Just bought a 306

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Plumb bob
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Just bought a 306

Post by Plumb bob »

Picked it up today, 1996 1.9 D ( turbo?) it appears to have an intercooler, but I feel no turbo boost, and it's pretty sluggish.
It as various other problems, such as central locking that unlocks itelf as soon as you lock it, radio don't work, slow to turn over when starting, ( I think this maybe an earth strap problem) the elec. windows & sunroof work fine.

I will change the oil and filter on sunday, pick up a Haynes manual, and give it a look over, and clean itup a little.

Any Ideas on turbo troubleshooting, and what the likely cause of no turbo might be??

Thanks, Rob
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Post by DirtyGertie »

Are the boost pipes on the intercooler sound? boost should be felt from
approx 2000 rpm upwards
Vera 2001 5dr 106 1.5D 56k
Gertie 98 5Dr Dturbo No Cat or EGR over 130K R.I.P lost fight with 7.5 Truck :(
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Post by Plumb bob »

Hi, thanks for the quick reply, yes the pipes from the intercooler seem to be connected and in reasonable condition, as do most of the other pipes, I can't really feel too much in the way of boost, and the rev counter doesn't work either.

I have a few things to fix up on the the car, although it seems to go quite nicely on the Mway at 70ish, but the accelaration is slow at that speed.

Rob
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Post by Plumb bob »

I gave the car a wash today, and "gunked" and jet washed the engine bay.
Also adjusted the throttle cable a few mm, and it seems a little better from pull away. :)

The idle seems a little high, but with no rev counter, it's only what I can hear, but it sounds about 900-1000 rpm. :roll:

The car has 133,700 miles on it, but the engine sounds tight, and doesn't smoke, not even on start up :D

I will change the oil and filter tomorrow, and see if I can pick up some coolant from Halfrauds ( not the cheapest) but the cooling system looks like it could do with flushing and the coolant replacing.

I'll book it in for a cam belt change next month ( after payday) as it is due on the mileage ( according to a sticker, and some reciepts that came with it.)
Anyhoo, I'll keep you posted, it looks like a good little car, even if it has been neglected in the last few years, why do people not just fix the small things as they go wrong, instead of letting them build up until the car has loads of problems??

Rob
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Post by r.welfare »

Beats me Rob - my 406 is the same!

I'd buy some injector cleaner (Wynn's should be available @ Halfords) and give it a good booting along, to see if that helps. My car smoked horribly when I got it, and felt really flat - a good service seems to have sorted out most of it, although like yours, mine has no revcounter and appears to idle a bit high.

I also found that my air filter was really grubby and there was all sorts of flaky gunk in the fuel filter housing - so much so that I unbolted it (13mm in the bottom) and gave it a good old clean. Some fresh diesel in the tank (if you haven't done so already) may also help - the stuff that came out of my fuel filter housing was a funny colour and smelled pretty disgusting...
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
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Post by CitroJim »

Yep, a good service has to be the first move. The easy way to test for boost is to disconnect the rubber hose on the intercooler and whilst revving the engine, feel for a nice, strong breeze from the end of it. A dirty air filter element will really kill boost and on a 306 it's low down and thus tends to get damp from being showered with mucky water and collapses into a soggy mess. Check the filter tin lid os properly attached and the seal is in good nick to prevent, as far as possible, the ingress of water from spray.
Plumb bob wrote: The idle seems a little high, but with no rev counter, it's only what I can hear, but it sounds about 900-1000 rpm. :roll:
This is a common fault Rob and will be down to your pump fast-idle when cold device. I'm not sure if a '96 306 uses a waxstat or a vacuum electrovalve. Follow the bowden cable back from the pump and see where it ends up. If it ends up in an aluminium cylinder screwed into the thermostat housing it's a waxstat and they all stop working after a few years. Otherwise you have the vacuum operated fast-idle which is just as unreliable as the waxstat; I'd live without it and just adjust the idle a tad to suit.
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Post by Plumb bob »

Hi again,

Changed oil and filter today, also the air filter ( it was pretty grubby) got a haynes manual too, so had a look at the fuel pump, and adjusted the idle a tad. I guess I should change the fuel filter too, or at least check it. :oops:

As far as the turbo goes, I can hear the whistle as it spools up and down, so I guess it is working, I'm just used to feeling a definate boost on my Hilux.

Yep found the fast idle cable and it does run to an aluminium cylinder under the fuel filter, so I guess it's a wax stat type (which seems to work intermitantly), is it worth replacing this stat, or just disconnect the cable? :?:

I will be flushing the cooling system too, after payday, and I checked the front brakes also today, and it'll need new pads and discs within the next 3-4 months ( and I'll probably change the fluid at the same time), so the service list is growing, but none of it really unexpected on a car with 133,000 miles on it.

I had a quick look at the central locking fault, but without success, but it's not a real hassle at the moment, just a little inconvenient, as I have to lock all the doors individually, as when done from the drivers door, the cetral locking locks, but then immediately bounces back open again ( but not the drivers door, which remains locked)

Checked all the tyre too, and would you believe not one of the same brand! So five different tyres, all with different amounts of wear too :shock: :shock:

So, some progress today, and I'll see how it runs during the commute to work next week.

Rob

PS; Can anyone tell me how/where the rev counter wires into, so I can check that it's acually connected before I get into more complex/expensive diagnostics?
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Post by Plumb bob »

Hi again, just a quick post.

When I bought the car, the guy at the "garage" said " oh, there's a few reciepts in the glove box" so today I decided to have a look.

The "few reciepts" turned out to be the FULL service history since the first 9000 mile main dealer service, all stamped in the book until it ran out of space, and then paper invoices for every service and repair right up to february this year!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

It's had a new power steering pump, new cam belt, recently new rear exhaust and complete rear brake overhaul ( including wheel cylinders and shoes) new hand brake cables, new alternator, new rocker cover gaskit, and even bills for replacement windscreen wipers!

I've never had a second hand car with a complete history before, I'm well chuffed :D :D

So the only thing it will need in the near future is the front discs and pads replacing, and a coolant change, how cool is that? :lol:

Filled it up with diesel today ( £72 :shock: ) and did a quick calculation on the MPG so far, I reckon it works out at about 50 MPG, but will have more precise figures when I top up the tank next week. How does this compare with your 306's ??


Rob
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Post by RichardW »

You should definitely feel the boost come in between 2200 and 2500 rpm - it should take off like a scalded cat!! Are you sure it's a turbo though - the N/A usually has a big black box on the top of the engine, that can look superficially like an intercooler - the turbo intercooler looks like a proper radiator on top of the engine and has a big rubber seal around the edge of it. If it is turbo, then check that the pipe between the intercooler and injection pump is not split, and that the seal between the intercooler and inlet manifold is present and correct.

£72 quid was a good effort - even at £1.20 that's 60 litres - and the tank is only supposed to be 55 litres....

50 mpg is good going - our ZX TD does about 40-45 average - mind you, my wife's quite heavy footed with it!!
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Post by Plumb bob »

Hi Richard, thanks for the reply, Yes, I'm sure it's a turbo, the intercooler ( alluminium radiator looking thing) is on top of the engine, and I can hear the turbo whistling when driving, but the rev counter doesn't work, so I can't be certain about RPM, just that I try to keep it low.

Scalded cat it definately ain't, but it's better since I changed the air filter.

I'll have a look at all the hoses at the weekend,

According to Haynes manual, it's got a 60 litre tank, and the £72 was about 58 litres I think ( filled right up the filler pipe to the brim), and the 50 MPG was a mental arithmatic job, so it could be wrong, I'll have a more accurate figure next week, when I fill up again, and check the amount of miles/fuel used ( and use a calculator).
I have learned to be quite light footed whilst driving my Hilux, it was costing £100 a week to get to work, hence the return to a small French diesel car.
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Post by evilally »

My 405 TD doesn't really get going until nearly 3k. It goes ok, but I wouldn't go as far as to call it fast. Given your 306 has the same engine, it should be a tad quicker given it's lower weight.

If you have a bosch pump then it will happily munch on 80/20 veg/diesel ;)
'96 405 1.6 GLX with 306 GTI engine on Cat cams @ 195bhp

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Post by Plumb bob »

I'm pretty sure it has the Lucas pump, which doesn't like veg oil, but no real loss, as veg m now costs the same as derv!! :roll: :shock: :shock:
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Post by myglaren »

Apologies for hijacking the thread but I have just bought a 306 1.9 D Turbo for my son (going for it in an hour) and will no doubt be dropping into the forum for advice when things go wrong.

To be a bit preemptive, are there any common faults that we should be looking out for? The vendor (an MOT station) has replaced the belts, serviced it and replaced the radiator and CD changer.
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Post by Plumb bob »

I trawled through a lot of the pages in this forum, and found few 306 related posts, which may mean that there arn't that many problems with them, or that not many people have them :) :(

I did read that R & S reg ones MAY have a problem with con rods, but it seems to be mostly speculation ( from what I read)

The most common things seem to be problems with central locking, and the factory immobilizer, both of which mine suffer with, but the engines are very well proven and are in many different vehicles, and seem to be generally reliable.

So did you get it, and what's it like??

Rob
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Post by myglaren »

Plumb bob wrote:I trawled through a lot of the pages in this forum, and found few 306 related posts, which may mean that there arn't that many problems with them, or that not many people have them :) :(
That was pretty much my impression too.
I did read that R & S reg ones MAY have a problem with con rods, but it seems to be mostly speculation ( from what I read)
Typical as it is an R-reg.
The most common things seem to be problems with central locking, and the factory immobilizer, both of which mine suffer with, but the engines are very well proven and are in many different vehicles, and seem to be generally reliable.

So did you get it, and what's it like??
yep and it seems pretty good. He's gone off to work in it anyway.
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