Got myself a problem on the ol 206.
Recently during the cold weather the old girl has taken longer and longer to start, until today when it decided it didnt want to start at all.........and then I drained the battery trying to start the f**ker.

For reference, its a 03 plate 206 HDi 2l diesel.

Anyway, Im not sure what the problem is exactly. She was turning over fine on the starter but just not starting. My first thought is that the glow plugs are knackered and werent pre-heating the fuel enough or at all, but then it occurred to me it might also be an injector problem.
Once its started I never had any other problems with it, which leads me to believe it is in fact the glow plugs. Im currently trying to get some prices on some plugs but I thought Id just post in here to see if anyone has any wisdom about the problem.

I await the inevitable "Its french, so thats your problem right there"

Im also considering the possibility that Ill need to replace the battery too, seeing as Ive not changed it since I got it in 2006, and its probably not been changed since new in 2003 either.

sounds like the glow plugs to me

they should be pretty cheap.... if you have a choice go for the bosh ones.... there a million times better than the other choices !

First place I went to wanted £10 each, and Ill need 4 obviously. That seems pretty reasonable to me, but the problem is I dont really have a spare £40
Plus I dont have any tools whatsoever to fit them myself, so Ill have to get someone to do it for me :/

no idea how hard they are to get at.....

but if you take the wire off the back of them, get a bit of wire and run it from the +ve on your battery, then brush the other end of it against the connector on the heater plug it should spark a little bit - a bit like if you short out the battery

its a cheap/easy way to test them..... you might only need 1 or 2 new ones... (not all 4) would save you some cash till later on when you can get the others done

Quote from: knightyno idea how hard they are to get at.....

but if you take the wire off the back of them, get a bit of wire and run it from the +ve on your battery, then brush the other end of it against the connector on the heater plug it should spark a little bit - a bit like if you short out the battery

its a cheap/easy way to test them..... you might only need 1 or 2 new ones... (not all 4) would save you some cash till later on when you can get the others done

Neat trick, thanks for that. I shall report my findings as soon as I know!

I use a diesel additive during winter time it hightens the cetan level. And yes check the plugs either as knighty  suggests or with an ohm meter (should be a low figure).

You will probably be able to get away with just changing one plug for now. Also an aditive will help

knackered battery? winter is hard on batteries especialy on diseasels.

You can use a multimeter to test the resistance of the glow plugs.

http://www.ngk-dpower.com/en/technik/technik-tipps/technik-tipp-1/

Or grab a jump lead, connect it to the battery and the buzz bar.  Give it 30 seconds and try cranking.
Changing glow plugs is easy, I cant twirl a spanner to save my life and I managed it with lots of Plusgas and a £1.99 Wilkos spanner set.

Well, I fixed it. It just need a jump start after all that. Think Ill replace the glow plugs anyway tho, because as I said before, it was becoming less and less willing to start when it was cold.

Quote from: EddWell, I fixed it. It just need a jump start after all that. Think Ill replace the glow plugs anyway tho, because as I said before, it was becoming less and less willing to start when it was cold.

The battery could be weak though or have you checked if it charges properly (as it got worse and worse) ?

with my old 306 I occasionally had to run the pre-heater twice in the coldest depths of winter.

It does sound like your battery is on the way out though, winter has a way of showing up weak batteries.

I struggled to start my car earlier but managed after I turned everything off heater, heated windscreen and radio. It hasn't been used much over the last few weeks and then only for short trips, so hoping that is the cause rather than it being buggered, pulled it out when I got back and I'm going to leave it charging overnight and hope that sorts it.    

check water levels in batteries this time of year. must be covering all of the cathodes.

Quote from: ShaunI struggled to start my car earlier but managed after I turned everything off heater, heated windscreen and radio. It hasn't been used much over the last few weeks and then only for short trips, so hoping that is the cause rather than it being buggered, pulled it out when I got back and I'm going to leave it charging overnight and hope that sorts it.    

If you havent been using it much then it might have discharged to a low level. Car alarms are noted for draining the battery over time.