Hello!

[Lewis85]

Greetings everyone!

My name is Lewis. Im 20 from Southend-On-Sea and recently bought a 1997 406 LX 2.1 TurboDiesel.

Came across it at a garage in Benfleet, and fell in love instantly on the test drive. I nearly had to let it go as i couldn't originally afford the insurance, but after a little working out, my grandad and i purchased it a couple of weeks ago.

Sadly on the 1st of November, it overheated while stuck on in the traffic on the M25 caused by the overturned lorry and lost all of its water. Managed to get it home, but haven't had a proper look to see what the possible damage is. It seems to run fine, but just keeping an eye on it.

Hope you all like, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Captain Jack]

Wow, that looks exactly like my old 2.1TD! Same colour and shape. Even the number plate ends in HHP (mine ended HRP).

Not sure about overheating. Check the radiator fans are spinning when hot - it's quite common for the relays that flick them on to fail. Where did it lose water from? From the expansion bottle overflow hole?

[GingerMagic]

Hi Lewis, thats a good solid car you've got there. Welcome to the forum

[Doggy]

Hi Lewis and welcome aboard.

Not sure if you're aware, it can be a pain to bleed all the air out of the cooling system - have a search.

(Or maybe one of the 2.1 experts can advise)?

[steve_earwig]

Hi Lewis, welcome

Overheating was probably bad connections on the relays or the fan brushes worn out. Or is it still loosing coolant?

[Lewis85]

It doesn't appear to be loosing any water anymore, which is good. But my friend and I have noticed the cooling fans are not coming on at all.

When i stopped and opened the bonnet, it was loosing a lot of water from what appeared to be a crack in the coolant water tank at the side of the engine. It lost the rest of it when my grandad opened the the cap without waiting for it to cool down >.> But it doesn't appear to be leaking from there anymore.

[Lewis85]

Sadly it seems I've bought a lemon

Along with the radiator not working and a phantom water leak that appears when its bored. It failed to start the other day and the RAC man said it was either the glow plugs not working properly or the fuel pump not pulling the fuel through. Along with the windows fogging up all the time and only being cleared by keeping the a/c on, the faulty fuel cap and the radio on/off button coming off, im really disappointed. I love the car but with all the niggles im not enjoying the car anymore.

[davew]

if it needs glow plugs they are cheap enough to replace ,make sure to replace them with OE ones beru are good otherwise they won't last long.
mystery water leak and misted up windows sounds like it could be heater matrix, are the carpets damp under where your feet go if so the matrix could be shot, not expensive or difficult to replace if you can do it yourself but it takes ages ,i did one and it was a full days work.

[jonsowman]

Sadly it seems I've bought a lemon

Along with the radiator not working and a phantom water leak that appears when its bored. It failed to start the other day and the RAC man said it was either the glow plugs not working properly or the fuel pump not pulling the fuel through. Along with the windows fogging up all the time and only being cleared by keeping the a/c on, the faulty fuel cap and the radio on/off button coming off, im really disappointed. I love the car but with all the niggles im not enjoying the car anymore.

1) Not starting - was it chucking out loads of white smoke? If so, it'll be the plugs or plug relay. The XUDs really need their glow plugs to get going when it's cold. Get decent ones, I only ever used Bosch or NGK.

2) Windows fogging up - check the pollen filter and replace if necessary, only about £10. If it's not this, check the recirculation flap motor. These often break and if it's stuck in the 'recirc' position it'll fog up endlessly. You can move it by sticking your hand down past the pollen filter (under the scuttle plate) and moving it as an interim solution.

3) Fuel flap - I assume this is the flap not opening when you pull the lever? If so, there's a quick fix using a clothes peg spring that will sort things out. Have a search on here.

4) The on/off buttons do come off I'm afraid, a small blob of superglue on the right hand side of the button will hold it on whilst still allowing it to move.

5) Phantom water leak - almost certainly the joint between the radiator and the bottom hose. Look for white deposits around this area. If it's been left too long, it's likely that the radiator might have a leak too.

Sorry to hear you're having problems, but these are all things that commonly go wrong. It's worth putting in the effort to get them sorted and you'll have a very reliable car

[Sonia406]

Firstly welcome to the forum, nice car you've got there.
I agree with the boys, I wouldn't give up on it just yet. These jobs seem relatively small and once sorted you'll probably have a reliable car.

Rule number 1 of the 406oc handbook: Stick with it!

I don't know if we have a handbook or not but that'd certainly be our rule number 1

Welcome again

Post pictures of the problems for the boys advice.

[Lewis85]

Thanks for the advice guys, means a lot to get some help. Ill try my best to put these into effect, but im no mechanic xD

Im popping it into a garage to give it a check over tomorrow, fingers crossed its nothing too serious. I wanna get the 'Death Star' back on the road properly!

[Lewis85]

Sadly it seems I've bought a lemon

Along with the radiator not working and a phantom water leak that appears when its bored. It failed to start the other day and the RAC man said it was either the glow plugs not working properly or the fuel pump not pulling the fuel through. Along with the windows fogging up all the time and only being cleared by keeping the a/c on, the faulty fuel cap and the radio on/off button coming off, im really disappointed. I love the car but with all the niggles im not enjoying the car anymore.

1) Not starting - was it chucking out loads of white smoke? If so, it'll be the plugs or plug relay. The XUDs really need their glow plugs to get going when it's cold. Get decent ones, I only ever used Bosch or NGK.

2) Windows fogging up - check the pollen filter and replace if necessary, only about £10. If it's not this, check the recirculation flap motor. These often break and if it's stuck in the 'recirc' position it'll fog up endlessly. You can move it by sticking your hand down past the pollen filter (under the scuttle plate) and moving it as an interim solution.

3) Fuel flap - I assume this is the flap not opening when you pull the lever? If so, there's a quick fix using a clothes peg spring that will sort things out. Have a search on here.

4) The on/off buttons do come off I'm afraid, a small blob of superglue on the right hand side of the button will hold it on whilst still allowing it to move.

5) Phantom water leak - almost certainly the joint between the radiator and the bottom hose. Look for white deposits around this area. If it's been left too long, it's likely that the radiator might have a leak too.

Sorry to hear you're having problems, but these are all things that commonly go wrong. It's worth putting in the effort to get them sorted and you'll have a very reliable car

When the RAC man got it started, there was quite a bit of white smoke, i just put it down to it being cold and parked up all night. Ill look into the pollen filter and recirc flap. The fuel flap fix sounds interesting and ill glue the on/off button back on when i can find it again, it appears to have been sucked into an abyss! The water system does need a proper going over which i will try to do myself, if not, get my friend to help, he knows more about cars than me.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Welcome on in ,
T.B.H, those prob's would affect any older car , most are v easy to sort, as I hope by now you are finding out, stick with it there good, soild, cheep workhorse's once you've sorted the prob's.

[Lewis85]

Hello again!

Quick update,

New glow plugs are fitted and he's firing up on cold days like a good'un. On inspection of the old ones, it was clear they had never been replaced, so deffo needed them.

Managed to pick up some relatively clean fan blades up from a scrapped 406 diesel in Kent, £25 for the two, bargain!

Will fit those when possible, hoping it will fix the overheating problem. Also noticed the drivers side door seal, is shredded and loose, so will scout for a new one of those, and that might fix the fogging issue.

Once this is all done, might get to enjoy the car a bit more, its such un upgrade from my little old Citroen i used to own.

Hope your all doing ok,

Lewis

[jonsowman]

Excellent news on the glowplug front. Those engines really do rely on them!

The door seals are a common one but I'd still check the recirc flap re. the fogging issue, it's such a common problem on these.