406oc.co.uk

New to the forum so please be gentle.
I have a 406 2.2S coupe
04 reg with only 54k miles genuine.
It drives and looks lovely but on start up when cold the engine sounds a bit ticky.
this lasts for about a minute after which it is nice and quiet.
is this a symptom of peugeots being a bit dry or something I should worry about.
I`ve just done 650 miles in a week around Wales without missing a beat.

I assume it's the petrol 2.2? I have a 2001 reg saloon with the same engine. First off, the engine does sound a bit like a diesel on cold starts, which is completely normal. It's not a ticking sound as such, though.

The ticking could be caused by low oil levels or low oil pressure to the hydraulic tappets. Have you checked the oil level recently? The 2.2 really should be classified as a hybrid engine, considering how much petrol and oil it burns :-P

I've heard of people having to have upwards of 3.5 litres added during their scheduled services since they never bothered to check the oil level themselves. Considering the sump only holds about 4.8 litres, I'd say they were cutting it very close.

But since you say the noise goes away when the engine is warmed up, it could have something to do with the grade of oil you use.

Which grade of oil is in there? Oil is a matter usually discussed with religious fervor, so I'll refrain from making any definitive blanket statements about what is right or wrong. According to my trusted Peugeot mechanic, fully synthetic 5w40 is the way to go for the 2.2. Peugeot puts Total oil in their cars, and I would consider it the safest choice. It's also less than half price compared to Castrol or Mobil around these parts. 5w is less viscous on startup than 10w, will make cold starts easier and help your engine achieve the correct oil pressure faster.