406 hdi starting problems

boostnturbos

Torque Junkie
Points
182
Location
Ireland, donegal
Car
BMW 318ci SE
my 406 2.0hdi is performing very well over the 4 years iv got her. the only problem thats realy only niggling me is when i go to start her first thing in the morning she isnt too quick to wake up, in warm or cold conditions. the heater plug light never comes up. it only came up once or twice in the real cold last christmas -18. she always starts eventualy but with a cloud of blue and black smoke. if i heat her, or atleast pretend to heat her 3 times she starts alot easyer with less smoke. iv been talking to a peugeot garage man and he said he never had to replace any heater plugs in a hdi engine.

what is my problem, the car is going powerful well and id like to keep it that way.
 
peugeot man swears blind it isnt heater plugs tho - he maintains its something electrical???! could it be something electrical? im swaying towards the heater plugs myself
 
peugeot man swears blind it isnt heater plugs tho - he maintains its something electrical???! could it be something electrical? im swaying towards the heater plugs myself

The glow plugs on these HDi engines are not needed to start the car unless the temperature is well below zero degrees centigrade. On that basis the Pug man is correct.

In the later 2.2 HDi models the plugs are required for particle filter regeneration where the objective is to maximise the exhaust gas temperature.

Does the engine turn over keenly when you key it?
 
yes very. it takes six or seven extra turns to start without 'pretend heating' plus when she does start shes alot rougher, spluttersfor 10secs or so. if let heat 3 times she might splutter for 2secs, normal for a car with 152k on the clock.
 
well the car has been remapped, eventhough its said that it doesnt affect the engine longterm im sure its bound to have some kind of effect. saying that it wouldnt take the full 2 turns to start, it not straight off the button but not far away when heated. the spluttering is something to see but once again clears right up after 10-15 seconds. if you were to rev her out it would clear up straight away but i dont like high rpm's straight off the bat. might it be injectors? its just when she cold never warm, starts perfect when warm. i have to admit the car gets a good hard driving since iv owned her. about 75k of medium to hard driving, cant bare 35mph slow-poks.
 
well the car has been remapped, eventhough its said that it doesnt affect the engine longterm im sure its bound to have some kind of effect. saying that it wouldnt take the full 2 turns to start, it not straight off the button but not far away when heated. the spluttering is something to see but once again clears right up after 10-15 seconds. if you were to rev her out it would clear up straight away but i dont like high rpm's straight off the bat. might it be injectors? its just when she cold never warm, starts perfect when warm. i have to admit the car gets a good hard driving since iv owned her. about 75k of medium to hard driving, cant bare 35mph slow-poks.

Could be the injectors. My 2.2 HDi was remapped at 50,000 miles and was still running perfectly at 140,000 miles before it was destroyed in a 60mph frontal.

Agree totally - no high revs when cold.
 
i see some people revving engines straight up and id feel like ringing their neck, especialy after an engine has just been over-hauled.

i bought a 500ml bottle of injector cleaner, says on the small print that it is to be used on 4 50ltr tank fulls. i through the hole lot into 50ltrs. she diffinetly starts better. i might chance a couple more doses and see how things go.

i recently serviced the car there, engine oil, all filters etc. 10w40 seems to work better than 15w40. mechanics reckon its bound to be time to chance 15w40. would this be so or should i let sleeping dogs ly?
 
I'd go thinner to be honest. 5w/40 fully synthetic is ideal with those engines.

Forte Diesel Treatment is a very good product. Better than the usual Wynns etc.

I take it your car does not have a particle filter. If it does then use nothing other than low SAPS synthetic oil and be very wary of additives altogether.
 
15w40 is far too thick for the DW10, even the XUD9, 5w/40 fully synthetic is best and you can usually go for longer intervals.

I can recommend Castrol EDGE TD 5w/40 as I've used it but it's expensive and only comes in 4 litre and 1 litre bottles which is a pain as you we need 4.5 litres. Carlube Triple R TD 5w/40 is also very good and is well priced and comes in 5 litre bottles, Something like £35 at euro car parts for the diesel specific and £27 for the normal stuff, used it in my dads van and it seems better for it, last oil used was 10w/40 Fuchs Titan semi synthetic which is the better of the semi synthetic oils but a PAO fully synthetic for your car is better especially since running a remap.
 

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