Front suspension spring broke

[sollyboy]

Haven't used the old 406 since saturday been using the 206 but yesterday noticed that the 406 looked a little low at the front , but wasn't to sure as my drive is on a steep incline. Then asked the wife if she had driven the 406 she said yes but only from today. She turned back after a 100 yards as she could hear a noise coming from the engine bay . I put the car on the flat and had a look under the near side wheel arch and the bottom of the spring was broken off in a 10 cm piece .So with that info what can I do to get it to a garage and how much at a guest to get the repairs fixed ?? All the best Sollyboy

[rapport25]

On going 406 problem. Do a search for front suspension broken spring in the search bar at the top

[steve_earwig]

It'll need towing unfortunatly, can't give any idea of price as it's a little different here... Count yourself lucky it didn't make a hole in the tyre and/or destroy the driveshaft gater!

[Welly]

Have a read of this solly.....

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4762&p=46518&hilit= ... ing#p46518

(to let you into a secret I drove it for 2 miles with the spring rubbing slightly on the tyre, it's not clever but I was happy that there was no sharp bits near enough. It produced a few hot rubbery flakes but they were my old tyres and I stayed at 20mph on very quite road 07:00am )

[bloodncustard]

Oh dear Sollyboy, sorry to hear your news. same thing happened to me 200 miles from home after filling up with diesel. From waht I understand it's prone to happen during low speed manouevres which is a blessing I suppose!

Mine took out the rubber gaiter and brake line but even so wasn't hideously expensive, about £75 from memory. Good luck mate

[marco2002]

The same thing happened to me today. Got in the car this morning went to drive away and heard an awful noise fron the n/s/f wheel arch. Had a look underneath and couldn't beleive what i saw. The whole spring had gone bang the bottom part of the spring has gone through the cv boot and theres grease oozing out. Looks like the strut is at fault as the bottom part of the spring has ended up in a mess on top of the hub. The wheel won't move either because of the spring in the cv boot. Looks like i'll have to get the garage to send their recovery truck out! Prices for new springs and struts seem to vary lot from very reasonable to daylight robbery

[rapport25]

Sorry to hear that My drivers side one went a few years ago now but I have not replaced the passengers side fingers crossed it wont go. But with a peugeot anything is possible I have heard people suggest changing both sides as it will fail.

There was no damage to my car other than spring needed replacing.

Welcome to the club anyway There is lots of knowledgable people on here. If they gave you a list of things to go wrong with your pug you would start saving now

Have to say the 406 is a great machine when its behaving

[marco2002]

I'm hoping I might only have to replace the spring. The cv boot is damaged so that will need doing as well. I replaced struts & springs on a 405 a couple of years ago so I am hoping the job won't be much more difficult. Just wondering best course of action with the spring because the whole thing has expanded so much i'm wondering if the spring will just fall out or whether the spring compressors will have to be used? I've been told to replace the bearing that sits at the top of the mount.

I've got a mechanic looking at it this week so hopefully I'll have the 406 back on the road by next week!

[Welly]

Dear oh dear fella

Sounds odd doesn't it that the spring could reach the CV boot but for those of you who haven't seen a new uncompressed 406 spring they are freaking huge!! they must be at least 700mm long.

Mine broke but got tangled up and stayed there. Thinking about it now it was a bit silly of me to risk driving on it

I think it sounds like yours has expanded fully so shouldn't be under tension now (but check carefully).

I left my other spring alone and it's been fine since April (it was waxoiled to help with corrosion).

[marco2002]

Thanks Welton. Did you replace the spring yourself? If so how long did it take? I fitted new springs & struts on a 405 a couple of years ago and it wasn't too bad hoping this job won't be too bad either! If i do fit a new spring/strut then i think the other side will have to be done at a later date. You are right it does come as a bit of a shock when you see how much one of those springs can expand. Also surprised at how may people have had this spring problem seems to be par for the course as they say with the 406. First time i've had any bother with the car had droplinks and a balljoint replaced but other than that it has been a reliable car. I'm starting a new job in the new year so has to been done by then.

[Welly]

First time i've had any bother with the car.

Well give it time eh?

Sorry fella, no I didn't fancy getting my face mashed in with a wayward coil spring so got a garage to do it for £125 notes.

I've had a rear one, a front one and a rear one on my missus 2003 Astra In 20 years of motoring this is the first time I've had it, or bushes, drop links etc. (bloody shoddy roads and speed humps).

[puggy]

My nearside front spring went earlier this year while on a dual carrigeway,
took it to the garage i use to let my man have a look ,he said i was lucky the
break was on the inside ?? whatever that meant and it was jammed.I drove it
for several days till he could fit it in but in hindsight i agree with welly should be
done ASAP !!

[jasper5]

I'm sure there was a modification done to the lower spring mounting on the strut at some point.

I think they put a bolt on mounting plate, bigger than the diameter of the spring.

The Earlier shape of Renault Megane, allegedley, had exactly the same problem, the lower spring mounting was smaller than the spring diameter, so, if the lower mounting corroded the spring drops down onto the driveshaft/tyre.

My next door neighbour had this problem, the spring dropped onto his wheel on his Megane and caused him to go off the road into a fence.

[marco2002]

Just about to re-build n/s/f suspension. Got all the bits comes to about £150!(strut,spring,drop link,Top Mount,bearing, bump stop,cv boot). I'll let you know how I get on! Might even post a few pics. Went to Peugeot Dealer today and the parts guy was really helpful gave me a print out schematic of the front suspension and a description of the parts too.

When i stripped the front suspension to bits i found that there is no rest cup on mine. The spring had a rubber bit glued to it at the end where it sits on the mounting part on the strut. What i'm going to do is glue the rubber bit on the new spring with a bit of bostik. Anyone else come across this before when they re-built suspension?

[Longintooth]

There is a split hard rubber tube wrapped around the base of the spring and this is nipped by the spring very tight under pressure - you can glue it, it helps hold it whilst you assemble the bits. If you have dissembled it ok and you are still in one piece then you know what you are doing and the rest is history. Well done - I did the lot in 1.5 hrs without a sweat. oh just make sure the little knob on the strut lines up with the slot on the base housing.