bang , knock , clunk!

[Harlequin]

hit a pot hole quite hard a week or so back and the last few days have been a nightmare - theres a banging/knocking / clattering noise from the front end - happens over speed humps or when turning.

am i right in thinking the strut top mount is now fubard and needs replacing?


98 pug 806.

secondly , how not safe is it to use?

[DickieG]

I'd have thought a snapped drop link could be another suspect, whatever it's down to I'd be taking a close look as a damaged ball joint could let go and the effect would be rather dramatic to say the least.

[Harlequin]

drop links and wishbone replaced for its mot

edit:

love climbing under a car at 11pm....


drop links intact and solid , ball joints also the same (on the ground at least) - n/s bone covered in greece and s**t so thinking n/s gaiter is holed

but nothing out of place that i can see with a 500,000 candela search light

[citronut]

sound like the CV joint is running without grease, at least if it is going clack clack clak on turning,
although its unusual for them to make a noise bover speed humps,

the first thing to do is get fresh grease in there and a new gaitor fitted,

regards malcolm

[Harlequin]

i think i have managed to locate it (the noise) - after actually having a weekend to look:

all bushes are tight and bolts are tight , coil is still in place and not snapped , drive shaft is fine , and whilst a little play in the tie rod ends , its under 1/16th of an inch play;

so im down to 1 of 2 things , either subframe bushes or a lazy shock

BUT not the biggest worry - topping up the oil found the filler full of mayonaise.... FFS.

[Harlequin]

although , the system isnt pressurising , oil filler (and assuming downwards as it took forever to get even 1/4 litre of oil in)

was thinking , am i looking at a head gasket (yeah silly question i know) - and if so , engne flush , clean breathers , change oil , change water and some liquid sealant? if so whats suggested for the sealant? im not up to doing the head gasket on my own , and a garage would charge more than the bus is worth

[myglaren]

If it is a petrol it is likely to be condensation, especially if it has only had infrequent short trips.
A 100 mile run on a motorway would likely sort that out (or kill it altogether if it is the gasket )

Some of the lads at work get that a lot in winter when they are only using their cars for work.

[Harlequin]

yeah - usually only used for 5 mile school runs , had a look this morning after a quick `blast` down the local bypass (didnt know a bus like 806 could actually get to a ton.... alledgedly) but no oil in the water (although it does need changing!!)

[addo]

Easy test. The oil is due for changing, anyhow - look at the volume of fluid released when the drain plug comes out. Anything more than "normal" is a BHG.

[Harlequin]

water in rad is oil free (just old) and level hasnt actually changed in the last 2 months

edit:

the plan i have is to drain the water and refill with fresh anti freeze , change the thermostat;

strip the breathers and oil filler and clean in parafin

drain the oil and refill with all new ans shiny castrol gtx (its £10 a 4l bottle in asda) , new oil filter

put it all back together - and maybe use a sealant in a bottle (hyper seal or steel seal or something)

now

do i want to do an engine flush before oil drain?

[Harlequin]

well today was the day:

oil , pretty much 4 litres came out , near exactly the same as was put back in

used comma petrol engine flush - ran for 10 mins as suggested - gosh alot of cack came out , car was jacked opposite side to force out as much as possible , left to drain for about an hour.

new filter ofc.

breathers - both crankcase breathers were blocked - how it still beathed i`ll never know - maybe the engine doesnt breathe heavily anyway? - but both were blocked full - removed, cleaned in parafin and dried.

water was brown but full of antifreeze , and thermostat was rusty (gulp) , all cleaned and renewed , now fan cuts in at 99 degree`s (the sensor was rusty) and works as supposed to.

no sealant added.

seems to run happier (for want of a better word)

[Harlequin]

asda doing £10 for castrol gtx (4 litres) btw - thats whats in it

[Harlequin]

well the mayo is back - &%($&$(^%

thought it was too good to be true, was reversing and saw a puff of white smoke , bit of investigation , the mayo is back in the oil filler (and it was dripping water) but its more of a foam ??

any suggestions

[CitroJim]

well the mayo is back - &%($&$(^%

What engine is it? If a petrol XU than some can be terrible for it. The old XU engines in Pug 205s would clog up with mayo for a pastime at this time of the year and as said, a five mile school run is just the ticket for it to happen. The Pug 205 used to block up all it's breathers and pipes too, including the oil filler pipe.

The problem is made worse due to the airbox taking in very cold air. Back in the old days in the winter the air feed was taken from the vicinity of the exhaust manifold to give warm air into the engine. This had its drawbacks but did help the old mayo problem.

The only XU I know is pretty proof from the problem is the 2.0 Turbo but then it's like a sauna under the bonnet of one of those and even those, if only used for short runs will do it a bit.

My only suggestion is to ensure that your thermostat is really OK and not partially open and leading to a slow warm-up and if that is OK, try to temporarily route warm air into the airbox.

Just a thought but should the 806 have an engine undertray? If it should and it's missing then that will allow cold air to freely circulate where it shouldn't.

[spider]

It is very common on the XU as Jim has said, the position of the breather hoses right at the front near the oil filler area don't assist this. I do wonder if a bit of household pipe lagging (usual water pipe styrofoam stuff) around a couple of breathers would help, keep it away from hot parts though. I do recall the last TU engined 206's had some of this "insulation" fitted to one of their breathers around the back of the head area, I remember asking if it was someone's handiwork but no.

The carb engines are a bit better I think most of those had the warm air via exhaust manifold valve (although these are not brilliant on any make if they do work)

A decent long run will help if possible.