Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 10:55
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - ade_j

My 205 is struggling on cold starts at the moment- they have been getting progressively worse and now the cold has arrived here in Hythe, Kent, it really isn't pleasing. Having replaced and checked plugs a while ago myself and checked obvious things like battery, I started to wonder if it was inlet valve seat regression resulting in poor compression as detailed in other posts on here, so took it to a garage in Ashford in Kent explaining what had happened and what I suspected. I'm less than pleased that they didn't appear to listen at all and charged me £110 for changing 4 glow plugs (a job which even takes a non pro like me less than 10 mins). Obviously I couldn't prove that what they had done wasn't the issue until the engine had cooled down. Hey presto this morning...still the same problem. How much of a job is it to do this oneself (assuming I have feeler gauge, micrometer, shims etc)? Alternatively, if anyone knows of a reliable local garage who could do this for a reasonable cost I'd be very grateful for the tip.

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 16:07
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - Peter.N.

Firstly check the voltage on the glow plugs, when switched to the glow plug position you should have 10-11 volts for about 15-20 seconds, any less than this and you have a wiring problem, probably bad connections, much more and not all the glowplugs are working.

If you wait until you hear the relay drop out rather than trying to start when the light goes out you will have a better chance, or even use several applications of heat before you try to start it.

Is you starter turning the engine quickly? If not could be a tired starter or battery, the quicker it turns the easier it will start.

Edited by Peter.N. on 03/11/2012 at 16:07

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 19:29
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - Avant

Years ago, when my wife had a (normally reliable) 205 GRD we had this problem: it turned out that when the car had been serviced, they failed to replace a return valve properly somewhere in the fuel feed (I am no technician!) with the result that fuel wasn't retained in the system and had to be pumped back - hence the slow starting. Anotrher garage rectified it quickly.

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 20:32
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - Peter.N.

Air in the fuel is a possibility, to check for this operate the primer until it goes hard then see if it starts any better. If fuel is entering the engine you will have blue/white smoke from the exhaust while turning it over.

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Mon 5 Nov 2012 11:41
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - ade_j

Well, looks like I have something to go on- had someone look at the engine while I turned it over this morning. It looks like a small amount of fuel is leaking out of the top of the injector pump (Lucas CAV) where the throttle is when the engine turns over...could this just be a seal gone or something needing tightening or do I have big trouble? With a slight leak here it could possibly explain why it's taking a long time to get fuel through to the engine. However, once started the engine runs absolutely fine, no stuttering or loss of power at all so it seems like the injector pump is providing enough fuel for the engine. Thoughts very welcome!

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Wed 31 Jul 2013 00:03
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - ade_j

I've been a long while away, but thought I'd update. Well, the injector pump seals were replaced by me at a grand cost of about 2 pounds, curing the leak, but not the cold start problem. Measured inlet valve clearances myself and they had all closed up. Exhaust valves were still fine. Since the car was due a belt change anyway, I asked a now very trusted little local garage in Cheriton to re- set the valve clearances at the same time as doing the belt change for me. Belt change and valve clearances set for a shade over £200. And my lovely Peugeot starts like a dream again :-)

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Wed 31 Jul 2013 00:53
Peugeot 205 - Peugeot 205 1.8D poor cold starting - Andrew-T

Belt change and valve clearances set for a shade over £200. And my lovely Peugeot starts like a dream again :-)

Excellent. But those starts won't be very cold ones just now ....

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