After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

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moizeau
(Donor 2022)
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by moizeau »

Condenser for me, if you're lucky
Pete
Notice the BX is still top the list but sadly gone
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
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My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

That's an interesting point. But I'm starting to think it's probably the compressor that the seller had installed, I think it's leaking oil. Very little. I had already seen that once, shortly after I bought the car, but at that time I wasn't suspecting of the A/C (it was still working) and my mechanic had just said that while doing the revision he had to top up the hydraulic fluid for steering assistance and I thought that could be hydraulic fluid (looks a bit similar) and didn't give it any importance. But now that it has failed again and I was looking at the compressor, doing also the test of fooling the system by bypassing sensor, I noticed again two little drops of oil from compressor... I checked above it and all I got was some old rests of almost dry black oil, nothing like that clear and fresh oil. So it must be from the compressor. I googled this up and seems like if it gets a leak at the shaft gasket it will leak oil (and gas, obviously). Tomorrow I will try to take it again to the same garage, but will tell them about my findings, so they can confirm this. I'm not sure if they added leak detector as you suggest, but I will ask them, too. I've read that a shaft gasket is actually not too hard to substitute, but the problem apparently is the availability of the gaskets for older compressors and the work needed, so many people just exchange the compressor. As I've already spent too much money that I wasn't expecting to spend, I'd really prefer the most economical solution, so I'd be thankful for hints and opinions on this. I know it's not totally confirmed (hopefully tomorrow I will get more certainty) but it seems pretty clear...
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
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Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

Went to the garage today and they confirmed my diagnostic - it's the compressor. :cry: The quote they gave me was as "specialized" as they are specialized in air conditioning, so I immediately decided I will have to get a new compressor by myself, ask the mechanic I know and trust to install it and then finally come back to them and have them vacuum and charge the system. I'm going to open a separate thread, as I might need some help to identify the correct model to order (I want a new compressor, to not take any risks, but the most economic option I can find).
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
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Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

Today I fixed the passenger mirror and got a temperature reading on MFD. It turned out they had not only disconnected the connector, but pushed the grey thing down, so that the pins would not engage, even when connected. Took me quite a long time and some measuring to find out. I'm glad I found it before opening all the carpet/side panels to try to get to door wiring... Installed the same "switch" dirty hack as on drivers side, bingo, problem solved, I now can adjust the mirror! Outside temperature reading was wrong though. Like 20 degrees too high. I think it's the wrong sensor - the mirror is not original. Sensor measures fine. I installed a potentiometer in series, which I adjusted so temperature would be within realistic range. But I think this is not going to work, I think it will break linearity on lower and higher temps. Have to test yet.

Opened dedicated thread in correct section on this forum to ask for help identifying A/C compressor (I took pics and got a part number). Any help is welcome.
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myglaren
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by myglaren »

If you still have access can you measure the resistance and the volt drop across the sensor. Also the temperature.
I may buy some thermistors and see how they compare.

There may be an option to correct the temperature using the Lexia. I can adjust mine using the steering wheel controls - allegedly :roll:
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
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x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

Yes, I have access, and I did measure the resistance, it seemed about right when comparing with a table of values for some random 3,3k NTC thermistor from the internet. It's obvious that I can't be sure that it is 3,3k... or that the MFD expects a thermistor of that resistance... many unknown variables on here. Would be great if there was a way to find out what the MFD expects and what the right thermistor should measure, then I could even get some random other cheap thermistor and use it...

Lexia? Sorry for my ignorance, but what's that? I also don't understand what the steering controls have to do with this (note that in my car there's no trip computer interface, for what I could find out, so the steering wheel control doesn't work with the MFD, it only controls the radio). Btw, the MFD has a small potentiometer on its side with 4 positions that allow configuration for different cars - MFD with temp and radio, temp and trip computer, no temp at all and I couldn't find out what the 4th option is for. Unfortunately it's NOT for adjusting the temperature...
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myglaren
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by myglaren »

Lexia is a clone of the PSA diagnostics computer (Actia). Run from a laptop it can interrogate the car's ECUs to reveal problems not otherwise easy to identify. Also it can clear fault codes and is able to alter a lot of parameters not otherwise accessible. Plugs in to the OBD port but is far more than an OBD reader.

My non-French car is able to alter the temperature readout through a set of menus accessed from steering wheel buttons. PSA cars more likely to use the Lexia.
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
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My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

Thanks for the explanation :)
I think this won't work for the MFD though, as for what I can understand, the MFD unit is self contained (although in the case of being used also as trip computer, it obviously has to communicate with the ECU, but I don't think this includes the temperature reading, and even if it included this information, it probably would be read-only, meaning the ECU would retrieve the information but couldn't write/alter the values measured by the MFD. For what I can tell, these MFD are generic parts, it even has a manual adjustment to define different modes of operation, as I've described above).
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
Joined: 20 Jun 2021, 11:31
Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

UPDATE:
- FIXED: bad sound from front speakers: the problem was easily identified when I took the grilles off: the speaker membrane had lost its rubber connection to the outside ring, look at the photo, I can't describe this better. It had simply rotten away :shock: I don't think this is supposed to happen after only 24 years, but.... maybe this is even a known issue with these speakers for this car... anyways, I was lucky enough to have stored the original speakers of my previous car (in which I installed a better sound system, with 2-via speakers (installed little tweeters on mirror triangles), it only had these single full range speakers in the doors) and they were the right size! But: I had to cut off with a saw a lot of plastic on them and drill new holes so that they would fit. I eventually succeeded and got them installed. Success! Great sound, too. Much better than I expected, in my Lancer they didn't sound that good, but then again, it didn't have tweeters (and here the tweeters fortunately didn't suffer the same premature death as the speakers in the doors), so that might explain the better sound. So, I'm happy to have music back in my car, and this one I got fixed at zero cost! :D Now, one day I have to order two small speakers for the rear, they have the same defect but even worse: they died completely, no sound at all. But that's no priority right now, have other more important stuff to do: A/C compressor arrived last week and was well installed by my trustworthy mecanic, now on Tuesday I have appointment with A/C garage to change the dryer filter and vacuum and charge the system. Hopefully then finally the A/C will be fine. Fingers crossed!

That's how the speakers looked...
DSC_3006_.JPG
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
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My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

UPDATE: just got the car back from A/C specialist, it's working!!! And this time, really well, gives that "Siberia-alike" feeling ;).... Let's absolutely hope and keep fingers crossed that it will finally STAY like this... they changed the dryer as instructed, purged and charged system, also added detector product (which they always do, he explained). I checked during operation and it looks all good: one of the tubes is warm while the other is ice cold, even showing condensing water on it. Compressor doesn't make any strange noises, runs warm to touch and no oil visible. It's much colder than with the old compressor, so I guess it was not only leaking but also not working well, or, the guy didn't even attempt to do the job well - probaby only changed the compressor and charged the system, proof of this was that he didn't change the dryer. So, I'm really hoping it's finally fixed now.

Will report back in a week or so, hopefully all will remain fine.
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
Joined: 20 Jun 2021, 11:31
Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

9 days later, A/C is still going strong, so I'm pretty much convinced that I can stop worrying now and that the problem is solved.

I'm now going to post a message which is easier to follow, with problems solved and still to solve, as I can't edit the original post anymore... probably after some amount of days, forum doesn't allow editing anymore...
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
Joined: 20 Jun 2021, 11:31
Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

DONE:

- Timing belt kit – changed by mechanic
- Water pump – changed by mechanic
- Metallic articulated tube to EGR – changed by mechanic
- Auxiliar belt, one tensioner and one spring – changed by mechanic
- Coolant – changed by mechanic
- Oil and oil filter – changed by mechanic
- Air filter – changed by mechanic
- Fuel filter – changed by mechanic
- Injectors cleaned by mechanic
- Steering assistance fluid – topped up by mechanic
- Pollen filter – changed by myself
- Right headlight fixation had broken off – fixed myself with cable ties
- Speedometer had erratic failure (needle dropping to zero) – repaired by myself, was the Bitron
- Right bonnet hook not releasing well – broken spring, installed improvised substitute by myself
- Bonnet gas springs defective, bonnet not staying open – changed by myself
- Electric mirrors not working – repaired by myself (installed manual bypass, as memory function is defective)
- Blower motor would only work on full blast – repaired by myself (one wire was not connected)
- Engine randomly shuts off during driving – repaired by myself, was the ignition switch
- A/C not working – leaky compressor, was changed, as was the dryer filter and system was charged by A/C specialist, works fine now
- Bulbs gone on clock and MFD – changed/repaired by myself
- Front speakers had bad sound – they were defective, changed them, fixed!
- Changed the radio head unit for a CD one – done by myself
- Cleaned with contact spray most of sensor connectors in engine bay and all fuses and some connectors inside of car – done by myself
- Rear seat belt was too short for child restraint system - bought a seatbelt extender (only the buckle), it works perfectly.


TO DO:
- Rear brake discs – to be changed maybe in some 10 k kilometres
- One of the rear doors sometimes doesn’t open with central locking – lubrication helps, but it sometimes comes back. Ideas?
- On cold start, you have to crank while holding throttle down at 25% - this is related to BOSCH pump conversion, they didn’t adjust the cold start advance correctly. Might eventually try to figure this out by myself, Haynes has this covered. Not a priority, though, as it always starts quite well with this trick.
- Outside temperature sensor defective – will order a simple 3,3k NTC and install it with parallel resistor (as I found out on Internet and was able to prove by experimentation) , cheaper and no need to dismantle mirror.
- Locks of the doors even with lubrication sometimes enter “free rotating security feature” mode, but after a few tries, they always work – is there any permanent solution to this? Might this be the key itself? Both keys are quite worn.
- Central locking remote is not working – I tried to repair the remote control in key, it now has working button and the LED goes on, but car doesn’t respond. Tried all and every synchronization instructions from the Internet to no avail. Heard about broken antenna on receiver, have to try on different places. Might also be the remote that’s not sending, might try with oscilloscope. Might even just buy a chinese new system and install it – maybe much easier…
- Rear speakers no sound – also defective, will change them eventually
- RPM counter not working – I did overhaul and repair instrument cluster, but this problem was not fixed. I still have to check the crankshaft/TDC sensor, as apparently in this model it’s only used for RPM measurement? So it would not cause other problems? Or am I seeing this wrong? Might measure with oscilloscope where signal goes to cluster. This takes time which I don’t have right now. I also can't seem to find the damn sensor...
- There’s a small but annoying oil leak somewhere at the rear of the engine – my mechanic thinks it could be somewhere close to the Turbo, difficult access. But I’ve been looking at the very oily connections between upper and lower inlet manifold, might very well come from there, I will change short rubber connection tubes by myself some day and this will make certain if the leak comes from there or not.
- Thermostat might be stuck open? On colder days, engine doesn’t warm up past 72/75ºC, only if you push hard for it, then goes to 85, but later goes down again. Both tubes on the left side of radiator warm up at the same speed after cold start, upper one should warm up later only after thermostat opens? The thermostat on 2.1td is located underneath/behind the waterpump on left side of engine block, car must be jacked up. Find out if other parts have to be taken off. Buy axle stands and learn how to bleed cooling system. Definitely worth doing at home due to labor envolved. Needs time...
- Resolve parasitic noises, one in wind shield on drivers window, the other under passengers seat, and one is the sun roof cover.
- Sun roof doesn’t work – this will stay like this, as connectors are disconnected and I don’t want to risk that it might get stuck open, in case mechanics is defective, as there must be a reason for having them disconnected.
- Triangles of wheel support are in a bad shape (don't know the correct term in English), have them changed by mechanic before going to yearly inspection (the equivalent for MOT).
- Adjust nozzles of wipers to better aim at the windshield, change wipers blades, rubbers are dead.
joydivision
(Donor 2021)
Posts: 49
Joined: 20 Jun 2021, 11:31
Location: Portugal-Algarve
My Cars: Peugeot 406 2.1TD Break
x 9

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by joydivision »

So, just returned from a nice trip with my family, we took a few days off. In total, drove around 1000 kms. The car behaved flawlessly :)
Also a very acceptable average of 6,8 lt / 100 km with A/C on most of the time.

I learned something these days: the "cold-start" issue after all is not related to the cold start advance adjustment of the fuel pump. It's something else, I think I've read about it on the net, it is related to fuel going "back" to fuel tank, leaving pump unprimed. That's how I discovered that I had mis-diagnosed this: on our holidays, I parked the car on a steep hill, pointing the front part upwards. On the next morning, I wanted to start it and it wouldn't start, not even with the throttle trick, it needed a lot of cranking and finally started with a lot of smoke. Clearly fuel starvation, it's pretty obvious that the fuel had somehow ran back to the fuel tank, leaving the fuel pump unprimed. I could have used the manual priming pump, but as it started to reach fuel after some cranking, I didn't. So, this confirms that the cold start issue I experienced, is not due to wrong adjustment of fuel pump, but fuel returning to tank if car is not left parked levelled for a longer time. I tested this in two ways: parked the car in the opposite direction on the same steep hill (nose pointing downwards). Started perfectly the next morning. Then, the other day, my wife used the car and didn't remember the "25% throttle trick", instead just turned the key and it started flawlessly after two revolutions of starter motor, perfect. Reason: it was parked levelled. This is in line with what I've read on the net: some of these XUD engine based cars suffer from this issue, and there are some folks who implement a non-return valve in fuel lines. So, I'd like to hear your opinions on this: is this easy and quick to do for a mechanic or might it be difficult to access? What about the non-return valve - any special indications? Should I just ask the mechanic to take car of all this, including purchase of the valve? I'm asking this, because although it would be nice to have this solved, it isn't really a significant problem, it's quite easy to go around it, parking the car correctly, and I really don't want to spend much money on this, I've got other priorities with this car right now. Also, I'd like to know if installing a non-return valve can bring other problems eventually (because if it would be that obvious, I guess they would have installed it factory-side, no?).

Thanks in advance.

On another note: I managed to adjust the nozzles of windshield wipers perfectly and also cleaned them, with a needle, they actually allow adjustment, it's really nice! :cheesy:
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mickthemaverick
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Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by mickthemaverick »

I would install an ignition operated cut off valve which will close the return line when you switch off the ignition and open when you turn on the ignition. Simple to fit in the return line and wire one side to earth and the other via an inline fuse to an ignition controlled 12V supply. This is the sort of valve I mean:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163375163425 ... SwgQ9VjCw-

Good luck! :)
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I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
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moizeau
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 1580
Joined: 12 Jan 2015, 16:08
Location: France 36
My Cars: 91 BX TZD Estate. Dead but loved
407 HDI 136 auto
C4 2l petrol coupé
2010 Dispatch III HDI 90
AND a 1980 Z1000ST
AND a 1983 GPz1100 inj
AND a 1995 Zephyr 1100
AND a 1980 Z650 (my moped)
x 315

Re: After two americans and one japanese, now my car is a french one :)

Post by moizeau »

Firstly, see if it's something easy. Check the condition of the leak off pipes on the injectors, including the rubber plug at the end. The other thing to check is that the primer bulb doesn't allow fuel to flow the wrong way. Regarding the mechanical anti-return valve, make sure you get one for a diesel and put in line before the primer bulb if it comes to it. They are cheap. Here is a link to a US site that gives a goog explanation https://www.accuratediesel.com/anti-dra ... ilter.html . Clapet anti retour in French, about 10 euros.
Pete
Notice the BX is still top the list but sadly gone
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