Serious 406 issue...

[sockpuppet]

Im having a real problem with my 406.

When i brake hard and turn the wheel at the same time (ie. turning into a sidestreet) the engine completely cuts out. No electrics or anything, the lights go off, no warning lights on the dash, stereo cuts out and all sorts, as if the car is totally dead. This means i obviously lose steering and braking, making it extremely dangerous.

My mechanic friend has no idea what it could be. Suggested perhaps dirty fuel in the diesel tank as ive let it get pretty low in recent times, however theres a quarter of a tank now and its still doing it, five times since Tuesday when it first happened.

Anybody got any ideas as to what this could be, because at the moment my car is lethal and I need it for work and uni.

[mandelbug]

Power Steering pump maybe? Not sure if they are belt driven off the engine or not

[steve_earwig]

Maybe a loose connection (engine moves suddenly in a certain direction, pulls wire...), is it turning either way?

[sockpuppet]

so far its only turning hard to the right i believe. ive not tested it turning left though

[steve_earwig]

Battery loose? It could also be something shorting out.

[sockpuppet]

nahh checked the battery over already. might be taking it to an electrician on monday

[stevenlizuk]

A bad earth strap somewhere?

[teamster1975]

A bad earth strap somewhere?

I'm thinking that, check the engine earth strap is intact!

[mjb]

No electrics or anything, the lights go off, no warning lights on the dash, stereo cuts out and all sorts, as if the car is totally dead

That's not a mechanical fault, it's electrical. If the lights (take it you mean head/sidelights) stayed on, I'd say ignition barrel, but if they go out, I'd check the battery terminals and work from there, specifically the earth leads from the battery to the gearbox and to the body underneath the battery box

[sockpuppet]

would you say this is something that is easily done, as id rather avoid paying a fortune for some jackass mechanic to go "yep, thats £50 and ill tell you whats wrong. now if you want me to FIX it..."

[jasper5]

This jackass mechanic tends to agree with mjb who is neither a jackass nor a mechanic but knows what he is talking about.

Perhaps you might be best advised to take it to an auto electrician, but make sure he isn't a jackass.

[sockpuppet]

ill do my best to find one! just a case of finding somewhere that will do a free look-over and then tell me whats what, but i know a couple of mechanics who'd do it for free for me, its just finding someone to tell me what needs to be done i guess.

[TopDonkey]

You wouldnt be paying an electrician to fix the car, the time and cost is in the looking it over and diagnosing it, the fixing it is normally just clean and tighten a loose earth bolt or replace a short section of corroded wire, so your unlikely to get an auto electrician to look over and tell you whats wrong for free !!

[sockpuppet]

ahh thats fair enough then. im hoping its something small and easy to sort out!

[sockpuppet]

yep, you were totally right, and the cheapest auto electrician that i could find wanted to charge me £45 an hour to do diagnostics, so i might cry, because my weekly student budget is £40, so if it takes him four hours to find out whats wrong with the car i wont be able to eat until early April!