All Things V6...

[Skull]

The XM got a lot of attention at the Citroen Centenary Event in Coombe Abbey. I even got one guy offering me £3k for it there and then!

Did you tell him that's what you just spent on the exhaust

[DHallworth]

Did you tell him that's what you just spent on the exhaust

It wasn't quite that bad

David.

[DHallworth]

Well, it’s all change around here again!

Cheryl decided she fancied a new car so the 207 has gone and she’s replaced it with a 2015 C4 1.6 BlueHDi. It’s a gorgeous red in colour. It’s the first newish car she’s had so i took it into the vehicle detailer and had it’s paint corrected.

The colour and the shine on it are amazing. It’s such a deep red. I’m really taken by it to drive too. My only complaint is the clutch pedal... As I’m 6’4 with long legs I have to lift my leg quite high to get on the clutch. On the motorway it’s fine but in town that’s my only minor annoyance. It’s probably not helped by the fact I’ve spent years driving automatics other then my Activa now.

The auto box on my 407 Coupe has decided it’s not a happy bunny at the moment. I’ve been looking around and have been told it’ll be circa 2500 quid for a rebuild on it so I’ve decided it’s time to part company with it and as I’m typing I’m sat on a train heading down the east coast to go and collect another C6.

It’s a 2007 2.7 HDI Exclusive in Arctic Silver with Black Leather. It’s been 4 years since I last had a C6 so I’m looking forward to it. I’ll no doubt post some pictures when I’ve got it!

David.

[RichardW]

C4 looks nice, looking forward to seeing the C6!

[bxzx16v]

I'm sure the missus will like the C4 David , hope you enjoy getting back in a C6 .

Mark

[DHallworth]

Well, I'm not yet back in a C6. I ended up walking away from the one I saw the other day. The hunt continues!

David.

[GiveMeABreak]

You sound a bit underwhelmed with it - was it in a tatty condition then David?

[DHallworth]

Well, it looks like my 407 Coupe is terminal...

Over the last few weeks my 407 Coupe 3.0 HDi has started to tug between gear changes on the 2 - 3 and 3 - 4 when changing up. The other changes were still very smooth. I check my levels weekly and noticed nothing wrong and nothing particularly untoward when it started. However, due to work and weather I hadn't checked them for a fortnight this time around.

I'd done a lot of reading on the net and had convinced myself that the fault with my gearbox was valve block related as these Aisin Warner boxes do seem prone to valve block issues.

Last night I decided I was going to get the car in the workshop and onto the ramp and remove the valve block. However, upon opening the bonnet I immediately noticed the coolant bottle had turned brown. When taking the cap off it, it was full of sludge and it stank of ATF. I was certain at this point that the oil cooler had failed.

I took the undertray off the car and got a job, I then removed the sump plug from the gearbox and the crap that drained from it was disgusting.
My car had the coolant flushed and changed when the thermostat housing was done in May and at the same time it had 2 gearbox oil changes done also.
I then removed the oil cooler and blanked one of the coolant ports with my thumb and blew down the other. I could hear air escaping from the oil side so it's definitely got a hole in it.

Looking online, the oil cooler is £480 from Peugeot/Citroen. To flush it properly will cost a couple of hundred quid in oil, and my cooling system, radiator, heater matrix, etc. is all now full of an ATF/Coolant sludge so that's gonna take hours to flush.

I've also been told that these gearboxes despise having water in them and that even if I persevere and sort it, there's a good chance that it won't last anyway. I'm now faced with the dilemma of stripping the car for parts or spending £2.5k on a gearbox rebuild.

Seeing as it's the same gearbox on the C5/C6/407/etc. it makes me wonder if these oil coolers should be considered a service item at circa 100k to prevent catastrophic failure.

[myglaren]

That's a bugger David
Such a nice car too.

[DHallworth]

I'm really gutted, Steve. I don't tend to keep cars that long but I've had this one 3.5 years and really didn't want to change it.

It's on 159k but ran beautifully. It's never failed an MOT in the time I've had it and really has cost me nothing. Problem is, at that mileage, the car really isn't worth what I'm going to need to spend on it to put it right so I kinda feel I need to be sensible this time around

David.

[GiveMeABreak]

Elis was looking at an alternative solution on his thread hear concerning the AM6:

viewtopic.php?t=59465

[Hell Razor5543]

OUCH!!!

Yes, financially the 407 isn't worth the cost of the repair/rebuild/replacement parts. However, (barring this issue) she has not let you down, and you get a lot of enjoyment when you are driving her. This make her worth considering getting repaired.

There are (if scrapping her is not an option) two ways you can proceed; fit a re-conditioned gearbox or get this one refurbished. If you were to try and refurbish this gearbox I wonder if brake cleaner fluid (used for several soak cycles) could get everything sparkling clean and able to be used again?

[DHallworth]

I think the box is going to need to be stripped and refurbished professionally unfortunately as I've been told the damage is done once there's been water in there. I don't really know enough about stripping an auto box to start either.

The box is unique to the 3.0 HDi which makes sourcing a replacement even more difficult.

David.

[Stickyfinger]

Had a thought....French scrap yards ?

The must have sold more of the Pugs than the C6's

[RichardW]

That's really bad luck, David....

Hope you find a replacement - either 'box or car!