peugeot.com/cat5-intermittent-problem-with-1-6-hdi-19547-0.html), and sometimes, independent of the engine problem, the a/c control panel locks up. Both problems are alleviated by switching off and restarting after 2 minutes.

Now, after 5 months of usage, I found a correlation between the way I start up the engine and the appearance of the mentioned problems.

It seems that if the engine is turned on "too soon" after making a contact, the more likely it is that the problems appear.
If I wait for 30 seconds between turning the ignition key and starting the engine, it seems the problems do not appear.

Local Peugeot guys just scratch their heads.
Has anybody been advised to "wait for a few seconds before turning on ignition"?

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Officially, the answer is no : but if you read the user manual carrefully, you should
find out that any modern car run many tests and diagnostics where turning the
key to the "contact" position.

Some manuals even specifically advise to let all the tests run and start the engine
only when the main lights are off on the board.

For the Diesel engines, that's even more true. You shouldn't start the engine before
the STOP light goes off ! Even if the HDi technology doesn't need a long pre-heating
sequence, there are things the engine computer has to do before you start.
(Gazole pump activation, injectors initialization, etc ...)

Again, if the manual doesn't say so, it is always recommended to wait for about 5
secondes at least before starting the engine.

jr

 

[garageman]

Thanks for your reply.

I always wait until the initialisation/diagnostics finishes (5 -10 s). It seems that the system needs a little longer than that (at least 20).

Do you own a HDi? What does your manual say?

 

[407-sw-xs]

Has anybody been advised to "wait for a few seconds before turning on ignition"?

Some people say that on different forums. I don't believe it.

Waiting until your HDi engine has warmed up before starting is quite normal and does not take very long time. But waiting until the checklist is completed (oil, tyre pression, auto functions etc) is to my opinion really nonsense. From the beginning I always start my 407 within 1-1.5 second and have never had electronic problems due to that.

 

[garageman]

Did you have any problems with the air conditioning?

 

[407-sw-xs]

Did you have any problems with the air conditioning?

Never, my airco works properly and efficiently.......

No answer yet on the Dutch forum. It looks like they don't recognize anything in what you described!