hello fellas , just got my first 406!

[benjhill]

So here goes , i bought my first 406 hdi 90 last night for 200 quid i know cheap as chips , full test , private plate , and it goes like stink! Well against my 1.4 punto anyway , it has a few faults as always for this price , rusty drivers front wing , broken front electric windows , jammed cd player , slight knock on the front suspension and a weird camber on the rear wheel but shes a project for me while the punto gets transfered over to my missus , anyways she came with a near complete service history , orginal handbooks including the key card code thingamabob , 124k miles and a free tenner stuck in the ashtray , all was well till i removed the rear view on the way home to get all the old air freshners off and cracked the windscreen .... doh! Anyone know how much they are to replace? ..... oh i love the car its ace drove it home in the wet and it holds the road so well , picture attached of the motor , and again hello guys.

[Ares]

Hi Benjhill,great purchase.
I dont know about windshield prices since i am at the south of Europe but it cannot be expensive.
I am sure,local chaps here will point you to the right direction.

Anyway,pics please...and all of other thingys that you have to sort out are easy to do.

Cheers.

Silvester.

[benjhill]

I will get some pictures up once im on the laptop , shes in silver with a million marks and scratches but you can look past that when you put your foot down into the carpet haha

[GingerMagic]

Hi mate, welcome. Thats a good solid car at a good price too - nice work.

All the niggles that you may* experience during your 406 ownershiperism would have probably been dealt with before, apart from the cough, cough, insured, cough, windscreen...

Its not often I get to read 'Hdi90' and 'fast' in the same sentence....

i removed the rear view on the way home to get all the old air freshners off and cracked the windscreen .... doh! Anyone know how much they are to replace?

Um, I got a nice tree shaped one from the pound shop - it smells a bit like perfume...

[gumby6371]

Welcome aboard, never driven a HDI 90 but my XUD 90 had plenty of go so I'd assume the HDI is similar.

As for the faults;
Suspension knock is more than likely drop links, cheap off ebay but don't last long. £20 a side should last a while longer but on modern cars they pretty much service parts so expect to change them every 18 months or so on heavier cars like a 406.
Wings are bolt on so try and find a breaker the same colour and swap them. Rust nearly always indicates accident damage and it will probably come back if you try and repair it.
Windows could be fuses if both are knackered or possibly switches but I'd check fuses first.
No idea on the CD player, see if you can strip it, if it breaks just fit a cheap aldi one with MP3

Enjoy!

[PeterN]

Your weird rear camber angle is probably down to someone having replaced the rear tie rods and and not set it up properly. There are eccentric washers under the bolts and their position adjusts the camber angle.

Peter

[highlander]

Welcome to 406 ownership!

Sadly, your windscreen replacement may end up costing you more than the car did, but it's definitely worth shopping around for quotes.

Forget the CD player; the Clarion head units are low-quality and provide poor sound output. I got a Sony head unit fitted to mine as soon as I could, as I wanted Bluetooth handsfree, and the sound quality was superb (especially with radio), even through the standard speakers. Even when I transplanted said head unit from my saloon (RIP) to my Coupe, the sound quality was still way better than the Clarion tape head unit in the Coupe.

When you get a head unit, you'll also need a fascia adapter, and will possibly also need a wiring harness. Your HDi will probably have steering stalk controls for the stereo; there are adapters available for most big stereo brands. I didn't bother with the adapter and kind of wish I had.

The HDi 90 is the lowest-powered common rail diesel in the 406 range (I think it's more powerful than the 1.9TD XUD engine that was fitted from 1996-1999). That said, it would probably benefit from a remap. You can get them up to around 110 HP peak power with a nice boost in torque, too. That's without fitting an intercooler. The engine ends up being about as good as the HDi is (they're essentially the same 8v 4cyl common-rail diesel lump, so it's not exactly surprising).

[Doggy]

Hi and welcome aboard.

My first HDi was a 90 and it seemed really nippy, (but it was a Xsara estate).

[benjhill]

Thanks for the advice chaps i think she is going to be my new project lol , already bought a front wing from a local turns out the rust started from a ding by the front bumper , im already looking at a full leather interior and the 110 intercooler ... wife is going to kill me , she drove it today and came back with a huge grin on her face , found more problems though , the clutch is very high for her i didnt notice it , and a few bulbs need replacing , shes also mentioned that it looks "old" compared to one she parked next to in tesco so a full facelift is in order think i maybe building a sleeper here oops , love it!

[highlander]

What year is this HDi 90 from? You mentioned it's a private plate, but do you know what plate it was originally registered with?

[PeterN]

The clutch engagement position usually is high, mine has been since I had it, so I wouldn't worry, you will get used to it.

Peter

[benjhill]

Update guys after a long night in the garage with my mate the front wing is changed the front bumper has been binned someone has done a dodgy repair on it in the past and i cant be bothered correcting it so after a sniff about the fleabay a replacement has been found for 34 quid! The rear camber is now corrected it was the washer that wasnt aligned properly , the cd player is out and binned now the front end is coming apart later today to find this knocking , discovered that the power steering fluid is low too , oh my mate decided at 3am this morning he was decatting it too so he has pulled the exhaust off which looked pretty much new , a bigger turbo front mount intercooler and coilovers were spoken about last night too , i didnt dive too far into the history yet about the reg but i will later today and let you know what it comes back as

[Welly]

Adding the intercooler won't do anything to increase the power, diesels need more fuel to increase the power, the intercooling is secondary and on a standard 90 will more likely cause turbo lag.

[benjhill]

Aye that was looked into too , apparently the 2.2 fuel rail fits? It will also be remapped at some point too along with egr removal and a free flowing exhaust system i have another friend coming down this afternoon that is a diesel mechanic and he is going to give the engine a full health check before it gets anymore power fingers crossed its a good en!

[Bailes1992]

A remap alone should yield you around 125bhp.
Mime went well with a remap and would hit the governor in 5th gear.
I'd get an intercooler fitted. You'll be running higher boost pressures and the colder air will aid combustion.