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Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:11 am
by Captain Jack
Hiya chaps - long time, no visit.

My 407 is in for its major service. Mainly through need, rather than preventative. Recently the DMF has been making a horrible rattling noise, mainly at idling and setting off/reversing. Won't be long till it disintegrates. The clutch itself is, annoyingly, still fine. The cost of LUK parts alone is over 600 Sovs (DMF+clutch+release bearing/slave cylinder) - this doesn't include any extras, like seals and gearbox oil and anything else it needs. Or labour even.

As it's also now 10 years old and approaching 90k miles, the belts are also due - so that's being changed as well. It's an expensive month - with insurance due in Nov too! :roll: And MOT in Dec....

In the meantime, I have been driving in my wife's Swift. It's basically a bug with a 1.5l pezzle engine, which, when revved over 3k rpm, isn't too slow. Zero low down grunt though but so easy to park - it seems to fit almost literally in any parking space, no matter how shite the BWM's parking in the next bay is. Of course, getting back into my car is like going from a Skoda Estelle into a Rolls - smooth, quiet and so much lazy power pretty much anywhere in the rev range.

My courtesy car is a 190k miler 406 HDI 110 SE (half levvers an' all). To be honest, other than the engine and gearbox, it feels like a 15 year old car with 190k miles on it. Rust everywhere, steering wheel isn't on straight, right speakers don't work with a Sony HU, the Flintstones sat-nav display is impossible to read (though I can just about make out the 38.7mpg average consumption on it) and absolutely ALL drops links needs replacing. Oh, and there's something rattling in the boot as well, which is annoying.

But anyway, hopefully, after this service, it will be good for a few more years until I decide to sell it. And that's a whole other question (don't think I'll be getting a diesel again - they are bullied far too much by the clueless twats in government).

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:34 am
by Welly
After a major spend like this you need to keep it for a few years. So many people buy another car because: 'just had big bill' which is false economy (although great for the next owner).

Are you getting the warty pump replace with the belt change?

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:12 pm
by Captain Jack
Yeah, pump is there as well to be replaced.

My issue with this car is that there are a lot of scare stories about DPF tests on new MOTs, as I've had mine gutted (as it was tinkling me off) and remapped. I don't want them to start pointing fingers at me but this is a "friendly, local garage" that I have 99% of my work done at (since my first 406), so hopefully they'll overlook/not care/won't notice. Though it passed last year without any issues.

I supposed I could always fit a non-bashed out DPF just for MOT.... :supafrisk:

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:42 pm
by Doggy
Ouch, that's reassuringly expensive. :shock:
When we* fitted the 6-speed box, the clutch kit, DMF, diff oil seals, oil etc. came to the memorable sum of £406

I really can't see how anyone's going to tell what's in your DPF. I think I could tell from he diagnostics, but really can't see anyone else being anal enough.
They'll do the smoke test the MOT demands and maybe go so far as to see if the DPF housing is still present.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:09 pm
by Captain Jack
Doggy wrote:Ouch, that's reassuringly expensive. :shock:
Quite. I was shocked to find how much cheaper 2.0 HDI versions of the same parts were :shock: And 406 stuff is peanuts - relatively speaking.
Doggy wrote:I really can't see how anyone's going to tell what's in your DPF. I think I could tell from he diagnostics, but really can't see anyone else being anal enough.
They'll do the smoke test the MOT demands and maybe go so far as to see if the DPF housing is still present.
Yeah, not sure. It's almost like it's all scare tactics. I haven't heard of any rudeboyz failing MOTs because of hollow/removed cats...

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:54 pm
by OllieNZ
I had the dpf discussion with my MOT man a couple of months ago. He said they'd had a memo about dpfs but no concrete advice on how to check it or how to check whether it should even be fitted to that particular vehicle or not.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:54 pm
by Captain Jack
Love the total vagueness of the memo. Just like anything government related....

Well, a VIN code, or even a reg number should tell them on their fancy compooter but given that some earlier 407s weren't even fitted with DPFs, would that make them exempt overall?

Same with 406s but it's a mix again - coupes were all fitted with DPFs whereas saloons and estates were only fitted to 2.2 engines. Pretty sure 406s are all safe - what's left of them on the road.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:34 pm
by dirtydirtydiesel
The reason all hdi coupes had DPF'S is because they are 2.2 only :roll:
Sorry to hear about your big bill but should be good for another 90k easy :)

Better the devil you know & all that.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 7:51 am
by OllieNZ
Dpf fitment seems to have been a tad haphazard (but was engine specific) in the early 2000's but that was the change over period to euro 4 emissions compliance.
Take the 307 for example
1.4 hdi non
1.6 90 hdi non
1.6 110 hdi dpf
2.0 90 hdi non
2.0 110 hdi non
2.0 136 hdi dpf
And everything changed again in 2007 when the facelift/euro 5 occurred.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 9:14 am
by Welly
As I understand from 'my' MOT man; if the car left the factory with a DPF but was then removed (straight-piped) then that's a big fat fail. If the car has 'what looks like' the factory DPF in place then all's good and it's just down to the simple smoke test which it'll pass anyway. Or something.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 10:37 am
by OllieNZ
Welly wrote:As I understand from 'my' MOT man; if the car left the factory with a DPF but was then removed (straight-piped) then that's a big fat fail. If the car has 'what looks like' the factory DPF in place then all's good and it's just down to the simple smoke test which it'll pass anyway. Or something.
That's pretty much what mine said but as an MOT tester they have no access to a database that tells them whether the car left the factory with one or not. His take on it was if it looks like it should be there (straight pipe or dpf) and smoke test is good he's happy. Obviously any dangling plugs, sensor tubes, welded up dpf canisters, etc would raise cause for concern and warrant further investigation.

Until they're given a notification that the specific car they're looking at should have a dpf, technically they have to assume what's there is stock unless it obviously appears otherwise.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 9:21 pm
by Captain Jack
Tis done. £630 labour... 2 days. But at least it won't need much beyond an oil change for the next 100k miles, which might take a while with my sub 10k miles a year driving.

Re: Car in garage

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:19 am
by piglet
OllieNZ wrote: or how to check whether it should even be fitted to that particular vehicle or not.
This has been troubling me a I'm in search of a 3.0 V6 A4 without DPF.
I phoned Audi UK and they were unable/unwilling to tell me which cars have it.
After a bit of forum research I found it's given away in the options code table.
How are MOT testers supposed to know what a car left the factory with?