Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - Ben Craig

My 97 306 1.9td started running rough and smoking a little on my way home the other day, it was then hard to start and the level of smoke had increased as had the rough running.

A mechanic friend took a look and thought it to be contaminated fuel ( he poured a bit on the floor, chucked a match on it, and it went up instantly) I have definatley only put diesel in it so my only thought would be that the fuel that i put in was dodgy from the pumps - tesco said they have not had any other complaints. ( i had driven for 100 miles since putting in 50 litres before the problems started

we drained the tank and put some fresh diesel in hoping that running it for a while would clean it out, but it hasn't. It is still hard to start, and when it does is rough at idle with lots of white smoke, it also lacks power. the white smoke sometime clears a little, but it is still rough. It also sometime stalls on deceleration.

I have taken off the injectors and had these tested - no problems, I have also put on a clear pipe off the fuel return from the pump and there is no air in the fuel. On taking the intercooler off there is some thick gloopy oil in the air inlet, i guess that this is from the turbo, which hasn't worked since i got it, but don;t think that this would cause this problem?

I presume that it is the injector pump (lucas) which is at fault, but i am not sure. i have found somewhere that will service it for 75 quid, they sugested advancing the timing of the pump to see if that fixes it before bringing it in to them. Is it possible to time the pump without specialist tools?if not are these easy enough to get?

any help greatly appreciated - i'm at a loss....

Ben

Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - Peter.N.

Diesel won't spontainiously ignite with a match, sounds like petrol. Is the car still performing OK or is it down on power? White smoke is usually caused by unburnt fuel, you will notice it when you first start from cold if the engine runs unevenly. Retarded timing can make it smoke but will also make it difficult to start and it will tend to run hot and quieter than normal.

You can advance the timing by slackening the three nuts that hold the pump to the front plate and the rear bracket and turning the pump clockwise looking from the back

Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - RichardW

I'd be whipping the cam belt covers off and checking that the belt hadn't jumped a tooth or two first off....

Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - Ben Craig

Thanks for the advice so far guys.

Yeah it is down on power and the white smoke is from when it (finally) starts until i switch it off!

Can i cause damage by adjusting the timing by rotating the pump, of will it just end up stalling if i rotate it too much?

i will also check the timing belt hasn't slipped.

any more help still appreciated

Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - Peter.N.

Does sound like retarded timing, if it did it suddenly I would check as mentioned that the timing belt hasn't jumped a tooth or two before you do anything else. When was the cam belt last changed?

Peugeot 306 - Pug 306 1.9td rough running, white smoke etc... - Ben Craig

Love you guys!

The belt had jumped a couple of teeth on the injector pump, now running as before!

Looks like the cause was a strip of aux drive belt that had worn off and got in behind the timing covers.

Thanks again, I am very pleased!

Ben