help motorhome will not start

2CRAZYCAMPERS

Guest
we have a peugot 2006 2.2hdii compass avatngarde
it will not start
tried to jump start from our renault megane 1.5dci
no response
van been sat on drive for about 4 weeks
anybody got any advise
 
Is there any life in the battery at all?

Sidelights, dash lights etc.? More info needed.

Regards, Derek.
 
Hi first of all if the battery is completely flat , make sure that all electrical is switched of. It pays to disconnect the flat battery positive side and connect the new supply direct as the flat one will drain your good battery. Second if the engine has not been run for some time in this weather cold and dampness gets into your engine. To try and start your unit, you have several options , one is to try and take the coldness away from your engine by applying heat if possible over the years I have been called out in the country for this and have some times lit a small fire under the engine before even tying to start the unit, A fan heater or something that will take the coldness out of the engine will help. If your second battery is fully charged and connected to a running engine but will not turn the engine over fast enough it’s because it’s still to cold or you have a lazy starter , try it every 4 minuets in short busts until it crack up, if you keep trying to start it in long busts you will damage the starter.I hope this helps you.
 
If you still have summer grade diesel in the tank the cold we have been getting will cause it to wax, the wax blocks the pipeline / filter so no fuel gets through.

You will have to warm things up or wait for some quite warm weather to melt the wax, or change the filter and clear the pipeline, then get some fresh winter grade fuel in the tank, if you have a full tank of summer grade you will need to drain it, if it's only half full you will get away with topping up. Drained fuel can be used again when the sunshine comes back!

Hallii
 
Basic skills

Why not take the battery off and charge it fully. Clearly you are not in a hurry, if you need a battery charger get one from Argos or similar, clearly cheaper than a mechanic. Once fully charged then see if it turns over the engine checking with a voltmeter, if it falls below 8 volts it may be battery. A local garage should be able to check it properly free with a volt drop device.

If it starts OK, use the ammeter part of a multi meter if it has sufficent range to look for a drain on the battery and isolate circuits till you find the fault. Place ammeter in circuit between battery positive and its connection lead, do not use supply during this time.
 
Starting Problems

Hi,
We have an Autoquest 400 on a 05 plate.
First,I have found that the battery on the Peugeot supplied with the van is as useless as a chocolate Teapot after about 4 years, change this, if it continues to give yiou problems. Secondly if the van is in a secure location for a long time do not use your on board manufactured alarm system, use a a wheel guard or similar device, to stop someone from taking the van.
All this advise is based upon experiance over the last two years, the alarm is great for the times when you are on site or parked in a car park, but for long term storage will drain your battery in a couple of days.
A battery master will help and is easy to install lots of info on the web, for this, I have not installed mine yet due to me using the van during the Winter months, but I will put it in when I get time.
Do not drain your tank as someone else advised on here, modern diesel is not seasonal as suggested, will not even go there.:confused:
I would first charge up your battery, then lock the doors, the immobiser will work, little red light will flash, then see how you go.
Remember the charger that you use must be able to charge your battery for a 2.2l diesel some others will not do it , ask at Halfords or your local motor factors.
Hope this helps.
Clive
 
Last edited:
Hallii said:
Modern diesel is indeed graded Summer or Winter.

From the Esso Website

"W Winter Grade 22 October to 15 March"
"S Summer Grade 16 March to 21 October"

Full specifications here :- http://www.highlandfuels.co.uk/downloads/Esso_ULS_Diesel_Spec_Sheet.pdf

Shell Specs give -6C as the "Cold Filter Plugging Point" for Summer Grade, we have had much lower temperatures than this recently. See Here :- http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/uploader/pics/picsNov2007/Shell VPD.JPG

Hallii
Click to expand...

I have to admit I thought that in the UK at least diesel fuel was consistent all year round. Thank you for enlightening me.

Channa
 
I am aware that there are different grades of Diesel oil, for Summer/Winter,
I work in the petroleum and Diesel Industry, actually make fuel tanks but I would never recommend a change of Diesel for a starting problem with a motor home.
I have in my experience in this country never heared of this causing a problem with a motor home ,lorries maybe but that is also rare, nowadays.
Lets get practicle here, these people have a Battery problem as I see it, telling them to change their diesel adds to their wo, and would be indded the very last thing I would do!
Clive
 
I had the same thing with my CF, wouldnt jump from my 1.6 megane. The problem must have been lack of grunt from the renaults system, cos i left the leads connected and the renault running and it started after about 20 minutes.
 
frogdude said:
I had the same thing with my CF, wouldnt jump from my 1.6 megane. The problem must have been lack of grunt from the renaults system, cos i left the leads connected and the renault running and it started after about 20 minutes.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, Meganes are cars ....motorhomes stripping away the living accomodation are essentially commercials.

For my money I would remove the battery ( or situ ) and give it a charge with a good charger. And take it from there

Channa
 
And I would like to hear from the O.P'S.

Seems they're less bothered than us!
 
derekfaeberwick said:
And I would like to hear from the O.P'S.

Seems they're less bothered than us!
Click to expand...

Par for the course Derek, But at least I have learnt something when I find myself in the next pickle !! Whether of course I can apply my new found knowledge is a thread in itself:eek:;)

Channa
 
Hia
I kept having problems with my Advantgard 200 05 the other year battery kept going flat then I took it of and burnt it out when I put it on a BIG charger (I didn't really know what I was doing being to independent), so I bought a new one. All as been well but she as had some kind of run out often. Till this week not been moved for 5 weeks so It would not go. Son came round yesterday and said I had a lose terminal so charge not kepping or going in???? he managed to start her and took her on a 34 mile run out
Now I must keep an eye on her till She goes in for her service in March
Last year I was told to give her a run out every 3/4 weeks to keep everything turning so to speak
 
2CRAZYCAMPERS said:
we have a peugot 2006 2.2hdii compass avatngarde
it will not start
tried to jump start from our renault megane 1.5dci
no response
van been sat on drive for about 4 weeks
anybody got any advise
Click to expand...

Hiya 2crazycampers, I think the best advice so far is to fully charge your flat battery then try again;)

Good Luck:)

I had a similar problem last night:(, My vans been laid up for a couple of weeks in my drive but I,ve had it on EHU whilst I,ve been doing little jobs on her. Suddenly my cab radio failed:confused::( for no reason, and yes my engine battery was flat (under 11volts), being dark and cold I was,nt too bothered at the the time to fix the problem but then thought that I,ve been using the light in the habitation area of the van for some time with no problems and the leisure battery was still fully charged (EHU to zig unit keeps leisure battery topped up).
This got me thinking:rolleyes:, take a wire from the back of the zig that feeds the leisure and connect it to my engine battery( + terminal) left it overnight and first thing this morning ,engine starts up ,no problem.
A trickle charge overnight did the trick but was I taking a risk by doing this and could I have caused any damage??.

PS. Removed the temporary wire this morning before starting up.
 
Hi Lenny,

Run a wire from positive to positive terminals of both batteries. Put a 10 amp fuse in the line somewhere obvious on the dash. That will charge both batteries up. ;)

The hardest part is working out a foolproof way of removing the fuse before you switch on the ignition as it will blow the fuse. Even when you have a foolproof method, buy a few spare 10 amp fuses. :D
 
I have the same engine, and also have starting problems in this weather. The easiest way to get it fired up (so the battery will start charging) is to get someone to turn it over and spray some hairspray (anything flamable but hairspray works a treat) into the air intake. Take the top of the air filter housing off a spray down the middle of the filter. It works everytime, gurenteed.
 
2CRAZYCAMPERS said:
we have a peugot 2006 2.2hdii compass avatngarde
it will not start
tried to jump start from our renault megane 1.5dci
no response
van been sat on drive for about 4 weeks
anybody got any advise
Click to expand...
My last van was a 2006 Elddis with the 2.2 HDI Peugeot engine and I never had a starting problem.

Your van is not very old and the engine may not even be run in properly. My advice is to have it checked out at a reputable garage.

Have you regularly switched over to vehicle battery when you have flattened your leisure battery. Constant discharging will soon affect the vehicle battery.

My Elddis stood for longer than 4 weeks without a problem and I have just started up my 2.8 Ducato engine after 6 weeks.

You cannot afford the worry of whether your van is going to start or not so get it in and sorted as this weather is forecast to be around for a long time.

Best of luck
 
mrbruce said:
I have the same engine, and also have starting problems in this weather. The easiest way to get it fired up (so the battery will start charging) is to get someone to turn it over and spray some hairspray (anything flamable but hairspray works a treat) into the air intake. Take the top of the air filter housing off a spray down the middle of the filter. It works everytime, gurenteed.
Click to expand...





Or a drop of diesil dare i say it!Used to work for me everytime.If its not battery always check to see if you are getting fuel,if you have a mechanical fuel pump these can break down.Vehicles need to be moved about and used long term redundancy they like not!
 
coolasluck said:
Or a drop of diesil dare i say it!Used to work for me everytime.If its not battery always check to see if you are getting fuel,if you have a mechanical fuel pump these can break down.Vehicles need to be moved about and used long term redundancy they like not!
Click to expand...

I had a bus (Ford 6D) that I could not get started after changing the engine beside a loch in Scotland. Calor Gas grill over the air intake did the trick until we got the problem sorted out. It eventually pulled enough diesel from the tank to keep it going. The problem was the timing for the fuel pump was slipping.

My Landrover (Perkins) had a device for setting fire to diesel in the air intake and drawing the flame into the engine. That worked even when it had stood unused for 6 months. A development over the old flaming rag routine.

Diesel can freeze and wax up. The old trick was to heat the tank and lines.
Some added petrol to the fuel in winter and got around the problem. Now diesel is modified to prevent waxing in cold conditions.
 
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