New Modern-ish-denzal-shite

[baldrickthecunning]

Having run my faithful Bora for 2 years, and also moving much closer to work it was time for a change of scene. Earlier in the year I parted with my grand 405 to Len H and I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for until I found it, could have been petrol, diesel, large, small, estate, 4x4 but my real car enthusiasm always seems to come from France (or Ryton).

 

We often mention Bangernomics, and I am not scared of putting things right, so with that in mind I went to go and view a Peugeot 306 HDi.

 

It was 1 owner from new, 65,000 miles, full service history, 11 months MOT, 5 months tax, new clutch, cambelt in '06 but with some niggly problems to counter balance it.

 

- AWFUL Clifford alarm system.

- Non-working drivers side door loom

- A whining auxhillary belt

- Weighty steering which needed wrestling round tight corners

- Barely legal tyres

- Worn seat and steering wheel.

 

I wouldn't have believed the mileage based on the latter until i met the elderly owner, who at 6' 3" struggled and scuffed his way out of the replacement Fiesta.

 

IT started perfectly, maintained a steady 80 degrees after warming up, drove with no nasty noises apart from the heater fan recirculator and the service history tied up so I was fairly happy (it was bids starting at £400 and has 3 days left) so made an offer of £800 which was negociated to £850.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice drive home, apart from the steering which was remedied by 2 new Hankook tyres and a tracking adjustment of 3 degrees! (this also sorted the whining belt).

 

 

Since then I have changed the steering wheel for this XSI one which was less worn...

 

 

Uncovered the mess of the wiring loom under the tape....

 

 

And tried...in vain...to fix it.

 

 

All I achieved by splicing this loom in was locking (but not unlocking) centrally and a gunshot sound through the speaker when I do so.

 

More to come....hopefully.

[Pillock]

My mate's 306 had exactly the same mess in the door loom..... they're a bloody nightmare! We ended up just getting the most basic of functions going and vowing never to touch it again. Not really enough room for connectors or anything so it's soldering and heatshrink.

[baldrickthecunning]

Tell me about it, I was out there with that ancient soldering iron this afternoon and i think i might have sussed it if i had spliced the loom myself, but it was in a right state and i couldnt match any of the wires up.

[dollywobbler]

If it makes you feel better, once finance and everything is taken into account, my Pug 306 cost the best part of £10,000 (once reason I don't DO finance anymore!) and by the time it was six years old, the door electrics were playing up. Rubbish! Shame as they're excellent cars that aside.

[baldrickthecunning]

The loom is a minor inconvenience, I just know that i'd have sussed it first time if it wasn't already butchered.

 

Any other 306 commonfails to watch out for? So far so good as yet.

[peter9000uk]

Heater matrices are made from water soluble materials and a right bugger to change

 

pug306.net is a useful resource

[cobblers]

Those door looms are a nightmare - any repair won't last (brand new, bendy wire broke, so any soldering or connectors will just stress the wire even more) so it won't be long til its shagged again unfortunately.

 

 

As for the clifford alarm, I've taken probably a dozen of them out (it's the first thing I do on any car!), and they really don''t usually take a lot ofgtting rid of, just pull on the wires til you find where they have spliced into the loom. There will be indicators, power feeds and a couple of wires that immobilize stuff usually by cutting the ignition feed and starter feed wires. It's generally quite clear what they have done, and there is also not a lot of point in these, since there's a much better immobiliser built into the key.

[warren t claim]

Instrument clusters seem to be dodgy at the best of times.

[R9UKE]

It has automatic wipers therefore it is good.

 

I remember watching an episode of Auto Trader or something with that tool Brewer. It featured a 306 that locks itself when the passenger electric mirror was operated. French electrics, gotta love 'em!

 

Seriously though, LOVELY 306. I always wanted one of these as my first car, then the Mégane II arrived.

[baldrickthecunning]

Thanks all for your replies, I am dreading the matrix popping if it hasn't already. I suppose at least the windows are up all the way.

 

Looking forward to toll booths with no windows!

 

R9UKE - French cars seem to just have a charm about them, problems or not (the auto wipers still work ftw!)

[Richard]

Can't you install a manual regulator/door card to tide you over until you can sort out a more permanent solution?

 

Repairs within the door shut will never be great. The ideal solution would be to get hold of the right terminals and a crimp tool so you can use fresh wire and have it spliced inside the car. I'd be tempted to delete the plug altogether and hard-wire the door, with all the joins away from the door shut.

[Futuramic]

I agree about the door loom. I had a Xsara Coupe for a very short period (before the terminal disaster induced by a woman attempting to drive a car) and it suffered the same issue. Except being the high spec it was even worse. The driver's door had a microswitch built in to instruct the auxiliary ECU whther it was open or shut. This worked intermittently. When it failed the car thought the door was closed when open causing complete failure of the following:

 

Headlights on warning chime

Key in ignition warning chime

Remote locking system

Alarm and immobiliser

Boot

 

That was the worst. The death of one switch prevented all access to the boot. It owuld not open remotely; either by the internal switch or remote key. Useless!

 

I understand your enthusiasm though; it was a great car to drive and the 110 BHP Hdi engine was willing. The 306 is similar.

[Talbotman]

Regarding the central locking issue..because this is such a known problem on the 306,as far as the drivers door loom gos -Peugeot actually sell a full repair section to splice in to this area of loom with enough length to do a proper lasting job.

[Felly Magic]

I remember a friend getting a brand new 306TD Meridian. The whole electrics were goosed on it from new. The windows would open by themselves, the rain sensor wipers would come on when sunny, but when it rained they didn't, and to top it all the ABS was prone to fail. His Peugeot dealer didn't believe him until the ABS unit failed whilst on an accompanied test drive, and an accident was only avoided by yanking the handbrake. He was offered a replacemnt car, but he point blank refused. The car was on mobility, and he ended up going and getting a Ford!

[trigger]

My Old Peugeot 306 1.8 Merdian by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This is my old one which i owned about 5 years ago, I always fancied one, I thought (and still do) that they are a great looking car, my one went like shit of a shovel as well but it wasn't without it's faults, the rear speakers never worked but worse of all was that the passenger door was starting to fall off!, The metal work around the hinge on the A post had started to split so the door would click when you opened and shut it, Not good.

 

Lovely car though and the HDi is really the cream of the crop.

[carlo]

Do these wiring loom/door electrical issues affect all 306s or just series II (96-) or series III (99-)?

[jonathan_dyane]

My series 1 306 had the loom issues. I fixed it by pulling out the central locking fuse...

[Felly Magic]

The thing is, before the Meridian, he had an R reg 1.9 Diesel base, which never went wrong. Mind you, all it had was an airbag & power steering, and manual sunroof

[baldrickthecunning]

Thanks again for all the responses, the loom just needs a clear, dry day and a multimeter. Would have been a really easy job if it hadn't already been butchered.

 

Trigger, your one looked pretty smart.

 

Richard, I Don't fully know what you mean but luckily once i get the combination of wires right, the repair will sit inside the wing.

 

Amazed that virtually everything else works.

 

Carlo, I think this issue affects virtually all 306's but oddly never had a problem with my 405's.

[Futuramic]

My Old Peugeot 306 1.8 Merdian by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This is my old one which i owned about 5 years ago, I always fancied one, I thought (and still do) that they are a great looking car, my one went like shit of a shovel as well but it wasn't without it's faults, the rear speakers never worked but worse of all was that the passenger door was starting to fall off!, The metal work around the hinge on the A post had started to split so the door would click when you opened and shut it, Not good.

 

Lovely car though and the HDi is really the cream of the crop.

 

I take it that was the 1.8 16 valve. I had the same engine in a Xantia and that flew. Passengers always commented on how quick it felt. Probably not that fast overall but certainly nippier than it looked, or indeed should have been. Nice and revvy too. Yours looked to be in wonderful condition.

 

Shame they never put the 110 Hdi in the 306. It's a great engine. I still hanker after a Xantia with one. Either that or the 2.1 Td semi electronic. Bliss.

[scooters]

i removed the central locking as a feature on my car and installed a manual boot lock - wait till the catches start playing up - they are made from breadsticks and surrounded by razor blades buried deep in the doors!

 

great drive though!

[Pete-M]

Mate of mine has a rather splendid V plate AS spec 306 HDi estate up for grabs shortly.

 

Low mileage, about 75k I think. Non metallic dark blue, few dents, scratches and dings, but it's not a bad old thing at all. Central locking doesnt and the cabin fan is intermittent, but otherwise it seems fine.

[eddyramrod]

cabin fan is intermittent,

 

I had a Lada estate that did that. Winter was hell!