Early 406 diesel buyers guide pls?

[chasesdragons]

Hi all,
New here and considering an early 1.9 XUD engined 406 or 306 for high mile use.

Can you give me a buyers guide as to what to look for in the 1996-2000 range, circa 100,000 mile range vehicles? Off to see two over the weekend. The only experience I've had were my mums 1.9 gti and dad's mi16 in the 90s....that's it!

[Doggy]

Hi and welcome aboard.

A 1.9 XUD 406 will run on veg oil, 306's and 2.1's have Lucas pumps that won't survive running on veg. I greatly prefer the 406 over the 306 as it's much more spacious, quiet and comfy. All 406's are great long distance cruisers, especially the longer legged 2.1 or later 110 /136 HDi's which are more plentiful and often just as cheap to buy. Only high spec HDi's came with cruise control.

There's quite a variety of trim levels, the general favourite is the executive, which has heated leather and all the other toys for no extra cost at this age. Sadly 1.9 Executives only seem to come in saloon guise.

There's loads to choose from, most are cheap, solid, reliable mile eaters. Try a few before you buy.

No real points to watch, make sure everything works, power train should be quiet and smooth. Good XUD's start quickly and have no fluid leaks under the bonnet. Cambelt needs changed every 5 years, so worth asking as a bargaining point. 2.1 hydraulic clutches are pricy to fix, beware of heavy/sticky clutch pedal.

[PeterN]

Check for head gasket leakage the XUDs tend to fail at about 150k miles but if you can find one that's been done its unlikely to go again. Don't be afraid of high milers the engines and gearboxes go on forever. Otherwise as Doggy says.

Peter

[chasesdragons]

Thank you gentlemen. That is he kind of info that I was looking for. I was looking at the veg oil advantage but need to know if ALL XUDs came with Boscastle. Because the 306 seem pretty random in terms of what they were pumped by? I do have a pic of the 406s engine bay. I will try to stick it on a post.

[Doggy]

Afaik all 1.9 406's have Bosch pumps, while late model 306's tend to have Lucas systems.

[chasesdragons]

Boscastle??!!? BOSCH. Autocorrect seems to be on recreational drugs.

[chasesdragons]

can anyone identify the injection pump type in this pic please? Is it really got a Bosch FI pump? Vehicle is a 1996 406.

[Bailes1992]

That's a Bosch VP44 as fitted to all 1.9TD 406s

[chasesdragons]

Happy days. Thank you. I will have a look next week and see how it goes.

If all goes well, look forward to a deluge of the most geeky and inane questions that you guys have ever read!

[chasesdragons]

Just out of interest. is there a particular date range of 406s that came with the XUD9 and BOSCH pumps? If I fail in locating a xud9 I will get looking for a 406 or 407 2.0hdi. I hear these are the next toughest?

[PeterN]

The older they are the more likely that they are Bosch. I have an Hdi and its proved very good, I bought it at 188k miles four years ago for £950, I have done 30k in it and nothing serious has gone wrong, it still has the original DMF and clutch and they will do 60+ mpg.

Peter

[rwb]

All 406s with the 1.9 diesel engine have a Bosch fuel pump that is suitable for use with veg oil.

The 2.0 HDi in the 407 (136hp, 16 valve, variable vane turbo) is a rather different animal to the 2.0 HDi in the 406 (90 or 110hp, 8 valve, fixed turbo)... but we can cross that bridge when we come to it...

[FarmerPug]

How does a 405 turbo d compare with the 406 in terms of fuel economy i assume they have both got the same engine in the same state of tune.

[PeterN]

The 405 is actually better as its lighter, the 1.9 406 feels rather underpowered.

Peter

[gumby6371]

I owned 2 1.9's the first was slow and had been abused the second went like stink!
I would even say it was quicker off the mark than my 2.2 but only for the first 20 feet or so.

Another big bonus is veg oil is only 80p a litre in Tesco at the minute which bumps the economy up to hdi levels!