Tales from beyond the grave AKA Dan & Emma's Black Xantia, pug 206HDi, Daniel's 206 Verve 1.4i, GTi180 plus XUD9TE 206!!

[ekjdm14]

Oh yes, I'm sorely aware the ball joints can vary (though it seems more to be a case of what they had in stock on a particular day, than year of build)! Pretty much all of our ZX/306s have been the smaller pin. The issue is people just seem to send out anything without checking if it's 16mm or 18mm before shipping.

Frustrating, but still beats driving/working on something modern!

[CitroJim]

Frustrating, but still beats driving/working on something modern!

Very true!

[ekjdm14]

Well, finally got a wastegate actuator delivered today, had to order one from a TD5 Land Rover and space it out 5mm to fit as this was the only bit holding us up getting the 406 back together. The original one had a plastic end cap & the nipple broke off it, and the replacement I ordered 2 weeks ago seems to be lost in shipping.

With that in hand I've made some time and hit the reassembly hard today, engine is back in, fluids filled (except gearbox as the driveshafts are still out, just those to refit & exhaust to reconnect) & test fired. All seems good apart from the damned lower hose "assembly" abomination. I knew the bayonet end was rusty but decided I "half trusted" it, and that did in fact hold but there's a pinhole in the smaller metal pipe too. Glad I only filled with water to test!

Have drained and stuck a bit of JB weld over the hole last thing before it went too dark, so might be able to test drive tomorrow if that holds & have managed to locate a replacement hose for the low, low price of £35.... Less than the £50+ most others cost but still, what ever was wrong with a simple rubber hose with spring clamps either end?

Ho hum, at least the heavy work is done now, just a bit of rolling on the floor to refit driveshafts/fill 'box and reconnect the exhaust. And as a bonus my new toy arrived (Clic-R pliers) so was able to replace a CV boot and reuse the original clips instead of the cheap replacement ones, so the driveshafts are ready to go back in now. Plus, the correct ball joint arrived for the red 306 finally, and Ryan grabbed some nearly new 266mm discs/pads and matching calipers/carriers from a scrap 207 so reassembly can start on that soon.

[CitroJim]

Good work Dan I feel your pain with those horrid bayonet hoses

[ekjdm14]

Aging French Cars, who'd have 'em?

Got the 406 all buttoned up and temporary hose repair is holding thus far, new clutch is light as a feather too BUT (why is there always a but???) we have no brakes now!

At a guess, the weeping rear wheel cylinder I've had a mind to change soon decided it didn't like spending a couple of weeks stationary with the front of the car in the air & has leaked out all the brake fluid. Of course I didn't notice the warning light prior to pressing the pedal (because the handbrake was on) so now the whole lot need bleeding afresh.

At least she's told me in no uncertain terms what she needs next as a priority, after the amount of heavy work she's put in already for us it's the least she deserves. Just could do without spending the extra money to do the brakes (plan was to do all discs/pads/shoes/cylinders & handbrake cables together as they're not great) right after the turbo & clutch job. Will ask Santa to bring me a money tree this year then we can do all the jobs we've been adding to the lists for all the cars!

[CitroJim]

Good old French car foibles Dan

She'll soon be god and happy

[ekjdm14]

Speaking of foibles, Jim. Noticed last night that after being powered down for the couple of weeks she's "lost" some mileage somehow... Not entirely sure how that happened, but the dash now reads 194k not 197-odd?!?

Only logical thing I can think is it'd actually rolled over to 198k prior to the turbo failure & there's some dead segments on the display but that's not likely either... But how else could we "lose" 4000 miles? I do seem to recall a post years back where someone else ended up with lower mileage on a digital odometer also, have to wonder if that also was a 406 & if there's some kind of glitch that can occur in specific circumstances. I do fancy that was on a later MUX'd car though and even weirder since it'd involve the cluster plus the BSI

[Stickyfinger]

Cooorrr, result.....you normally need to give Ahmed down at the YeOld Vape-Shoppe £150 for a mileage reduction (other providers are available )

[ekjdm14]

Could've knocked a zero off the end for us though lol

Confirmed, we rolled over 195k this afternoon so it did in fact lose just under 4k miles & not a vape shop or Turkish barber in sight

[ekjdm14]

Wow, just got around to pulling the pollen filter out of the 406 as I noticed significantly worse flow with the fan set to "outside air" compared with recirculate.

All I can think is it must be the original, 195+k & 17yr old item. It was utterly black both sides & the pleats virtually invisible under the layer of soot, dirt, dust, tree debris and rotted foam! Have removed it for now, hopefully we'll demist a bit better with some actual airflow lol

[CitroJim]

Gosh

Maybe that pollen filter has some value as an antique now

[ekjdm14]

Good thought Jim. Ebay here I come, and I know what I have so don't insult me with offers! lol

Airflow much more like it with the filter removed (strange, I know) so will go ahead and order a replacement at some point as it's obviously been doing a good job over the years. Also the car smells much less like wet (and or dead) animal now as a bonus.

[CitroJim]

Good thought Jim. Ebay here I come, and I know what I have so don't insult me with offers! lol

[Gibbo2286]

Gosh

Maybe that pollen filter has some value as an antique now

Had some value before Jim, all that s**t in the lungs doesn't bear thinking about.

[CitroJim]

Gosh

Maybe that pollen filter has some value as an antique now

Had some value before Jim, all that s**t in the lungs doesn't bear thinking about.

Who knows, it could have been busy creating new wonder drugs unknown to science... Remember how penicillin came about