Noob 406 Owner

[stevekoz]

Hi all,

Just joined the site and after a bit of advice.

I haven't bought a 406 yet (well haven't put the notes in the guys hands). But i've provisionally bought pending inspection a 1999 406 LX Diesel Turbo take in p/ex at a dealers. Princely sum of £800 notes.

Car is a lovely silver colour, really clean and has 138k on clock with full dealer s/h.

However, as i am new to 406's i wondered if you guys could give me some pointers for specifics to look out for. Guess may be a few electrical niggles and thats to be expected. Just wondered asides usual everyday stuff what could i be looking for that is a warning sign or a no no.

Cheers and thanks in anticipation of all your help now (and sure in future)

steve

[sirwiggum]

XUDT engine fairly bulletproof, check for head gasket though (mayo on oil cap etc) which can go if it hasn't had a proper coolant change.

Other than that, usual checks on bodywork, suspension etc.

Good luck! Plenty of XUD owners on here, but you shouldn't have too much trouble and a good reliable economical car!

BTW - 1999, is it one of the last D8s (with the 405-style slatted grille)? Would be interesting if it was a D9 with an XUD...

[highlander]

Check for water ingress - key area for water collecting is in the spare wheel well in the boot (lift the boot carpet - if the spare wheel well is a swimming pool, you have a problem). Also check the carpets inside the car are dry; there are some very important electrical connections which reside in the under-carpet sound deadening foam; if water is collecting down there you'll get damp carpets and a whole host of bizarre electrical faults.

Make sure you know when the timing belt and water pump were replaced. At that mileage, if this work has never been done, it will need to be done as soon as possible - failure of the timing belt can be absolutely catastrophic, and can result in thousands of pounds of repairwork needing done to your engine. Failure of the water pump can either result in the engine overheating, or if it seizes up suddenly, the timing belt can slip, come off, or snap. Aux belt should also be done at the same time. It's a big job but you should only need to do it every 80,000 miles or so (maybe a little less).

Other than that, just sit back and enjoy a very comfortable ride in a very practical car

[sirwiggum]

Good point by highlander.
They aren't exactly Alfa TwinSparks (30k and still prone to snapping )
but a timing belt every 80k or so wouldn't hurt.

My old XUD got it around 70k.

[stevekoz]

well as far as i know its a slatted grille with badget in centre. so assume its a D8, really really tidy for year. I'll get some pics up later.

So far got check for headgasket, cambelt and associated tensioners etc (history says cambelt at 138k so hoping thats right).

Overheating and then just usual wear tear rot and knock checks.

Cheers guys.

Looking forward to getting her.

[Bailes1992]

There aint much to go wrong with them to be honest.

Engine mounts will have a little play in them more than likely. Don't worry about them, they don't get really bad. I replaced mine thinking they were bad, 6 months down the lines and the brand new Peugeot items were already showing some play. These engines destroy engine mounts!

Indicator stalks can catch fire, hit the stalk down (as if your turning left) with a bit of force. If the indicator goes off but carries on ticking very fast you'll need to change the stalk. I went through 2 second hand ones during my ownership. One caught fire on the M50 Cheap enough to replace, nothing to worry about.

The cable going to the blower for the interior vents has a plug that can be abit dodgey, make sure the fans work on all settings. If they don't it's another easy fix. Remove the connector altogether and solder/heatshrink orr fit a new high amp connector.

Clutches can be heavy, the clutch cable has a gel within it to keep it smooth, the cable goes over the turbo so gets very hot which dries out the gel. If you can live with it, don't worry about it. If not get a new cable and heatwrap it

Other than that. Make sure you do an oil change every 6 thousand miles or 6 months. This can be done for less than £20. Any cheap 10w40 semi synth oil will do, sump plug washer and an oil filter usually come in at £20ish.
The engine has a bosch pump and can be run on 100% veg oil in the summer, 95% Veg oil/5% petrol mix in the Spring/Autmn and 90% Veg oil/10% Petrol in the deep depths of winter.
If you are going to run on veg, change the fuel filter after the first 100 miles, then 250miles after that, then 500miles, then 1000 miles and then stick to 6 monthly/6k fuel filter changes. It's an easy job and costs less than a fiver. Also if you are going to run veg oil change the oil every 3k/3months as veg ruins the oil. The old engine oil can be put in the fuel tank in small quantities as an 'additive' ;)
You can use upto 2500 litres of veg oil a year without paying tax, but you must keep a note in the car of how much you've used.
Timing belt changes are silly easy on theese cars, you can't go wrong. Theres a few guides on youtube, have a search about.


I owned my 406 for just over a year, did 29k on veg oil, was tuned to 22psi, was driven very hard and the engine never put a foot wrong. Theese things are bullet proof!

I am gutted I got rid of mine, would get another in a snap!

[sirwiggum]

Must say, my XUD engined ZXs never had an issue with engine mounts. But my HDi 406 did, you'll feel it lurch about in stop-start traffic in 1st gear.

Indicators - at least theyre a cheap item on the old D8, not like the newer D9 2001 onwards COM2000 units

[stevekoz]

Indicator stalks cathching fire. ........love it! hahahaha ok i'll watch those.

engine mounts check.

im interested to learn more about the whole veg oil thing - does it apply to biodiesel as well then i guess? Never even contemplated that before, much too it?

[sirwiggum]

AFAIK with the Bosch fuel system you can run an XUD on straight veg oil.

Probably best adding a fuel heater and carry a spare fuel filter.

I used to run my XUD on biodiesel, in my opinion used to run better!

[Bailes1992]

Well made biodiesel can go in any diesel at all.
Problem is the difference between someone who enjoys making their own fuel in their shed and someone who makes it and sells it.
Methanol is used in the creation of biodiesel. Methanol will eat seals like no tommorow.
This methanol needs to be removed, a man in a shed will probably spend hours and hours perfecting this.
Someone who is making it to sell, probably won't.

Lots of people are buying veg oil, wattering it down with all sorts of solvents and some diesel, and selling it as biodiesel.

These engines will run on 100% veg oil, old engine oil, gearbox oil etc etc.
The oil dosen't need to be heated as the ar has it's own fuel heater as standard, the engine may be abit ropey when cold (hunting for idle) but with good glowplugs and a slight advance of the fuel pump you can minimize this, I managed to get the hunting to stop altogether.
Although because the veg oil is denser it will pull forward any crap in the fuel tank, which is why you need to change your filter as very regular intervals when you start running it, after a few changes you have no need

Simply find a wholesalers or a good deal in a supermarket, buy and pour in. Make a note of how much your putting in and your mileage in a little book and keep it in your car.
Just rmember if you stop over the 2499 litres per anum limit you have to pay tax on the whole 2500 litres. But thats still 20,000 miles a year +
Or if you can find a chippy willing to give/sell you their waste oil, you can filter this out and use that in your car.

Stevieboy will be about shortly I'm sure to tell you more, I didn't do much in terms of waste veg oil, I normally bought clean oil from a wholesalers

The car will be abit slower on veg oil as it has less energy than diesel but it will be hardly noticeable, if you want you can give the engine a little tune and have a play with the fuel pump to get pleanty of grunt out of it.
After a tune mine would sit at 115mph, on the 4750mph rev limiter without a second thought! Pulled like a train!

[highlander]

Being fair to the 406, Bailes seems to have had an extraordinarily wide range of faults on his one

I had a 1999 406 LX saloon with a 1.8 petrol engine; mine was one of the early face-lifted models. No fires, no dampness, no rust, no issues. The engine was bloody bullet-proof; that car never let me down once, even after being hit by a van the old girl started first time, every time.

She had precisely three electrical gremlins - one dodgy electric window (which cured itself eventually), one dodgy outside air temperature sensor (doesn't cause any problems if it doesn't work), and one handbrake microswitch fault (which displays the message "Brake fluid level low", even if it isn't). That's it. No other faults. All other work done to it was just regular maintenance.

Broke my heart to scrap her, but I'd just bought the Coupe (fancied something more powerful than the 1.8 petrol) and I didn't have the money to bring her back to her best.

These cars have a lot of character - it's like having a friend with four wheels. Sam (Bailes) named his one "Bernard". Seriously, even if you walk away from the one you're looking at, go look at another - they are great cars.

[Bailes1992]

My car always got attention of my mates, on forums etc. Lots of people said it's an old mans car, but I was the only one out of my mates with a 1.9 engine, with a turbo, with a car that would do 0-60 in 8.5-9 seconds, only person who had 7 seats and I was the only person who could run their car on fuel costing me anywhere between 15p and 80p per litre and STILL doing 40mpg!

But everyone fell for my 406 in the end, even my GF hates it at first. She was gutted when I got rid!
Really really wish I listened to everyone and kept it. Spent some money fixing all the little issues with it, get a nice new interior and just kept it. They are awesome mile munchers!
Even everyone on here, people who have never seen my car remember Bernard




These cars have so much charecter, and when they work always leave you with a smile on your face, like highlander says, it's like having a friend on 4 wheels.

[rwb]

Check whether the power steering pump is leaking, as it drips into the alternator.
Both of my 406s (the previous XUD, the current HDi) needed an alternator at about 140k.

My HDi has averaged nearly £800 per year in servicing. Main items (since 2005) were: alternator (£400), bottom pulley (£300), cam belt etc. (£550. this is the only thing that I didn't wait until it was broken before fixing), brakes (everything) (£500), a set of tyres, an exhaust back section, diff seal (£100), immobiliser aerial (£150 -- got ripped off by Peugeot).

So for £800, with four good tyres, good exhaust, and 12 months MOT there's not really much more you can ask. As mentioned above: be paranoid about the cambelt (and tensioners and water pump). Otherwise I'd just run it till summat busts.

[STALLED]

Sam - put down the crack pipe. A 1.9TD will not do the 0-60 in 8.5 - 9 seconds....

[DiscoPol]

Sam - put down the crack pipe. A 1.9TD will not do the 0-60 in 8.5 - 9 seconds....

and own up about the sheep shaped dent on Bernards bonnet