Peugeot 306 randomly cuts out

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JamesQB
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Peugeot 306 randomly cuts out

Post by JamesQB »

Hi,

Peugeot 306 1998 model, not too sure at the moment about specs as it's my brother's car, but I know it has a petrol engine. He's having two problems with it, one is that it's randomly cutting out when driving and at idle, even at moderate revs going along steadily, as well as on the motorway. Usually hard to start again afterwards unless it's left 5 minutes. Engine fault light has come on, so it seems to have recorded something. I'm not sure what could cause that problem?

Other thing is that the heating is erratic and when he sets the temperature, it doesn't blow out the air at the right temp, so if he sets it high, it may blow coolish air out, etc.

Thanks and will try to get more engine info,
James
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Post by citronut »

i would check,clean/replace the idle speed stepper motor, firstly remove it and give it a good blast with carb cleaner, this probably wont permananly fix the fault as these units usualy die shotly after cleanning them, but it should work for a few days to prove it was/is at fault, before you buy a new stepper motor,

first thing to look at regarding the heatting is coolant level, then i would bleed the coolant system to make sure there is no air trapped

regards malcolm
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Post by AndersDK »

Hi James -

Cant be the idle controlling device as its got nothing to do with problems at speed.
To me it sounds like a rich running engine, whic does exactly what you are describing.
That would be the engine coolant temp sensor for the ECU.
This sensor has a 2-pin electric plug, usually either green or blue plastic.
The check is simple : unplug the connector and shortcircuit the 2 pins in the cable connector.
That makes the ECU assume the engine is working hot, and any erratic fuel enrichness is then immediately cut off.
It should readily give a much more calm engine behaviour, but of course also some troubles starting the cold engine, as any coldstart enrichness will be disabled.

On the other hand : if nothing happens to the engine behavior on this test, it cant be the temp sensor then ...
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JamesQB
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Post by JamesQB »

Hi,m

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking the same thing regarding the stepper motor. Had problem with stepper motor on an old Xantia and that just caused it to stall when it returned to idle speed or near idle speed (turning slowly into car park). Will pass on info to my brother.

He says car is a Peugeot 306 1998, 1.8 XT injection 16 valve.

He has explained more about heating problem. If he sets the temp to, say, 21 degrees, it used to warm the cabin up to 21. Now it doesn't, just blows lukewarm. However, if he puts the temp to the maximum heat, it blasts out hot air. He tried bleeding coolant and checking level to no avail, as he thought it might be an air lock. I didn't agree, as it blows hot air when on max heat setting.
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Post by CitroJim »

JamesQB wrote: He has explained more about heating problem. If he sets the temp to, say, 21 degrees, it used to warm the cabin up to 21. Now it doesn't, just blows lukewarm.
Sounds like the cabin temperature sensor might be duff James. Not a clue where it is in a 306 but if it's like the 405/406 it'll be behind a little grile on the bdash somewhere and likely to have a little fan behind it like the Xantia. It's either full of crud, stopping the fan or it's fallen down and is reading the internal temperature of the radio or something so no heat to the cabin as it thinks it's hot enough...
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JamesQB
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Post by JamesQB »

Right, my brother can't tell which sensor is which under the bonnet and has supplied a pic showing the thermostat area where 3 sensors are located in close proximity. Can anyone tell me which one is the coolant temperature sensor, the one that may be the cause of cut-outs and need bridging as a temporary check?



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Re: Peugeot 306 randomly cuts out

Post by GSoeiro »

Hello everyone,

I´m new to the forum.
In a short version, i have a peugeot 306 xr 1.1 petrol from 1994, he was in the garage for 3/4 years and i already had some problems with it, i had to change the carburetor and it also as some electrical issues.
Recently the car as been randomly cutting out, but it starts right up like nothing happened and i have no issues lights on the dashboard suggesting that i might have a problem.
Also the idling is very weird, after driving it for a bit if i come to a stop the idle starts dropping, not sure if it is related.

I would appreciate your help!
PS: sorry for my english but i´m from portugal
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