I'm brand new here and looking forward to getting advice and giving help if I can. I'm 73 and on a small pension, so try to save wherever I can, which includes keeping my old car running well.
I have a 1998 Peugeot 406 Estate 2 litre petrol with 94,000 miles under its wheels. For some time the car has been plagued by a strong smell of petrol, sometimes after startup, sometimes after running for a while and other times not at all. I have located the leak to two small rubber high pressure pipes at the top of the engine, which feed the injectors. The lower of these two has a right angle bend in it and upper is straight. The leaks seem to be coming from between the hoses and the plastic pipes through which the petrol flows. I would like to get suitable hoses and proper stainless clips with which to do a repair, but I have been told that the whole system comes as one unit, which is mega-expensive. Also, the fitting costs would be high.
Does anyone have any ideas about what to do and perhaps about the correct pressure rating and pipe inner diameter so that I could maybe do the repair myself?
I'd also like to give some info, which most of you probably already know, but which might prevent a lot of head scratching for some 406 owners. Firstly, there is a strange buzzing noise as soon as the ignition is turned on, which seems to come from somewhere in the dashboard. Well, it actually comes from the small roof-mounted unit adjacent to the rear view mirror. It is the little fan inside this which pulls in air from the car, to, I assume, let the climate control know the ambient temperature. I don't think there is anything one can do about this noise, but if there is a fix, I'd love to know what it is!
Much more irritating is a loud, unpleasant vibration/booming noise at 2000-2200 rpm, coming from somewhere at the front of the car and which even expert mechanics have been able to find. I spent a few hours last summer trying to locate the racket with a stethoscope and discovered that at the body-end of the top offside engine mount (or stabiliser bar, not sure), the bushing has worn out. This allows engine vibration to be transfered directly to the offside bodywork, which acts like a huge drum. I did a bodge repair, by easing the bar away from where the bushing should be and injecting dollops of hot melt glue. It has worked well, but a year on this needs to be done again. At some point, when I have the cam belt changed, I'll get the bushing replaced.
Unless, of course, I'd need to buy the whole arm, plus inner wing, plus whatever else makes the dealer loads of money, then, another bodge will suffice.
Two questions for Members: Using a workshop, how much should a cambelt plus kit cost to fit and how much should a new clutch, pressure plate, release bearing and cable cost to fit?
Thanks for reading this lengthy post!
Pierre.
