Front spring failure....... AGAIN!!!!!!!

[Longintooth]

I just had a peep at mine - there are two - the one at the base hardly does any out of line - it's straight which means even if it was seized it should make no difference, the other end is higher up and has a lot of angle to move through but it is full of grease and like new cos it's inside. Oh and on mine it pops through the bulk head which means I can easily squirt some WD 40 on it to free it up if it was stiff. I'll do it tomorrow to have a closer look. Main thing is you will know soon enough if it's cleared. On some models they use a bendy ring to take up some out of line but the only ones that ever found worn were none power ones where they can get some hammer but even then never enough to fail one. Having said that, same applies to those top bearings.

[mjb]

I don't think it is that UJ - it does not make sense on a power steered car

Taxis on average do a lot more steering than most cars, and random manufacturing flaws such as impurities in the metal or a hungover Frenchman can't be ruled out either.

When you turn the wheel now on ful lock both sides, it is very stiff for 1/4 turn, then it gives a fraction, then stiff for 1/4 turn, then gives a fraction etc etc

Fits the symptoms...

[steve_earwig]

Maybe it left the factory with as much lubrication as my D9's rear calliper sliding pins (i.e. zero)

[steve_earwig]

...3rd...

I once met a guy who'd bought an MG metro off some old biddie - ultra low miles, almost never been driven. The first time he gave it a bootfull the engine self-destructed The "post mortem" revealed a big end bolt in perfect condition in the bottom of the gearbox.

Whatever happened to British Leyland?

[mjb]

Weyhey! Glad you've got it fixed soops!

[Longintooth]

Hello Supa
Glad it was confirmed, as you can appreciate, when not on the job we can only suggest possibilities and as it just shows sometimes the not so obvious crops up.
Every suggestion was a credible cause and anyone doing the work should have checked these. It's good that you know you are not getting your leg pulled by being aware of all these possibilities. There are many things that can give the same result. Just a case in point if those two UJs are not fitted correctly they can misalign the joints and produce the same result as if it was seized - the yolks have to be aligned in the same way as a propshaft. I've had a look at mine and they are in perfect condition and not a jot of wear or stiffness, so I'll be keeping my Peugeot after all - it's such a great ride.
Enjoy your Christmas and a happier new year.

[jasper5]

Hello Supa I'm really pleased all is well now.

As you know, I was one that got a bit wound up earlier, I apologise for that, having only recently had a double heart by-pass, I should have known better than to get annoyed.The incident that annoyed me was when someone questioned my professional integrity, I resent when people say that you are in for a quick profit and cut corners, there is a big difference between cutting corners, ie, shoddy work, and doing a good job quickly.You know who that was.
I have a very good reputation in the area that I live, the car repair trade round here is cut throat, there are garages on every corner more or less, you better be competitive and worthy of your name, or you will fail, big time!

From your last post, you noticed that I had mentioned the Fiesta thing, amongst others.It is very difficult to give a definite answer to a problem without seeing it in the flesh, although I can often diagnose many problems just by a description of the fault, using experience, many cars suffer common faults that you know instantly what to to do to fix them, unusual faults like yours need hands-on treatment, a logical approach to diagnosis, starting with the simplest, less expensive possibilities.

I was the one referring to the modification to the struts to stop the spring coming down onto the tyre when it fails....I checked my wife's 406 today, her car has got modified struts!!! It's a 51 reg 406 2.0 HDI. I called round to have a chat with a mate at his garage today, guess what? Just as I got there, a 406 rolled up with a broken spring!!

All's well that ends well Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year when it arrives

[mjb]

Just remember that PSA aren't exactly renowned for doing things the same way as everyone else...

Don't forget either that there's people on here that although don't work as mechanics, may have more experience with 406s than you guys. Even people like Welton (no offence mate ) can probably diagnose certain problems better than most professional mechanics simply due to the amount of 6s we've had come and go through here over the years! There's also people like Niz that'll know more about the XU10J2TE than probably anyone else short of the guy that designed the thing...

[steve_earwig]

I was the one referring to the modification to the struts to stop the spring coming down onto the tyre when it fails....I checked my wife's 406 today, her car has got modified struts!!! It's a 51 reg 406 2.0 HDI.

I must have a look at my D9, I can't see anything "bolted on" in the drawings on Service Box, although the seat looks a bit bigger than it ought...

[marco2002]

hi jasper you were saying that the struts on the 406 have been modified to stop the spring hitting the driveshaft. I've bought new struts so does that mean they have this modification? What would i look for?

Cheers Marco

[jasper5]

I'm sorry Marco, I was mistaken, I didn't look properly.

What you look for is a wider shelf where the bottom of the spring sits onto.

[teamster1975]

Really glad to hear it's fixed Supa, that was a great post

To follow on from what mjb said; the majority of us are just DIY mechanics, I know I've learned a hell of a lot here and I thank everyone that's offered help and advice

[Welly]

*group hug*

[marco2002]

Just a warning for anyone thinking of buying shock absorbers from Euro Car Parts for a 406 i bought a o/s/f sachs boge(oil type ) shock last week with spring, top mount bearing etc. Money was tight last week but this week i came into a bit more money so i decided to buy all the bits for n/s/f as the spring looks a bit corroded and i would like to do the whole job anyway when i got the other shock from Euro Car Parts they had sold me a Bilstein gas shock! Spoke to them on the phone and told me they would order in a matched pair.....

Went to euro car parts today and "the muppet" that ordered them in had ordered two n/s/f shocks. so including the 2 shocks i took back we had 3 n/s/f bilstein shocks and a sachs o/s/f shock. The person on the parts desk couldn't understand why this had happened? She had a look on the computer and said that they can't sell a matched pair for the 406 and that they are selling off their old stock of sachs shocks! Needless to say i told them i wasn't happy and said that it is pathetic that they can't sell a matched pair and how could someone fit an oil type one side and a gas type the other side?

I told them if they can't do a matched pair ie 2 gas shocks or 2 oil shocks and also the same make then forget it.
I got my money back and hot footed it round to GSF they told me this happens to them all the time people go to Euro Car Parts don't get the right parts then end up going to GSF anyway so if you are thinking about new front shocks go to GSF. Not only that its a 4 hour round trip on the bus for me so thats 8 hours of my time wasted.
New parts are on order for next monday and they are a pair of sachs shocks.......

The thing that annoys me is that this is a big motor factors and they have branches up and down the uk they should be able to do better than this....

Needless to say a letter is on its way to the head office to claim my travel expenses........
Thats my rant for the day finished Merry Xmas to everyone
If anyone else has had a problem like this let me know!

[djheath]

I have to say, I have never had great service from Euro Car parts, (not bad, but I always felt things weren't as good as they could be). GSF on the other hand have always been very helpful and parts cheap, available and easy to get hold of.