Major problems with 406 Coupe HDI

[JamesStreet]

Hello,

This is my first post so i'm sorry if simular questions have been asked.

I'm have major issues with my 406 coupe. I had it in jan, on 03 plate with approx 50 miles on the clock.

After 1 month, the ABS warning light came. Took it to the garage who just said it was an issues with the sensors. Replaced them and the wires, £130. No problem.

2 Months later, the 'carbon emmsion' warning comes on, along with the engine management warning light.

Take it back to the same garage (Peugeot dearler) who, following diagnostics check, tell me there are mulitple faults with the wiring. Somehow the carpet under the drivers feet has got soaked through (although carpet not damp..just the foam underneath) and has rotted thwe wiring. Firstly they tell me the reparis could be £5000!!! as i need 2 brand new looms? They then tell me then think they should be able to repair it instead.

So they repaire all the wiring, £300. I need a new diesel filter and the fluid that goes with it. Al in all, i paid out £640.

I drive the car for a mile, and the engine warning light is back on. Back to the garage and they tell me i have a split in my turbo pipe, which they repaire for me.

Over the weekend, both of my initial warning lights come back on (carbon imitations filter and engine warning lights) their diagnostics machine said i have multiple engine faults again. They repair the faults on the work they have already done, but tell me i now need a 'Differential pressure sensor' which is about £80+ VAT.

Has anyone had ANY similar problems?

I am being ripped of by the garage, do i just have the most unluckiest car in the world, or is this a common fault??

I wish i'd never had the thing!!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Malachy]

sound sharsh but pug dont know there arse from there elbow on there own cars, your best bet is to find a private citroen/peugeot specialist the main dealers are useless, if it dont show a fault code on the reader they have no idea if it does then ofc that part must be Faulty (heaven forbid the part is just getting a crap signal because of a mechanical failure or another faulty sensor)............

saying that though i wouldnt let anyone except myself work on my cars i dont trust mechanics much

[JamesStreet]

I wish thinking along the same line mate.

Cheers for the response. I just feel like selling it. Shame, as i love the car.

In 3 months i will have spent a grand in repairs nearly. I don't think i spent that in 4 years in my old car (a classic mini cooper)

[Malachy]

I wish thinking along the same line mate.

Cheers for the response. I just feel like selling it. Shame, as i love the car.

In 3 months i will have spent a grand in repairs nearly. I don't think i spent that in 4 years in my old car (a classic mini cooper)

thing is though a classic mini cooper is its so simple you can fix it with a bit of string and sticky back plastic.
unfortunatly most mechanics these days are still stuck in that and dont truelly understand fuel injection systems what each part does how it communicates to the ecu and the problems it can cause when failure occurs. They just know how to read a fault diagnosis machine, which at the end of the day is a machine not a human it cant think, and it will get things wrong (since all its doing is reading codes from the ecu) garbage in garbage out etc.

saying this though there are some good mechanics out there unfortunatly they seem limited.

[Welly]

That is some tale there fella, but sadly not that uncommon.

Neildavies on here has the same model and he had to have the differential pressure sensor replaced recently due to numerous emissions warnings.

Sounds a bit weird about the carpet underneath being wet.

Hopefully neil will be along soon to offer his experience on this.

(welcome BTW)

[JamesStreet]

Cheers lad.

I agree, very strange about the carpet being soaked through.

I asked the garage did they find the cause of this, and they said "no, we didn’t really look" as it would have entailed pulling out all the inside of the car. They said they could see nothing obvious though.

I asked what their opinion was, the mechanic said " i think it could be down to getting in and out of the car when its raining. The water would have just soaked up over years and caused it to rot."

Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous??

[Welly]

I asked what their opinion was, the mechanic said " i think it could be down to getting in and out of the car when its raining. The water would have just soaked up over years and caused it to rot."

That's the funniest thing I've ever heard

If that was the case, EVERY car in the UK has soaking carpets and rotting wires.

My first check would be the black plastic rain/splash cover on the bulkhead which conceals the Pollen Filter (battery side of engine bay at the back). If this it not secured properly the water goes down through the fan assembly and down the back of the carpet.

[mjb]

Somehow the carpet under the drivers feet has got soaked through (although carpet not damp..just the foam underneath) and has rotted thwe wiring.

Rubbish. Utter BS. Any rotting of the wiring would require the plastic insulation to have been cut (50 miles on the clock? Manufacturing fault). Repair would take a couple of minutes with a soldering iron, a few bits of cable, and some heatshrink insulation. I wasn't even aware of a wiring loom anywhere near the bottom of the footwell - where water would accumulate!

Over the weekend, both of my initial warning lights come back on (carbon imitations filter and engine warning lights) their diagnostics machine said i have multiple engine faults again. They repair the faults on the work they have already done, but tell me i now need a 'Differential pressure sensor' which is about £80+ VAT.

Muppets. Any money they just looked at that the fault codes said and replaced whatever components were faulting completely oblivious to the fact that fault codes are SYMPTOMS NOT CAUSES. I'd bet it's just one problem with a cheap fix that's causing it all.

I am being ripped of by the garage,

Hence why they're referred to as 'stealers'. Their line about getting into the car in the rain sums it all up unfortunately. Which stealers was this? I'm sure we'd all appreciate knowing to stay the heck away from there...

I wish i'd never had the thing!!

Take it to an independent garage, preferably a French (Peugeot/Citroen) specialist, get it all sorted out nice and cheaply and 12 months down the line you'll be soooo glad you did ;)



If you bought it as a 50-miler in Jan, surely you've got some comeback against whoever sold you the car - 'unfit for use' under trade descriptions act, etc...

[neildavies]

Hi James, exactly what message is coming up on the screen, I was getting "Engine Antipollution System Defective", and the engine light staying on. I'd had the fluid topped up, but rather than replacing the filter, I cleaned mine. As Welton says above, I had my "differential pressure sensor" replaced in the end.

I used a Peugeot dealership which luckily had a decent mechanic who didn't just look at what the laptop said. The level and knowledge of Peugeot dealers varies quite a bit, so I'd try another dealer, if it's possible for you.

Trust me, when you get it all sorted, it's a lovely car!!

[JamesStreet]

Guys.

Cheers for the bit of advise. Glad to know its not only me who thinks they don’t know their ar$e from their elbow.

Firstly, sorry, i made a typo, it was 50,000 miles on the clock. I meant to type 50k, but missed the K.

The garage is Robins and Day in Derby. They were very friendly, kept giving me courtesy cars etc (probably because they were laughing all the way to the back), but their level of technical knowledge leaves a lot to be desired.

I've had a number of error messages appears, but the main one is the 'engine antipollution system is defective". Also, "clean diesel filter. URGENT" showed up the last time i took it in.

Well the car has now done 80 miles since i got it back (the latest time) and no errors up to yet. I'm not confident of it staying that way, but fingers crossed.

I agree though, it is a lovely car.

[JamesStreet]

MJB - I notice you are from Stoke. Thats also where i'm from (well, Necastle under lyme). Can you recommend anywhere decent to take it round there, should it go again?

Much appreciated.

[neildavies]

Keep us posted on if it stays off and what the last thing they did was

Cheers
Neil

[mjb]

MJB - I notice you are from Stoke. Thats also where i'm from (well, Necastle under lyme). Can you recommend anywhere decent to take it round there, should it go again?

Much appreciated.

Yeah, I'm in Hartshill which is more 'castle than stoke (and crawling distance from the Rigger ;)

I can totally recommend Simon Dean Motor Services near where Leek Rd meets Victoria Rd. http://www.simon-dean.co.uk/

They did a first class job on my rear brakes even balancing the handbrake for me, and when I asked about them doing my cambelt they said something along the lines of "you've got the turbo so it's going to be pretty pricey because it's hard to get at" (correct answer, shows knowledge of the range) then quoted me about 1/5th of what a dealer would charge ;)

With any luck they'll be doing my cambelt for me next week if I remember to call them in the morning

[JamesStreet]

Cheers mate. I will give then a try if (or more likely WHEN) it goes wrong in the future.

Funny that, I was brought up in Hartshill. I've lived in Landsdown Road, The Avenue, Victoria Street and Stoke Old Road!!

Small world.

Cheers for all your suggestions, will keep you posted of any mroe developments.

[xplosiv]

Hi,

My opinion:-


If you have a diesel and you have anything wrong with the engine itself, my advice would be to take it to a diesel/injection specialist. As they do private vans/company cars etc all day long, and if they were crap they would be out of business fast.

I had similar problems with my local stealer; I took the car to the local diesel/injection specialist, the bloke started buy telling me that they were not cheap as they mainly did company cars that said the bill was £120 and all was fixed, after I had paid the stealer £250 and nothing fixed.

Even the mechanic I have been using for years, tells me to take it to the diesel/injection specialist as he has no idea when it comes to the new diesel engines.

Regards,

Andy