The toll of the Polish roads

[DiscoPol]

* oh cock! just realised i started off with the intention of telling you about my fuel filter joys and tribulations and then rambled on about other stuff, so i might be in the wrong forum, maybe i need moving to Chat? sorry admins

Well I have been here for 4 months now and covered 10,000 miles or so in that time,

4,500 of those are coming out from the UK and popping back over once with the return trip so its really about 6,500 miles done on Polish roads and i have to say it really has taken its toll on the old girl

I finally got round to changing the fuel filter the other day as the idle has been getting a bit lumpy recently and as i hadnt touched it since i bought her i thought that should be the first port of call, well after realising that one of my new friends worked for the local motor factors it seemed silly not to do it too. It didnt go exactly smoothly but thats another post in itself suffice to say its done and seems to running a little better at idle.

But whilst changing the filter and running through a bottle of injector cleaner as is advised on here, i noticed the exhaust tail pipe was sitting high and at an unusual angle yep, you guessed it has snapped just before the back box allowing it to pivot on the hanger and point at the sky,
so quick question, does it need to be a hdi 90 back box or will anything the right diameter do, bear in mind this is Poland and this car will never see another MOT test centre again as i intend to sell it for breaking within 3 months so i will be visiting the scrapper for whatever i need.

Onto the front suspension, well it now makes the kind of noises i can only call "loud metallic twangs" when ever i go over a speed hump and full on "bangs" when i hit a pot hole, also i have noticed that i am making much more squealing noises in a multi-story carpark i use regularly when on full lock which makes me think im dragging a wheel or something isnt aligned as much as it was. so do you thing its just drop links or should i be looking at bushes and the likes too, i dont mind doing the links as they are cheap enough and i have my grinder here anyway but dont really want to do bushes on a car that i am looking at getting rid of soon.

Handbrake cable has snapped at the adjuster so no longer works, worth doing? or is it a ball ache removing the rear brake assembly, i havent had a handbrake for 2 or 3 months now and dont miss it, now bearing in mind i can now get parts at a very reasonable price (free English lessons) is it worth the hassle to get the bits for free and then start pulling her apart just for 2-3 months of parking ability

Rear wheel camber is heading the way of needing a bloody good coat of looking at, now im guessing that its bushes and the like back there that need attending too, she gets a shimmy now round right hand bends above 35 ish and requiring a fair bit of lock, but again im not likely to take a look at it as its more hassle than its worth i reckon

oh and other little things that need attention are:
Front rubber from the lower part of the bumper, its in the garage hanging up.
No rear wiper motor or wiper blade just black gaffa tape over the hole where it used to be.
No aircon (never getting fixed)
Door rubber hanging off on rear passenger door and front drivers door, again never getting fixed.
Lower engine mount is completely free swinging there is no rubber left in contact with anything


She is a tatty old bus now but she starts on the button every time and still gives me 5.2l/100km thats about 54 mpg and is comfortable for something so knackered and battered, i have to say i was never "in love" with this car, but she has wormed her way into my affections purely for her ability to keep going no matter what abuse i throw at her,

and some people say the HDi is a touchy beast, well mines not she is damn near indestructible
(could this a case of famous last words?)

So come on guys give me your thoughts, should i lavish some love on her and if so which bits do you reckon i should do?
or do i just plod on for as long as i can and try and nurse her through the next 2-3 months

im not looking at wanting a lot of cash back on it as i think she has already paid for herself and given damn good service into the bargain so re-sale value isnt an issue that needs considering.

Sorry it is such an essay.

Polski

[puggy]

Restore her to her former glory she deserves it !!!

[Welly]

I wouldn't bother doing anything further, keep the money, only fix something once it's proper knackered and *really* needs doing.

The suspension will in all probability need every bush/top mount replacing if you want it to be sweet including the rear trailing arm bushes (which is a biggie).

Just nurse it along as it is......

[steve_earwig]

It all depends. What will you replace it with? Do you have the money to replace it with anything better? Maybe it would be worth fixing but would it turn into a cascade failure (one darn thing after another) like Welly's?

I suppose legal/safety stuff is a must, Service Pox says the back boxes are different but I'd think, providing you can get something that'll fit it'll be good enough. The bottom mount could cost you your flexi bit, but I suppose a similar one could be welded in as necessary. Sussy noises are probably drop links but twangs could point to the top bearings. Squealing noises and back end moving about are probably related.

How long can you drive a foreign-registered car over there before you need to import it? (6 months here I seem to remember)

[john170277]

the twanging noise could be from a broken coil spring

[DiscoPol]

How long can you drive a foreign-registered car over there before you need to import it? (6 months here I seem to remember)

if you are a *ahem resident then you can't really have a foreign registered vehicle for your permanent car, you can drive anything here if you are only visiting, like me honest guv but the big problem is that its right hand drive not that its foreign registered, this is the only country in europe that will not allow rhd cars to be re-registered on local plates.

The EU even tried taking Poland to court over it as it restricts "free trade within Europe", but the poles put it to the High Court that as they have one of the highest death rates from RTAs of all the union states that further allowing RHD cars would only increase this and as they are allegedly doing all they can to reduce this then it would be a bad thing.
to quantify this a little the UK has about 4.13 deaths per 100,000 and Poland is 15.8 ish

As it stands at the moment no RHD cars can be plated here without first being changed over to LHD which kind of makes it uneconomical for me to want to keep the pug never mind the fact that she and her ilk are just not up to the job.

What will you replace it with

a dirty great big Range Rover also UK plated.
Nobody wants 4.6 litres there at the moment, so they are flogging em off cheap enough for me to pick one up.

Im going to have to the back box but as Welly rightly said the sussy probably needs far too much doing to start on with just the drop links. it looks like i will just have to start slowing down over the rough stuff

I will have it up the air this weekend and have a proper look about and see what is absolutely necessary.

[DiscoPol]

So weekend is here and good to my word I have had the 406 up in the air and I am now wishing i hadnt

The back box has snapped just at the weld into the box itself, it was rotting but it looks like a stress fracture rather than a rot through, im sure the rot had started to weaken it and then the constantly bad road conditions have just helped it on its way, i was thinking of having a crack with the welder i have "found" in the garage at my mother in laws house, but my welding is sh1te and the welder doesnt look much better, so i will try the scrappy on monday failing that its a fresh one if they arent too pricey.

a quick question, does the fuel tank sit above the joint between centre pipe and rear box? I am running without a back box at the mo and dont want to melt or soften the tank, i cant remember if it was steel or plastic. I dont intend doing many miles until the new box is on but i may have to go pick it up or visit a couple of scrappies, the noise is only slightly increased without it so its no biggy to me but i dont want to blow myself up or cost myself any more cash than necessary.

Front offside (uk stylee) Sussy has a fair bit of play in and around all the joints and so on

rear nearside (uk stylee) wheel has play top to bottom

There arent any snapped springs tho

Had to replace one rear light, one headlight dipped beam and a brake light too

did give me a chance to match up the dipped beam lamps though with 50% brighter blue/white lamps

other than that she is in fine order

Polski

[puggy]

Not too bad then polski , as regards the fuel tank and exhaust gasses dont think
it would get too hot on short journey's but if it did explode at least you would
get an insurance payout to help you (or your mr's) to buy another motah

[HimBigChief]

I was running without a backbox for a good few weeks and it didn't do any damage on mine. Mine snapped just before the flange on the middle pipe, so mine would've been a few inches short of yours and closer to the fuel tank too.

Personally, I'd just keep nursing it along if it's only going to be a couple of months.

[benlowlew]

Going back to the registering of RHD cars on foreign plates. I have my RHD 406 registered in Belgium after I came out here from the UK. Doesnt really matter what side the wheel is (obviously RHD is the proper place for the wheel) as long as you keep your wits about you. Belgian drivers are lunatics!!!!

[DiscoPol]

Ordered and fitted a brand new Back Box from a friend in the trade, only cost me 120 PLN (about 24 quid) its a bit quieter now, but sadly revealed to me just what state the rest of the eggsauce system was in ,

wish i hadnt bothered tbh, but i have my mother coming out in a week or so and we need the car to head up to the lakes in the north so long a journey with a booming tail pipe wasnt really what i wanted and it was only 120pln but thats it now no more cash being spent on this 406, its getting fuel and thats it, not doing the oil change or anything else with it now unless it stops me using it.

Belgian drivers are lunatics!!!!

I think almost everybody in mainland Europe is much much worse than the overly polite Brits we have at home, but i do remember Belgium being a bit of a mix of stupidly fast Germans and just stupid French with a fair smattering of Belgium nobs thrown in too, but then i was only passing
And yes you are right RHD is where the wheel should be

[steve_earwig]

I think it comes from chivalry, with your lady at your left it leaves your sword arm free to deal with any ruffians you may encounter (careful not to decapitate her when you're drawing). In jousting, conversely, your opponent is on your left because you hold the lance across your body with your right hand.

My 406 was designed as a left-hand drive, so there's no silly linkages for the footbrake and the handbrake isn't on the other side of the centre console