Pug306 Stalling

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Sat 16 Sep 2006 18:47
Pug306 Stalling - Alan G
Hi
I have a 94 Pug 306XN which often stalls when I take my foot off the gas or when I gently press the gas pedal when idling, the diagnostic light doesn't come on in these circumstances.

When my foot is off the gas, the idle stepper control motor often chatters & if it stalls will continue chattering.

I have changed the spark plugs, fuel filter, air filter, timing belt and cleaned the Bosch single point petrol injection components, to no avail.

Does anyone know what I should try next ?

Thanks
Alan
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Sep 2006 18:57
Pug306 Stalling - SjB {P}
The stepper motor on my wife's 306 doesn't chatter audibly at all; I would still hold this component as the prime suspect.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Sep 2006 17:29
Pug306 Stalling - Alan G
Thanks for your advice, I will take out the idle control stepper motor & spray some injector cleaner around, a new one costs about £150. I may also replace the coolant temperature sensor.
Alan
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Sep 2006 17:46
Pug306 Stalling - DP
The idle stepper motor is a known issue on the 306. Mine went twice (company car) and all six on the fleet had at least one replaced or cleaned over 60-100,000 miles.

Cheers
DP
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Sep 2006 18:37
Pug306 Stalling - SjB {P}
If you do try to repair the stepper motor or replace it with a new one you may need to disconnect the battery (I simply whipped off the grounding lead). I found this was necessary to reset the ECU and allow the stepper motor to recalibrate on power-up. Without doing this idle was still lumpy. Having done it, idle was (and is to this day) fine. I allowed 30 minutes or so of powered down state.

Also for info; I tried cleaning the stepper motor plunger but operation was still erratic. It took a new one to properly cure the poor idle.

For convenience - no time to shop around - I paid £93.34 incl VAT from my local Pug dealer last year.
The car was a 306 Sedan with XU7 1.8 8 valve engine.

Good luck!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 Sep 2006 13:43
Pug306 Stalling - thomp1983
make sure you use carb cleaner to do it, stuff like wd40 gunks it up again due to silicone content. you can get new steppers on ebay for about £40 you just need the number off yours

chris
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 22 Sep 2006 15:20
Pug306 Stalling - Alan G
Thanks for everyone's advice, I have replaced the coolant temperature sensor (£17.77), it didn't appear to make any difference.
I have just taken the idle stepper motor out, which took me ages, due to 1 torq screw which was stripped, I finally got it out by cutting a slot with a hacksaw blade & using a screwdriver.
I checked the microswitch which appeared okay, cleaned the contacts by using a 21w bulb connected via the switch to the battery, as suggested in an earlier thread & sprayed fuel injector around the piston.
It is much better but still stalls occasionally when I gently put my foot on the gas & the idle stepper motor piston still moves in & out a lot whilst idling, if it persists, I will probably buy a new idle stepper motor for £59.65, unless anyone has a better solution?
Alan
Reply | Report as offensive | Link