Engine hunts then cuts out.

[LostLaner]

Please can anyone help me?

I'm not used to playing around with these modern cars, I usually play with classic Land Rovers and the like but my wife decided at the begining of the year that she wanted a 206cc which we bought in Feb.

Please excuse me if I'm giving too much irrelevant info but who knows which of the little deails gives to most important clue.

The car's been great but has slowly revealed a few 'quirks'. The first thing was an occational reluctance to turn over for starting. This is as if the engine has a hydraulic lock or seized. try turning it over again and it will turn freely and start. This has got more frequent but still quite irratic as to when it'll happen.

The next thing was the horn won't work, this hasn't been investigated and at around the same time it started giving an occational air bag fault reading on the central display. This fault reading has become more frequent but still very rendom.

The an occational immobiliser fault reading on the central display but with no adverse effects to the running of the car.

We've happily been accepting these things as quirks of the car (something that's second nature to a Land Rover driver) until today when going to move the car after having arrived at work it repeatedly did the locked engine thing then turned and fired easily but with an eratic idle (more like an over rich carburetored engine hunting). Then as I tried to reverse into a parking space it wouldn't stay running below about 1750 rpm.

Then on the way home it cuts out as soon as I'm not keeping the revs around 2000 rpm and even just cut out completely as I was driving through the village at 30 mph.

I have been running only putting a tenner's fuel in each time the low warning comes up and this was on when I started it up to go to work this morning. I have put a couple of gallons in after getting home to make sure it wasn't a case of fuel starvation. It was initially hunting less after the fuel was added but has returned to doing the same now.

Any ideas on what I can do to sort, preferably without spending loads of money, will be greatfully received.

[Capncol]

Hello and welcome.
Need to know engine and year.

[LostLaner]

Oops, sorry.

It's a 1.6 16v 110 bhp on a 54 plate.

[LostLaner]

Oh, and it's done a little over 111K.

[Capncol]

Please can anyone help me?

I'm not used to playing around with these modern cars, I usually play with classic Land Rovers and the like but my wife decided at the begining of the year that she wanted a 206cc which we bought in Feb.

Please excuse me if I'm giving too much irrelevant info but who knows which of the little deails gives to most important clue.

The car's been great but has slowly revealed a few 'quirks'. The first thing was an occational reluctance to turn over for starting. This is as if the engine has a hydraulic lock or seized. try turning it over again and it will turn freely and start. This has got more frequent but still quite irratic as to when it'll happen.
Faulty starters are quite common. Before you change it, check all the earth connections and pos connections at battery & starter

The next thing was the horn won't work, this hasn't been investigated and at around the same time it started giving an occational air bag fault reading on the central display. This fault reading has become more frequent but still very rendom.
Post 2002 cars have a comm2000 unit which is the indicator/wiper stalk assembly. This has most likely gone faulty

The an occational immobiliser fault reading on the central display but with no adverse effects to the running of the car.
Try a new battery in the key

We've happily been accepting these things as quirks of the car (something that's second nature to a Land Rover driver) until today when going to move the car after having arrived at work it repeatedly did the locked engine thing then turned and fired easily but with an eratic idle (more like an over rich carburetored engine hunting). Then as I tried to reverse into a parking space it wouldn't stay running below about 1750 rpm.

Then on the way home it cuts out as soon as I'm not keeping the revs around 2000 rpm and even just cut out completely as I was driving through the village at 30 mph.
Listen for hissing around back of engine. These do suffer from air leaks. Also listen at servo and associated pipework. If nothing found, try getting codes read. Poss crank trigger failing

I have been running only putting a tenner's fuel in each time the low warning comes up and this was on when I started it up to go to work this morning. I have put a couple of gallons in after getting home to make sure it wasn't a case of fuel starvation. It was initially hunting less after the fuel was added but has returned to doing the same now.

Any ideas on what I can do to sort, preferably without spending loads of money, will be greatfully received.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

[LostLaner]

Hi Capncol,

Thanks for all of that I'll get checking those pointers out.

Interestingly, on your comment abour air leaks, I noticed this morning that between the peaks in revs (as it hunts) you can hear what almost sounds like a sharp gasp just as the revs dip right down. This 'gasp' seems to be emminating from somewhere around the where the hose from the air box joins to the manifold above the injectors at the top back of the engine.

Does this give any better ideas as to what might be happening?

[GrandadMonkey]

Those corrugated hoses get brittle with age. If it has cracked I'd replace it with a new one. Some folks have taped it as a temporary repair.

[LostLaner]

Thanks Capncol & GrandadMonkey,

Taken a look at the integrity of airways this morning, nothing in disrepair there. However what I did notice was that the 'gasp' (which is a clear chuffing with the hose off) is being caused by the butterfly valve in the end of the manifold where the air hose clamps on. This valve is fully closed until the revs drop then it flips open and closed again causing a rush of air sucked into the manifold.

Any ideas on what might be causing the valve to do this?

Many thanks.

[Capncol]

That "butterfly valve" is the throttle butterfly. You probably won't be used to such things and more used to a throttle cable.
The Peugeot, like most newer cars, has an electronic throttle pedal which tells the ECU how much throttle you are applying, the ECU then tells the motorised throttle how much to open and also provides a stable idle by the same method.
If you definately have no air leaks, it's time to read any fault codes and examine live data output when running.