Intermittent fumes in car. 2001 406 exec estate HDi 110 2 ltre

[GingerMagic]

Thing is with the drop links ( a 406 weak spot ) is when the car is up on ramps, the wheels are hanging down so the 'slack' in the drop links is not there as the wheels are pulling them tight....
It's rare that these would ever be dangerous as they are bolted on, they just get loose when the rubber wears out and start to rattle.

Saying that, I would still mention it to the Pug garage as they should know straight away.

Enjoy walking the dog

[WillNZ]

One of my wagons has a noisy rear drop link. The play in it can hardly be felt even with it off the car (I couldnt feel any play in it on the car even with the suspension compressed so removed it just to confirm it was he noisy culprit). It only rattles on the dirt road to my farm so I live with it. They attach the anti roll bar to the suspension member. They would only be dangerous if they break or pull apart. Mostly they just rattle and annoy the hell out of you...

[juliat]

Update....chap at Pug garage looked under bonnet and took us for a drive. He reckons the smell is the oil around cam cover, so simple fix with new gasket. He said it will smell like exhaust fumes when engine temp high enough and gets pulled in by the fan.
Brake pedal pulse...yes ABS problem. Needs to dismantle a bit to offer solution. Depends on what system there is on this older car...
Handbrake...he pulled handbrake up at low speed and reckoned the grating noise pointed to, I think he said something like rust. (The car may have been parked up for a bit before I bought it) needs to dismantle to offer solution. Even though it's had new disc's and shoes he said it may need them. But he thought £110 each was very high price. Fingers crossed it will be easy fix.
Banging/ rattling he said sounded like rear suspension. He'd not had a problem with handbrake cables causing it. So again more diagnostics needed before offering solution.
So its going in on weds 11th and I will find out more when they have taken it apart.
Interesting WillNZ you have similar noise. Racket ain't it!
I will ask them to adjust tail gate lock so we can take that out of the equation.
Thanks for all your help.
Will report after the 11th.
I must have decided to keep the Pug as today even though it doesn't appear to leak (it has twice in its history, flooding electrics and I have tested the drain holes as per youtube which are clear) I sealed up the sunroof. It ain't pretty, though it's very neat and I can almost guarantee it won't let any water pass. I used UPol Tiger Seal and put a narrow strip of butyl rubber on top as it's not UV stable. So I can still have sunlight but not open it. NOTE to self. Stick a sign on control to stop anyone fiddling and trying to open it!
Sorry if that offends some of you but I don't want the worry everytime it hammers down.
X Julia

[GingerMagic]

Sounds like progress

The rust issue would be a rusty backplate, it's what the handbrake shoes fit onto, using a push/turn bayonet type clip through a tiny hole - when the backplate goes a bit rusty then this tiny hole gets bigger and the clip falls out.
This makes the handbrake shoe a bit loose and 'lean' against the brake drum and make a grinding noise ( more noticeable on corners.. )
A nut and bolt with a washer will hold the shoes on - tricky to do as it's fiddly but easier when the car is up in the air.!

Hopefully a cam seal should work.

Check out this eBay link - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Peugeot- ... 635-2958-0 a pair of new calipers are £60 - but the Pug mechanic could just put some plastilube in your calipers sliders and free them off, if they are stuck.

Also, your water ingress could be the driver's door seal if water still gets in.

Well done for persevering.

[juliat]

Hello,
Well I'm back from the 'family Peugeot garage' (Read to the end it's a spectacular finish)
It went in for the cam cover gasket to be replaced, which was allowing some oil to sit outside of it - this was done along with 'clean top/front of engine' £140 If you remember he was 'sure' this was the solution to the occasional fumes in car.
This has now changed to 'see how it goes' (Though he's sure it's not injector leak)
It went in specifically for the investigation of a list of issues with diagnostics and costings. None of which was done. He said he didn't want to put hours into it before we knew the fumes were fixed. So brakes were not taken apart, handbrake was not adjusted.

The invoice says this

" As discussed monitor and report (actually my instructions were investigate and quote - but hey ho)
Foot brake spongy (hurray someone agrees with me) due to condition of front disc's inner surfaces (Don't forget to read to the end ... he quoted £200 -£250 to change front discs and pads)
No faults registered in ABS control unit (although the light did come on the dash when he first test drove, last week, but because I'd done some miles it didn't give a reading)
Front ABS rotors look ok, cleaned up slightly (I asked him if anything was dismantled - 'no' )
NSR brake disc inner surface starting to corrode on upper edge, as discussed purposely brake when you can. (This was newly fitted 31.3.21)
Mild noise from rear exhaust, small rattle let noise progress.
Subject to fumes and other faults hand brake to be looked at as /when rear ABS rotors checked."

So....I handed him back the loan car (which had a constant engine light on, wing mirrors held on by duck tape and was filthy inside)
Got into my chariot, which was parked facing a main road and slightly down hill....Tried to drive away and the brake pedal went to the floor! managed to stop before I was in the road, poxy handbrake!
Went back into garage. He had no explanation as they had not touched the brakes. He did a short sharp test drive and as he sat back on the forecourt it did it again to him. So he kept the car and I agreed he could drive it home.
He's just rung and says it needs a new Master cylinder £320

I'm off to walk the dog....

[juliat]

OMG! Garage has just phoned
The master cylinder has been leaking into the servo and that needs replacing too!
He can't find a servo and doing that will double the cost of the job to nearly £700
I'm having the car brought back home as it is.
He's putting the old cylinder back on and will deliver it back to me.
I've asked him to get the part numbers of the servo and the master cylinder for me....only way out for me is a scrap yard for the parts
Wish I'd never seen this car....

[juliat]

Hello,
I've posted the part numbers in the appropriate section of this forum in case anyone has them.
TRW for Master Cylinder PMK623
Peugeot number for Servo 4535 f5
thanks

[WillNZ]

Can help with both if you cant source locally. No idea what postage from the Antipodes will be though. Just wondering what is wrong with booster though ?

[juliat]

Hi there, thanks for offer. I've actually just ordered them new online, so assuming the garage gave me the correct part numbers they should fit. £70 for new brake servo and £91 for new master cylinder , which doesn't seem too bad.
I opened the bonnet this afternoon to look at the work they did and they had left a rag on top of engine and the master cylinder screw top was missing! I found it under the rag. Good job it didn't fall off as he drove it back.
I've spoken to my local original garage and they will fit the parts when they come. Though I'm stuck at home now as my daughter has come down with Covid and I'm under house arrest ie. Isolation. (Testing negative so far)
They said I needed a new Servo as the Master cylinder had been leaking into it. He cleaned it out to be able to put old bits back on and drive it back to me.
I'm hoping when all this is done the brake pedal will be better. I kept telling them it wasn't right.

[GingerMagic]

I have a Peugeot specialist close to me, who I have used for many years and would recommend him to anyone, however that isn't much used to you being a few hours away....

The brake servo is his least favourite job, as there is a rod linking the back of the servo to the brake pedal ( in Layman's terms ) and it's a pig to get to.
He made his own tool to make the job easier, and I'm sure he tackles it from underneath..

Either way, I hope it works out for you, good price for the parts by the way - I paid £94 for a servo a few years back and that was mates rates.

[juliat]

Thanks all of you for your input. I've just been reading others posts re weird feeling brake pedals on 406 diesel and found this

[quote]It's not so much the sinking pedal I'm bothered about, it's the delay from pressing the pedal to the car slowing down, it's as if there's no servo assistance until you hold the brake on for a while and it's definitely not normal![/quote]

That sums up my experience - VERY un-nerving! I'd brake when driving and nothing seemed to happen. To start with I put it down to me changing from my old 2003 Agila with a great foot pedal and very good brakes to this 2001 406 HDI 110 with a 'softer' pedal with a much lower biting point and perhaps I wasn't just pushing the pedal far enough down as I was expecting the bite point to be higher.

Especially after two garages kept telling me the brakes were fine. BUT turns out I wasn't imagining it.

Happy to report, after this particular chap who must have cleaned/changed almost all his brakes, including the Master cylinder and any ancillary stuff that was remotely connected to brake function that fitting a new servo sorted his problem

fingers crossed a new Master Cylinder and Brake Servo do the same for me. It's a big car to stop on doggy brakes!

[juliat]

I've Just ordered a Haynes manual for this car
Should I change my posting name to 'Granny with a spanner'

Assuming the pedal gets better I still have the on/off ABS judder to put up with.
BOTH garages have said this is not dangerous and can wait.
Do let me know if you think they are inaccurate in their advice.

Well I'm off to walk the dog....oh no!! I can't! I'm under house arrest....

[frog]

fingers crossed a new Master Cylinder and Brake Servo do the same for me. It's a big car to stop on doggy brakes!

I'm crossing my finger for you too! I remember reading somewhere that, for right-hand drive models, replacing the master cylinder is an engine-out job?

I hope not!

[GingerMagic]

If your brake pedal is very hard to press and then there is a delay in the brakes actually working, it does point to a servo issue but it could be a vacuum leak, which would create the same symptom.

Worth investigating - and a direct pipe from the vacuum pump to the servo would either fix the brakes (meaning a vacuum leak somewhere ) or make absolutely no difference (servo is kaput )

[Doggy]

I agree. It would make sense to eliminate vacuum leaks, (or even a faulty vacuum pump), before attempting a servo swap. Verifying there's enough vacuum at the servo should be straightforward and cheap.

However, if I understand correctly there is a lot of pedal travel before any resistance and braking effect which would seem to confirm a servo and/or master cylinder issue.

Be interesting to know if both braking circuits are working - probably needs an MOT-style braking test to confirm.

Maybe the vibration indicates an ABS modulator problem, don't know how you would find out. Guess a diagnostic scan would tell you if the ABS system is 'happy'.