2000 Peugeot 306 HDI from UK and Ireland - Comments

I've had my 306 HDI Meridian for 4 years and it's now on 125K. It's a good runner, but has had it's fair share of faults:

Air con - Leaking Pipes and bust condenser

New Clutch this year

Drivers side brake seized

Rain sensor wipers pausing on down-stroke.

I've now got a problem with the engine running rough/erratic especially when cold. It's been in the local garage and they checked the ECU and believed it was a problem with moisture getting in (recent wet weather). They've cleared the errors and 'gelled' the ECU leads and harness (?!)

It did run OK for a week, but the problem has come back. The engine starts rough, then settles and idles fine. If the engine is held at 12000 revs it runs like there's a minor misfire. After a few seconds the ECU attempts to correct this and increases the revs.

It'll have to go back into the garage. I don't know if anyone has had any similar probs? I don't really want to buy the ECU kit for my laptop?!

Guys, guys, guys, it seems to me that all this talk of replacing high pressure fuel pumps ETC is mainly down to miss diagnosis, however the hdi's do suffer from low pressure pump failure "the one in the tank".

I myself run a Peugeot Expert 20 HDI E7 "same engine" which is basically a black cab; it's now done 350,000 miles on the same clutch, gearbox, alternator, starter motor etc. I have replaced the low pressure pump once, & I've also replaced the camshaft sensor, both of these caused intermittent starting problems poor running etc.

I could drive the cab all day, but once I switched it off it would not start, yet leave it for an hour or two and away it would go.

I do understand that the main dealers are rubbish, as this is also my experience. Basically find yourselves a GOOD garage that know these engines and you won't have too many large repair bills. These engines are bullet proof. 350000 miles is your proof.

I got Peugeot 306 SR gas injection and a bad problem with occasional rough revs/erratic. Sometimes seemed like fixed by disconnecting the battery (assume, the error is automatically cleared, although not sure), but coming back again. The revs sway from low to very high and back all the way. Experienced earlier problem with moisture in ECU affecting the locks, but fixed by sealing the antenna, hopefully. Will try the garage with a PC testing kit, yet would appreciate a hint on what's going on and ways to effectively fix the problem. The auto is pretty old- 1994 and long past 180K, but I just love it. This comes from Russia, the City of Kaluga and the Peugeot service is unavailable locally. Nevertheless, I managed to take a good care of the car so far. You can write directly to my email address: mds@kaluga.net Regards, your Russian fan of Peugeot.

I have owned my 306 HDI now for a week. It has a few slight problems with it. These being the down stroke on the automatic wipers, it doesn't go all the way down, but instead stops halfway through, and also the trip computer isn't connected up to the engine as this has been replaced. Any ideas on fixing these then please email me mattyfish16@hotmail.com.

Thanks.

My model is Peugeot 306 SR sedan, 1994. I wrote earlier about occasinal high revs/erratic. Understand some folks referred to the same problem with Peugeot 205 GTS known as "kangarooing". I found a comment mentioning some smart device known as widgit that could help. Would appreciate to know more about it and, possibly, a hint on where to find it /how to make it. Meanwhile, It looks like I fixed the problem by plain comprehensive purge of the fuel system, injectors et al. The mechanic said, though, the valve in control of idle does not work properly all the time and jugested replacement. Good luck to all. My email address: mds@kaluga.net Thanks.

Well, after reading all these comments I'm pretty sure buying my Pug HDi (GTi rep) was a seriously bad idea!! I just love it though! Looks the part, goes like a petrol and handles like a kart!

Right then, 1st day I bought it, crankshaft pulley went, cost £50 getting new one from breakers.

THe next week, clutch completely goes big time, causing damage which needed welding doing, cost £500 in total. The next day my speedo stops working.

3rd week, breaks down 20 miles from home, it just died, low revs pulling out of a junction and it was like the keys were taken out of the ignition. Would not start. Mechanic was baffled, and I had an auto electrician give it a diagnostics test, my ECU was completely fried. Needed new unit, crank sensor and I apparently had a problem with my conrods, Altogether it came to £300.

4th week. Have problem with fuel (I think) drives well for up to an hour then it starts gasping for fuel at around 3000rpm, spluttering and stuttering, but holds OK below 3000rpm (any feedback on that very welcome!!!).

Speedo sometimes kicks in usually in 3rd gear, but when it does I feel a surge of power like an extra 15bhp (feedback on that also very welcome).

Also the car idles erratically on cold start up, but sorts itself out with a few revs.

It's done 85000 miles. I know I need to get rid of the piece of crap, but I'll just buy another because it's got no rivals. It's a hot hatch without the high fuel costs. I had a 205 GTi before the 306, and that was laced with problems. so... Peugeot make fast cars which go round corners in a sense that you don't need to slow down. But you just hope there's a garage round the corner to fix it.

I bought a W reg 306 HDI 6 months ago and it has been, reasonable I guess. I have two problems with it that really annoy me

1) Starting - sometimes, and it does not seem to be linked to anything particular, the car has trouble starting. You turn the key it tries to start, but sounds like there is no fuel getting through to the engine (I am no mechanic and no next ot nothing about cars) leave it for a bit and try again and its fine. This may or may not be related to:

2) Weird kangarooing type behavior. When driving along usably about 2500- 3000 rpm on motorways (it never seems to happen around town) and when I have less than 1/2 a tank of diesel in it, the car acts as though it is "missing". The Engine sounds as though someone has dropped a bag of spanners in it (a valve tappity nasty sound), the power output seems to fluctuate and if you try to accelerate it gets worse. Take your foot of the accelerator and its OK, reapply and its back to bag of spanners.

I have taken this to the garage, there are no errors from the ECU, but they seem to think it might be a problem with the low pressure fuel pump which they are going to change.

Apart from the above the car is great, its just that while this problem is ongoing it's very hard to trust it (the car has not broken down, but I get the impression its just biding its time for a really inconvenient time to do it!)

If anyone has had any similar problems I would like to know if they managed to fix them, thanks.

I am thinkin about buying a 306 hdi as my first car, but theres one problem it starts for 5 minutes then cuts out he said I can have it for 300 quid when its worth 1500 and has various parts rims {etc} can anyone tell me whats up with it I'm going to get it looked at first as it might be the headgascket then it wouldn't be worth buying get back to me on lordl@aol.com.

Never buy a common rail diesel with a problem unless you know exactly what's up and have a firm quote to fix it.

Don't confuse a modern diesel engine with the primitive, ultra reliable diesels of old. They're now more technically complex than petrol engines, and more expensive to put right when they go wrong. Replacing a single fuel injector will cost what you'll pay for the car. If it's a fuel pump fault, you're looking at over a grand just for the part. Even then you can't just bolt them on - they need to be configured in the ECU by someone who knows how.

If he's selling it for £300, I suspect he knows what's up with it, and it's going to cost more than the £1,000 hit he's taking to put it right. Otherwise, why wouldn't he fix it himself and sell it as a working car for top whack?

After owning a phase 1 gti6 I sold it to purchase an HDI as I will need to commute further for work now. The gti6 never once let me down in the 1 1/2 years I owned it!

Then I bought the T-reg P/3 2.0 HDI.

Seemed great, 400 miles on just under 1/2 a tank, great looks, very smooth, but not at all fast (not expecting it to be).

THEN 1 week later I wen to start it and it only ticked over, nothing catching which brings nightmares of fuel pumps to mind. The recovery guy thought it was an immobilizer issue, but he was useless. So it's stuck at a garage, I have a 4 day wait and I'm not sure whether it's going to be £100 or £1000 to fix.

To say I'm gutted is an understatement.

I own a 99 on a V, p/3 306 HDI, for the person who said about an induction kit, this will not aid a diesel in any way, the diesel engine needs more fuel to produce more power.

The best thing to do is get it re-mapped at a cost of £200,but its well worth it!!!

I agree with the last comment to an extent, the extra air isn't useful until you get extra fuel, when you do have extra fuel you will need that induction kit to make use of the extra fuel and keep smoke down, diesels are meant to run lean.

You should get induction kit and any other mods done before a remap so they can set it up for what mods you have, whether it be an induction kit, de-cat or fmic.

Gents, It's nice to see this thread is still live. I have a 205Gti with similar problems to what's listed. I'm aware that the pugs have a similar fault throughout its range, specifically with the smaller 106, 205, 305, 206, and 306 range. Typically it's probably electrical. Any hows, my 205 dies at low revs, generally at a roundabout or junction, traffic lights, she has even passed out going round a corner. The revs can be even and smooth, but they can also be erratic. It seems to be at anytime when she decides to be in a mood, it doesn't have to be wet or damp. Using anything electrical in the car doesn't help the matter, i.e. Lights, heater, indicators - which can make it awfully hard to drive!

I've had the alternator tested, that's fine, the battery is new, the fuses are fine, I've had new leads, sparks, dizzy, I've had a new idle control valve - didn't help, I've even had a positive charge kit on - doesn't help either!

I love my little car, wouldn't sell or swap her, I use her every week - but not everyday. So I need to get it sorted. I know I've got to go and put it on the diagnostics - but from what I've been told they probably won't help.

Has anyone actually had this problem before and actually sorted it??!!!

As a quick note, the 205 isn't modified, it's the standard engine (1.6) and only has 92k - bearing in mind she's 18, she's great for her age!

Cheers all.

Zoe.

I have a peugeot 306 HDi 2000 and am currently experiencing huge difficulties with it. To start from the beginning, I sometimes found that it wouldn't start when I came to it at various points in the day. It went into the garage and the ECU showed nothing, although the AA thought it was a problem with the fuel pump. It would then randomly start.

Another resue by the AA when it wouldn't start showed that if the duel relay was tapped a couple of times, it would start and run perfectly fine. The verdict was that a new dual relay was needed. So, with it running OK I took it to an auto electrician who replaced the duel relay, along with the fuse board, which apparently was damaged as it had burnt due to the duel relay problem.

Once these had been replaced, the car started with a rev problem (not sure exactly what the problem is), which means it is now undrivable.

The main dealers found nothing and it's been to three different garages..it's currently with a nice fella who is scratching his head over it.

He has tested the fuel pump and rented an ECU to see if that's the issue but nothing significant has come from either effort.

I made the point that this problem didn't exist until the duel relay and the fuse board was fitted.. so maybe they're causing the problem??

I'm stumped..Help!