When your car stops working correctly it can be expensive. Some people are unlucky enough to get stranded and worse still, stranded over and over again even after committing to repairs that were claimed to have fixed the issue.
I was approached by a customer who was experiencing just that in his Peugeot 407:
- Slight hesitation from time to time when driven, and feeling under powered.
- Intermittently the vehicle will crank but not start.
- Glow plugs and relay were replaced in an effort to rectify the fault.
I was not the first mechanic (I was the 5th) to have a look at it for this issue so I was sure that I would have my work cut out for me.
As it turns out, this is a quick one.
The first check that I would make on any diesel vehicle that fails to start is that diesel is present at the engine. I did this at the hand pump and immediately noticed the poor rubber condition and audibly could hear it was allowing air to enter the system. I performed a temporary bypass of the hand pump and the vehicle has been fault free since.
Sometimes the basic checks are what fixes the vehicle, this particular fix was made in under half an hour where as the prior repairs were almost $1000.
NOTE: A new pump will be fitted, although it is only really used to bleed the air from the diesel system when a filter is replaced.
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