406 hdi 90 injector woes and now anti pollution fault

[vfr400rob]

Greetings folks,
first off, great looking forum. A testament to you all.

I have just bought a 406 hdi 90 rapier estate 2001 y plate off ebay. I test drove it when I went to pick it up and it all seemed ok. A bit more sluggish than my old 405 1.9td estate but I put that down to it being a heavier car. All went well drove it home a 100 miles no problems.

However (sigh), on getting home I realised the air re-circulator was on so I switched the heater (air-con with climate control) to suck in air from the outside. The cabin then started to smell of diesel. I had a look under the HDI shield on the engine and noticed the injectors were surrounded by a load of black coal looking carbon (bigger sigh). After a look on various forums including this one I concluded that the injectors were suffering "blow by".

I have removed them - took me all day. Then had them tested and cleaned - they are apparently ok. Cleaned up the holes as best as I could (still a few spots of carbon on the bottom of them) and refitted the injectors with new washers and tightened them down while engine was cold - I do not have a torque wrench so I just tightened them up.

Started the engine and a sprayed diesel all over the engine from a snapped fiel return pipe, I must have knoked it whilst trying to get the injectors out. I have replaced that part today.

So test drive tonight. All seemed ok untill engine got hot when smell returned. I took onto the motorway to warm it up properly thinking it may be the diesel I sprayed over the engine compartment. Under heavy acceleration the engine shut off and a yellow engine light came on the dash followed by an anti pollution warning on the trip computer display. Waited a minute and restarted and drove it home seemingly ok. Engine light on but no anti pollution warning.

Ok so my questions are:

Is it shagged?

Should I tighten the injector bolts down as hard as I can when the engine is hot? I am guessing it has all just expanded and the blow by has returned. I was frightened of doing this as I don't want to strip the threaded bar the bolts are on.

Does this car have a fap filter thingy as I am now thinking eeek more expensive problems.

Any other advice you folks think may be relavent would also be greatly recieved.

Regards
Rob

[highlander]

Hi and welcome!

Sorry to hear you've had so many problems in the short while you've owned a 406.

I can't really offer much help here as I've never owned or driven a diesel-powered 406, but I can at least put your mind at rest and say there is no FAP (diesel particulate filter) system fitted to the HDi 90. There is also no dual-mass flywheel, and no intercooler for the turbo.

Personally I'd take the car to a garage and have the engine professionally inspected for problems. Also, be VERY careful when working on the fuel system of an HDi - the fuel system works at literally LETHAL pressures - being sprayed with diesel from this system is a pretty nasty thing to have happen to you, and is guaranteed to cause you some degree of unpleasant injury. Take care!

[Doggy]

Hi Rob & welcome to the forum.

Did you notice if all the copper sealing washers were in place under the injectors and if they were in good condition?

The 'book' recommends always using new ones, but I got away with mine. It may be that if one or more was loose they have been distorted in some way. Mau be worth changing them anyway - details:

Reference Description Quantity Price - VAT Price + VAT Total + VAT Selection
0000198196 INJECTOR SEAL 1.64 GBP 1.97 GBP 1.97 GBP

(Assuming yours has a bosch fuel system, the later ones are Siemens).

HTH

[vfr400rob]

Thanks for the replies gents,
the fact thet there is no particle filter etc is a relief. Also thanks for the warning about the HDI high pressure. I have seen other posts relating to the dangers and am being careful. waiting 20 mins after engine switch off then disconnecting battery then doing work on it.

The washers were new - from the diesel specialist who tested and cleaned the injectors. I guess I will have to pull them again and have another look. would it be worth cleaning/replacing the fuel filter? Also what about tightening the bolts down when engine is warm? I take it that the replacement fuel return pipe assembly I replace would have nothing to do with the problem. Part of it connects to the fuel filter and there was an electrical plug connected to the right hand side of it.

Regards

Rob

[vfr400rob]

Well had a good look today. It turns out that one of the fuel pipe unions was not tight enough. Nipped it up a bit and all ok. took for a run asn all seems well.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Regards
Rob

[Doggy]

That's how we roll.

Well done getting it sorted.