Early 406 diesel buyers guide pls?

[chasesdragons]

Good news re spec, I am stuck in a car for about 2hrs a day on the rat run a bit of comfort will be appreciated.

Drat I knew I should have asked him about the timing belt. Apparently the clutch was changed two years ago, which sounded inconsistent for a low mileage, low power machine....To be continued.

Thank you for your kind offer Gumby.

[Bailes1992]

But didn't Sam's HDi 90 have the DPF for some weird bloody reason?

I never believed this because although ServiceBox alludes to the existence of a 110 with DPF (which we've never seen an example of), not so for the 90.

I posted pictures up of it didn't I? I certainly remember crawling under the car and taking photos. It had an additive tank too! The only reason I found out about it is because the car went into limp mode when the additive was low. There was no prior warning it just went straight into limp mode.

The was something strange about that car anyway! 5 different owners on the V5c before my Uncle bought it at an auction when it was 6 months old. The last owner prior to my Uncle was a Peugeot dealer which I thought was odd. I always wondered if it was some kind of test bed for Peugeot.

It was just odd full stop that car.

Went well with a remap though!

[chasesdragons]

Well that a swift and crippling adventure into peugeot-land!

Into my 600th mile or so, booming down the motorway when there is a rattle, battery light on and quick loss of power to an in restartable stall. Alternator belt shredded.

Jasper5 came over to refit the alternator belt, give me a couple of pointers and checked cam belt to find it had slipped off the cogs. Decision is the car has had it.

Moral of the story - if you took the time to change cambelt, ALWAYS change the alternator. When the alternator belt breaks it is liable to break or derail the cambelt next it.

I have had it. I now have an 89k car being parted out. Anyone looking for bits, please check my sale section and pm me.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your support in getting the right car and recommending a pretty kind mechanic. I need to think about what to buy next another XUD9 or a biodiesel powered 2.0 HID....or back to a chain cam design Merc...

[gumby6371]

Unlucky mate, there is always the possibility of it taking the cam belt with it, I was lucky when mine went it just wrapped itself round the pulley and I had a short drive home minus power steering.

[PeterN]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your vehicle. The Hdi 8 valve can be repaired relatively easily in the event of cam belt failure as the rockers break rather than the valves, these can be replaced without removing the head.

I have two of these engines, one in a 406 which has done 226,000 miles and the other in a C5 just coming up to 200k, as far as I know they are all original including the DMFs and clutches. Well worth considering.

Peter

[jasper5]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your vehicle. The Hdi 8 valve can be repaired relatively easily in the event of cam belt failure as the rockers break rather than the valves, these can be replaced without removing the head.

I have two of these engines, one in a 406 which has done 226,000 miles and the other in a C5 just coming up to 200k, as far as I know they are all original including the DMFs and clutches. Well worth considering.

Peter

The engine is a 1.9 td!

[Doggy]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune - I 'got away' with the aux drive belt coming off my old HDi 90 Xsara twice, but have never had one fail on a 406.
Maybe you should consider another one the same or an engine swap? It's still about the best veg burner out there. Two of my workmates have had timing chain failures on older Mercs and lost a lot more money in the process.

[chasesdragons]

Hiya guys,
Thank you for your messages and solutions. I have considered an engine swap. But getting another low mileage XUD9 @ 89K and the sorting out labour for the swap seems economically questionable?

Jasper5 echoed some of your advice on the date,that perhaps a 2.0 hdi might work? I get wvo at 70 ppl to feed a 45 mpg car. I wonder if getting biodiesel at 1.20ppl to feed a 60 mpg motor kind of equates?

Failing that any ideas where to locate a low mileage XUD9 BOSCH fi'd engine for a swap?

Look forward and willing to consider any economically sound ideas. I do about 95 miles a day 80 of them motorway. So safety, economy and comfort at about 70-75 mph welcome.

[Uberderv]

I am sure you could buy a bare XUD engine off any model and transfer the parts over. Out of interest where do you live because 70ppl for WVO seems expensive, someone might know a cheaper source.

[Doggy]

My bro used to get his FOC from a couple of local hotels - I sorted him out some waste transfer notes/personal use declarations, so all legal and above board.

[PeterN]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your vehicle. The Hdi 8 valve can be repaired relatively easily in the event of cam belt failure as the rockers break rather than the valves, these can be replaced without removing the head.

I have two of these engines, one in a 406 which has done 226,000 miles and the other in a C5 just coming up to 200k, as far as I know they are all original including the DMFs and clutches. Well worth considering.

Peter

The engine is a 1.9 td!

Yes I know, I was just trying to show the superiority of the Hdi if you were considering a replacement vehicle.

Peter

[chasesdragons]

I have considered getting an XUD engine and swapping it in. But, considering all costs, I think it may be safer to cut my losses and bolt for the hedges, on this occasion. It is a pity, because this car has new pads, apr 6000 mile clutch and tyres that have about 1500 miles on them.

I live up towards Preston, lancs. I basically buy WVO whenever and wherever someone offers bulk oil and store it for use. 70 was the last batch filtered And dewatered. I try not to do all the filtering and dewatering, myself, nowadays.

Someone elsewhere mentioned a diesel Yaris to do the commute. These look like they were meant for urban use, not motorway work...

[highlander]

Small hatchbacks are designed as city cars, not motorway cruisers. The 406 is a motorway cruiser.

I'd seriously consider an engine swap. XUD engines are not that rare, having been used in plenty of Peugeots and Citroens. My suggestion would be to get a complete engine from a scrappy (one where the back-end has been smashed up in an accident, rather than one that looks 100%, as it may be in the scrappy due to timing belt failure). Make sure the engine isn't seized up. Do a full timing belt replacement on it (including tensioners, water pump, aux belt and aux belt tensioner), drain any oil out of it and clean out the sump, then get it put into your car. Remember to fill it up with good quality oil before turning the key.

Doing the belt change when the engine is out of the car will make it much quicker and easier to do. And the above should be cheaper than buying another car (unless you get one basically given to you). You said yourself; you've spent money to this car - new clutch, new tyres - be a shame to just write that work off.

[Bailes1992]

I'm with highlander!
You can get a good XUD for sub £150!
You could always get a 2.1 and swap all the fuel system over! With the engines out it wouldn't be a hard job at all!

[gumby6371]

+1 on the engine swap, access is the biggest PITA for an XUD timing belt change so as Highlander says doing it out of the car 'should' be pretty straight forward.

As for WVO prices I ran mine on new Tesco's sunflower oil which is currently 80p a litre if you buy 10 litres, still a good saving on diesel and no concerns over filtering etc...