Bad luck or money pit? 2.1 TD estate

[bloodncustard]

Oh Lord, why me? Working away last week and had a very floppy (hydraulic) clutch pedal for a few days, generally sitting about an inch off the floor but still working. Popped in to see my mechanic at the weekend who checked the reservoir (I know, durrrr!) and finding it empty topped it up and pumped the pedal to work fluid in and air out.

All good for a few days until I finished work Thursday 7pm in rainy Watford and had no clutch whatsoever. AA'd home by 1.30am (cheers boys, you're the best). Air and fluid bubbling out 20mm below top of master cylinder so mechanic calls around for new bits. Oh joy it's a one part sealed system now only available from Peugeot at a cost of £210 + Vat and not available off the shelf, even better.

Checked the trusty 406OC site and followed advice offered previously to get one off a scrappy. Saturday morning then spent calling every scrappy within a 30 mile radius, then a 50 mile radius, then a 100 mile radius to no avail. Finally got one off the only 2.1TD being scrapped on eBay 120 miles away. Drove up and back on Sunday, delivered bit to mechanic on Monday morning, got phone call Monday lunch to say bit working fine but clutch not, the suspicion being that the slave cylinder rod was pushing against a broken/disintegrated thrust bearing.

£350 to fit new clutch then, blinding. Already suffered archetypal broken suspension spring retainer, which was another long long day courtesy of the AA (100 miles from home, called in at 4pm and home by 2.30 am). Replaced cambelt, with cautionary word from mechanic that corrosion around block side of water pump mating face heralded further bad news at an unspecified future date.

What am I doing? What should I be doing? is this an investment in the future or just the first two instalments towards a lifelong fiscal haemmhorage? In it's defense, apart from alarming beige upholstery I love this car. Smooth, powerful, comfy, quiet, relatively economical but what is the next horror going to be. I mean come on, subframe off, steering rack off, god knows what else off, what were they thinking of man? Thought the cambelt change was a joke but what a finale.

Advice, reassurance, reality check, crystal ball gazing please?

[steve_earwig]

Did it get a new clutch?

[bloodncustard]

Hi Steve, booked in for Monday.

[steve_earwig]

I was just thinking this corrosion on the block sounds like imminent engine death but, looking in Autotrader, it's still worth between a grand and a grand and a half (please don't make me do pound signs). I dunno, once the clutch is done I don't think there's much else to go wrong before the engine becomes incontinent (seeing as where the damage is I don't think you'll get a way with a tin of Rad Weld ) and that'll be new lump time, another few hundred quid. Or you could buy another one, there's that 1-1.5 grand again. And then the cam belt. and then the clutch and whatever else there is to deal with on a 10 year old car.

I think I'd be dosing up the corrosion inhibitor anyway.

[bloodncustard]

Now that's a good point, corrosion inhibitor. She's high mileage (c170k) so probably nearer a grand. Judging by how quickly they disappear off autotrader I don't think I'd have a problem shifting her. As you say buy another and I could be starting the whole spending cycle again.

But did I make the right choice with the 2.1 TD? Advice at the time was 1.9TD is a harsher running engine (hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes here!), cost wise HDI 110 was a potential nightmare at the age I'd be buying (clutch/DMF, pollution control etc), but can't remember why I didn't buy an HDI 90. Are there any comparison threads on here?

Having bought the 406 as a replacement for my 1.8TD Mondeo, can't think of a more viable alternative. Xantias seem very cheap but a bit scary, can't be doing with another Mondeo, Vectra even less so, Passats aren't without their problems, Volvos are, well, Volvos at the end of the day so could I really be doing better?

Stupid thing is I think I'd miss her.

[steve_earwig]

The 2.1 is a very good lump by all accounts, capable of going on to intergalactic mileages if serviced properly (and not filled up with tap water...) Also, consumption wise, mine returns only very slightly less than my HDi. You'd be thrashing a 1.9 to get similar performance, you could chip/remap etc. it I suppose but then you'd be reducing its life.

Hmm, HDi 90, ok, less to go wrong but approaching 10 years old you're still looking at trouble from stuff the 2.1 doesn't have, and you'd still have to remap it...

[bloodncustard]

Ok, so I have to ask, why do you have a 110 as well as the 2.1TD?

[bloodncustard]

On a more serious note, the AA really put the icing on the cake for me a couple of days after picking me up. Sat in traffic on the M1 I get a call from their customer satisfaction wallahs asking if I would answer a survey for them. Well they caught me at a week moment so I said yes. After running through all the usual a)Good, b)very good etc replies they asked if the patrolman had mentioned their breakdown insurance to me. No says I, feeling the hard sell coming on.

Long story short, having taken the mileage and age of my car into consideration, they quoted me £90 a year to cover me for up to £500 in garage bills, up to 5 times a year as long as it was a roadside breakdown and not wear and tear. Car had to be towed to a business registered as a repair garage, cand had to be demonstrably serviced according to manufacturer's service intervals once again by any garage.

Net saving how much to me in my current position? Life's all about timing isn't it.

[Welly]

You'll have a new clutch, new cambelt and presumably it's been reasonably serviced? so I can't think of any real future nightmares? does it start easily? That motor is a good'un generally (I had one in a 605 with 265K) so I'd stick with it to get your money's worth out of your investment! buy another and start from square one?

The corrosion adjacent to the water pump sounds nothing more than evidence of water pump leakage (this happens a lot) did the mechanic change the water pump but noted this corrosion? Ive not heard of the engine block itself corroding - that would be very odd! but water pump leakage is fairly 'normal'. As steve said - some nice coolant with a corosion inhibitor/conditioner would be good.

I've just spent £1,231.00 on my T-plate HDi 110 on (largely) HDi related repairs so you don't qualify for our special badge yet I'm affraid

Welly

[rapport25]

Welly, where do we get this badge from? I dont have one yet

[Captain Jack]

Blimey, that's a lot of trouble from a 2.1... I am still regretting selling mine which was bloody reliable. If you have the clutch replaced there really isn't much else to go wrong (apart from suspension)... strange that you need a whole new clutch though.

[steve_earwig]

Maybe it's 'cos it's a wierd pull clutch, a previous ower's been riding it and worn the fingers off the diaphragm spring. We'll know on Monday anyway.

Ok, so I have to ask, why do you have a 110 as well as the 2.1TD?

Oops, didn't see that before Long story, I bought the 2.1 when I was first here, didn't really like it but it grew on me so decided to spend my last lump of cash on a newer one, only to find that a) the 110 is a nightmare and b) no-one wants to buy the 2.1 without registration (I have problems registering stuff due to being an alien, beep beep). Last September I didn't have any way of registering anything so I had to "give" the 2.1 to my other half in order to register it. Next spring I plan to "give" her the 110 so that it can be registered, then I will put them both up for sale and keep the one that doesn't go (I think you can guess which I'm hoping for )

[bloodncustard]

Hi Welly,

Not sure if I'm disappointed about not being allowed a badge or not!

She starts on the button whatever the weather, seems be smoke free except when the hammer goes down on the motorway. Don't get me wrong, she runs like a dream as mentioned in first post.

It's the cost of almost any repair that does my head in, plus the randomness of one of it's legs just falling off. Apparently it's a relatively common occurence but still just boggles my mind that I can drive off a filling station forecourt at 5mph and the car just grounds out with the coil spring jammed through the gaiter.

In fairness I don't know if she needs a full clutch or not, but if some poor soul is having to spend untold hours taking my poor car to bits, it just seemed silly not to go the whole hog. Corrosion wise my mechanic changed the water pump whist she was in bits for a cam belt change, and told me the problem was nice clean face on new pump vs scabby old surface of block.

In passing I should mention that I was lucky to get an all but brand new rad off the same donor car as the clutch servo assembly, mine being another cause of concern to Tony my mechanic. Who am I kidding? just reading what I'm writing it's obvious I'm not just patching it up to flog it.

I would just like to know any other potential weak spots (or would I?), no one seems to be complaining about heads being fault prone, or gearbox failures or the like.

By the by could any of you fantastically helpful and empathetic people out there clarify the whole plipper scenario? Read the threads but still not clear what's what. Mine doesn't work and didn't when I bought the car. Can I just buy the body and programme it to my car? And if so how does that work then? I can work most things out but can't say I've ever seen a clear explanation.

Thanks for all your input guys, it all helps in the decision making process, or maybe it's just a reconciliation process. She's a fab car really.

What do you make of the AA scheme BTW?