3.0 gtx auto saloon mods????

[RedeyeAce]

Hi All,
At last i found a place for us 406'ers.

I have a d8 1.8lx on an R plate, but hopefully will be inheriting my wifes d9 3.0 gtx auto. I have an imediate problem being that the silencer box / exhaust has gone ( not had the time to get it to a garage yet) so Please can someone point me in the right direction for an exhaust for it... I tried that longlife website which i spotted in another post.. looks like theyre no more

I've got a funny feeling that it could be pretty expensive as its a rarer beastie so i was wondering whether to fit a decent exhaust system rather than getting the std pug one as long as the cost isnt astronomical.

Next one is, when I get hold of her im thinking of spending some money improving it, starting with suspension / brakes b4 moving on to engine tuning / can i fit a turbo ????? however its the usual cost vs gain if there are obvious improvements for little money without killing it, we like those

I want to give myself a limit and im reckoning around 3-4K is this reasonable??

Shes got 94kmiles on the clock, is it worth doing any mods??

Really would appreciate some advice or points in the right direction for these mods, she's a lovely beastie but i dont know if anything can be done as its an auto.... can I make it change gear quicker also... im hoping this is all feasable??? thanks folks really would appreciate ya feedback.......

[DaiRees]

Hiya mate and Welcome

Hey don't do that to me! I don't want to buy an exhaust with a lifetime warranty only for the company to go under, but much to my relief they seem to be OK. Just phoned the one in Cardiff and had a chat with the manager, they're still there

Try this linky....

Dunno about mods on the V6 auto, if I had one I'd keep it standard and waft around in luxury, but maybe that's just me.

[Welly]

Welcome fella

That's a bit odd, the missus having the V6

There is a Turbo conversion for the V6 with mahoosive exhaust piping to achieve it, it has been posted here somewhere.

I'd be careful to be honest, it's a bit up on the miles and it's a shame it's a 'slushmatic' because auto boxes don't normally respond well to more power.

I think you will find it to be acceptable as it is. I would seriously consider changing the auto box fluid as it sounds like the gear changes are a bit lazy, this will help a lot.

You should already have uprated front brakes as the V6's have brembo calipers up front (unless I'm getting mixed up with the coupe's).

I'd keep the standard exhaust maybe fit a de-cat pipe the problem with auto's and sports exhausts is that they sound crap because of the revs in auto it will just annoy you really.

In short, the 406V6 has some decent grunt but a sports car it is not. It's a comfy cruiser, spend your money wisely or you will lose the whole lot. 406's are sort after by those in the know (especially V6's) but don't molest it as it will be worthless. If it's a sports car you want, your money will be better spent elsewhere I'm affraid.

[RedeyeAce]

Hiya folks, thanks for the feedback so far...

welton-> my missus gets that all the time including some strange looks when she fills the tank woth 60quids worth of the black stuff and then the guys behind the counter thinking the cars a waste on her.... i can assure you its not... the reason im inheriting it is cos shes after the 3.0 z4 straight 6...... hey i dont care, i dont put the fuel in, dont have to worry about the insurance and i drive it whenever im with her

DaiRees-> Phew didnt mean to give you a coronary, for some reason that wouldnt work in the browser ( runs of spitting and screaming insults at microsoft)

Thanks for the heads up on the Autobox fluid.. would peugeot not have changed it? my missus is very particular at keeping the peugeot history up, so i presumed this would of been done....

With regards to the mods, im not a race junky.. i love the car and wouldnt want to molest it into an early grave.

I dont want to get rid of the car, id rather keep it ( especially with what bm offered us for the trade in....) Its really cumfy great for the long slogs, got the grunt when you need it on the motorways, joining them etc.. and i like the stereo tbh and i totally I love the fact it looks like a boring saloon but has nearly everything off the lights its hilarious

Must admit with the silencer ( or whatever) gone atm, you can tell its an auto cos of the rev noise.. so i know what u mean..

was just wondering, if im inheriting this lovely lil thing, then i wont need to spend the few grand i was going to on another car... so was wondering where to invest some money in the v6 car. Im prolly never gonna sell her, so is it worth investing some money or is the general concensus no.. keep it std.

Cheers guys

[ThePrisoner]

Invest the money in regular servicing, and replacing faulty or intermintent faulty parts with brand new parts without expense spared, that way you can assure that your 406 will last a lot longer, sevice your aircon every year, etc...

Pris.

[jameslxdt]

i would leave it as it is, the v6 auto is very quick as it is, but the boxes are crap and dont last all that long, and would not take a liking to more power, and no you cant convert to manual, i would just maintain it regularly and enjoy it, and changing the gear oil is highly recommended, the reason pug dont say to do it regularlly is because they want your gearbox to fail so they can rip you off for a replacement

[k_f]

Can I ask jameslxdt - what's the trouble with the autobox ?
I have a V6 auto with 82k on it so want to be ready to recognise any known problems when they occur. At the moment it works fine - beautifully smooth.

[jameslxdt]

usually what happens is you get stuck in a high gear and the transmission warning light stays on, and it turns out that the shift solenoids have seized, this can be prevented by changing the gearbox oil
also i have seen the torque converters fail and the gearbox wil slip very badly and never go into top gear
you can tell when they are starting to go as the gearchange starts to gradually become more fierce and clunky and makes some odd changes
i.e. too early/too late
do you know if you have the AL4 or 4HP20 gearbox?
the way to tell is if you have a snow and sport button next to the gear selector

[k_f]

Mine has the sport and snow button beside the gear selector - but I thought all the V6 autos were like that ? So far the gear changes are still wonderfully smooth like when the car was new so I hope it carries on like this.

[jameslxdt]

you have the AL4 auto-adaptive electronic auto-box, this wasnt exclusive to the V6, all the late 406 auto's had it, the earlier models had the 4HP20 auto-box which was slightly more reliable as it had no electronic control, if your gearbox is perfect then i wouldnt worry about it, some are bad and some are perfect, though most were bad i just hope your one is perfect
but if it does give some trouble if its caught earlier enough then you can replace the shift solenoids with the gearbox in-situ, though if it is ignored it can get to the stage where the 'box fails completley and needs replacing, although i have known some to just 'fail' for no apparent reason
its a pug thing

[RedeyeAce]

Hiya Guys, Firstly thanks DaiRees.. I got hold of Longlife and now have a shiny new Exhaust which has been on for a week now.. They couldnt fit a DECAT due to the position of the 2x cats on her, which is a bit of a shame but nvm.

Guess what happened now tho... yep you guessed it, Auto Gearbox Failure
Trust that to happen after spending the bucks on the zorst...

They reckon the Multifunction switch needs replacing and are telling me that its Really labour intensive and gonna cost around £400 to fix it and they are also telling me that there could be more it finds wrong after replacing this

They have also said that it coming up with front and back cat problems altho they say that with the new switch in place and driving it for a while that may clear up.

Just wondered what you guys thought... in your experience does this sound about right.... Really love the car, but theres gotta be a point where i stop throwing money at her. Cheers for all your opinions and advice to date.. Really appreciate your responses.

Red

[jameslxdt]

Guess what happened now tho... yep you guessed it, Auto Gearbox Failure
Trust that to happen after spending the bucks on the zorst...

what did i say eh?

[RedeyeAce]

Yeh You jinxer lol

[RedeyeAce]

Ok after having my car for a week and not letting me know whats going on.. theyre telling me that the multifunction switch ( which theyve now replaced) blew the ECU which is why they cant get the switch talking to it... Does This sound Right???

and Holy Moly they want nearly 900 quid for the job.

If this seems right to you guys.. am i right in thinking that theres only one ecu.... and that i can get a haltech one for 650 quid.. am i thinking down the right path.. or do i have to go for this peugeot one, if indeed it is broken..

Id appreciate some thoughts guys,
cheers Red

[jameslxdt]

it is a possibilty, its more likely however that the ecu was fault to start with and theyre are just trying to cover there tracks
it will need software so i would avoid pattern ECU's as they can be more of a pain than the money you save