Renewing a 1997 406 ST 2.0 16V

[LT1997]

Hello there!

I am new to this forum. I joined because I love French cars. Growing up we always had a Frenchie in the garage. Recently I bought my grandfather's 1997 406. We live in Cape Town, South Africa. I joined this forum because a 406 is very rare and finding someone who knows French cars well is even rarer (unless you go to the manufacturer who will charge astronomical prices). There are a list of issues with the car and I am not sure where to start. I need some advice on what to tackle first and possible causes/solutions. We had a mechanic that used to work on the car but it turned out he was a cheat and stole over R30k from my grandfather.

The first issue is the dashboard.

- The speedometer and mileage has stopped working - the last time it worked it was on 294 000 kms and that was 4 years ago so it should be well into 300 000km.
- The car stalls/cuts out randomly.
- Fuel consumption is very high. It's about 20l/100km. The car also smells of petrol all the time.
- There are lots of oil leaks.
- Water needs to be refilled every 2 days.
- The car smokes blue smoke from the exhaust. (The exhaust was apparently replaced by the lying mechanic but it is hanging really low and out of place).

There is a lot of body damage that needs to be fixed. My grandfather was someone who tended to fix body damage himself by painting over the damage.

Any other suggestions on things to check on the vehicle? It drives really well apart for that. I bought it for the sentimental value more than anything else.
Thanks.

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi and welcome. We have a few members from South Africa on the forum. First thing is to post up your VIN (usually on the lower outside right of the windscreen in a cut out, as you stand facing the windscreen). That will tell us exactly what you have and help with further queries.

[LT1997]

VIN: VF3**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

[GiveMeABreak]

For those wishing to contribute the Op has a

406 4 Door Saloon 2.0 i 16v 135 Manual gearbox 5 with XU10J4R engine. It has a Bosch Injection ECU.

Build date is 21/10/1997.

[mickthemaverick]

Hi LT and welcome to the forum.
I have no knowledge of your model so I can only offer general advice. Someone who knows far more than me will be along soon I'm sure. However my approach to your car would be:
Clean the engine and radiator and hoses etc so you can see clear metal/rubber everywhere.
Drain the oil and coolant and replace the oil filter.
Refill both and run the engine until warm.
Inspect all areas to discover oil and water leaks.
Repair/replace parts to cure all leaks.
Re smoking Have a compression test to determine piston ring/valve integrity.
Someone else will advise on the potentially running rich as I do not know if the engine is turbo charged or normal injection but in general check for loose injectors or air leaks in the induction system or even fuel leaks in the injector feeds.
Speedo sounds like a duff connection either electronic or mechanical I don't know what the car uses.
Once you have addressed all those issues you may well have cured the rough running but it's a suck it and see at this stage.
Good luck and let us know how you get on. Cheers