Some newbie advice on 1.9td

[dome]

Hello all

I came across this site whilst researching 406's on t'internet, thought I'd join up and get some advice.

I went to look at a 1996 406 1.9td today-it was advertised as having a head gasket away hence very cheap. I checked it out and the coolant level was down(with no signs of emulsion) and the oil level was OK, again with no mayo. The owner says he could see water coming out of the exhaust and this is what made him think head gasket. He's bought a new car so no longer needs it.

It started(after a while) and ran and sounded fine. A wee bit of smoke on startup but none after that. The radiator looks past its best but there was no sign of any coolant leaks. Left it running for 10 minutes with no issues, I didn't want to run it any longer as it would need bled and couldn't drive it as no tax on it.

I've just done a head gasket on a petrol Mondeo which wasn't a bad job so I was ready to take this on but I'm not entirely sure the head gasket is away. Can anyone offer any advice as to other possible causes?

I'll look forward to any advice anyone can offer-the rest of the car is OK but not great-paint is a bit flat and the car is damp-I realise this is common-nothing that would put me off tho-to put it in perspective,the car has a fresh MOT and 4 good tyres, and it's £200.

Finally, am I right in saying its a Bosch pump on these? I would like to be able to use Veg oil in it...

Thaks in advance

Brian

[steve_earwig]

Hi there, welcome

The 1.9 should be fairly easy to work on, easier than a Mundeo anyway. I wouldn't take someone else's diagnostics as gospel, some condensation is usual (Niagara Falls isn't...) Still, if the worst come to the worst, there's plenty of spares about. Anyway, best get to the bottom of this before you go chasing leaky tail light clusters...

Yes, it's a Bosch

[Welly]

The head gasket isn't that easy on these engines as they tilt backwards making access quite awkward.

It's a difficult one this but I could probably say with at least some confidence that it's not all that common for the head gaskets to go on the 1.9 really?

The only real test is a 'sniffer' in the expansion bottle although at £200 notes it's not exactly a huge risk if the car seems 'ok' otherwise - you might enjoy having a play and you might also get away with swapping the head gasket (if it needs it) without the expense of skimming the head if its not gotten too hot before

You can also play around with the fuel pump to give more power quite a simple old thing really, not like these common rails

[mark21TD]

Brian, Wellcom to the forum.

You say it's damp, where ? could it be from the heater matrix ?
I ask as the main reasons for a blown head gasket on the 1.9 are over heating (loss of coolent from the heater maybe)
And carotion/oxidisation within the water ways due to not changing the antifreze regulaly.

As far as running veg, you now have one of the best veg engines money can buy,
It can be improved with some minor mods but will run veg as is, as long as it's in feirly good nick to start with.
For more info on veg have a good look on here vegetableoildiesel.co.uk and vist the forum.