The 405 News

[Junkman]

No warning light came on, so presume broken.

Never heard of the pop bottle trick, thus ignorant of it and consequently not applied it, but evidently my 405 does not need any trickery to top up the coolant.

[paulscavalier]

Glad I read this my 405 seems to use a bit of water

[Schaefft]

Coolant reservoir cap starting to leak when hot? I assume if it wasn't used for this long its unlikely to lose that much through there so quickly.

[Junkman]

A 405 has no coolant reservoir. There is merely a tank integral with the radiator, that you fill to a certain level mark.

The cap is not leaking, also the cooling system on these is very low pressure.

[Scruffy Bodger]

No warning light came on, so presume broken.

Never heard of the pop bottle trick, thus ignorant of it and consequently not applied it, but evidently my 405 does not need any trickery to top up the coolant.

 

Hopefully you've got lucky then. Some of the pipes in a 405 are situated above the filler point and don't bleed properly, 306's suffer the same problem. I learnt the hard way and scrapped a perfectly good XUD when being rushed to get my car off a mates ramp one evening years ago. It was his suggestion to change the weeping pipe, I had been quite happy waiting for it to get warmer before working on the car and relying on the low level water light. I was not a happy bunny.

The HBOL also suggests that if your engine is a 2.0 there is another bleed in  a coolant bypass pipe behind the cylinder head.

[Junkman]

I read the Haynes, which prompted me to post in an earlier post the question as to where this bleed, or better, that coolant pipe is supposed to be located.

There certainly are none behind the cylinder heads of any of my 2.0s.

It also mentions another bleed screw in the thermostat housing, apart from the one in the thermostat cover. Hitherto I only managed to locate the one in the latter.

Anyway, it's running, the temperature is okay and the heater is hot.

[beko1987]

Have you tried hammering a proper engine over it?

[Junkman]

Need a bigger hammer.

[Lacquer Peel]

I've always bled the cooling system by undoing the cap and letting the engine idle for a bit. Not sure that's right but I've never had any air locks or OMGHGF, even on XU(D) engines.

[Junkman]

Yes, that's exactly how I did it previously, i.e. on other 405s I've owned. I was unaware bleed screws even exist until I read them mentioned in the Haynes.

When I subsequently opened the one in the thermostat housing, indeed no water came out until I started filling the radiator.

[beko1987]

Sounds like the patented SVM and Kiltox/Beko total loss cooling system is playing up... Just top it up when the heaters run cold (or several days later if you forget) and carry on!

[Timewaster]

Don't touch the bleed screws!

 

They snap off IME

 

I changed the rad in my Mi16 once. Easy enough job but could I get all the air out and get the heater working?

 

Could I F***?!

 

Pissed about for hours squeezing hoses, taking hoses off and pouring water up them, squeezing hoses again, leaving it idling with the cap off, everything I could think of until I was late for something and had to go.

 

Really annoyed at the car and myself, I washed my hands, got in the car and drive it like a very annoyed person might.

 

1/2 a mile down the road, the heater came warm and was fine after that.

 

Maybe that's the trick. Thrash it!

[Junkman]

I shall give this a try tomorrow on my way to Brum.

[Junkman]

Yep, there is a coolant leak. Can't tell where it is, but there is one.

Everything was fine all the way to Birmingham, but when I pulled into the car park there was a slight cloud of steam coming from underneath the bonnet. It originates at the right side of the engine, very low down. Bottom radiator pipe, perhaps. It's so crammed there that it's difficult to see anything, really.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Not sure if it has the same set up as the diesels, but this housing was very slightly cracked on mine. Didn't leak all the time though

[Junkman]

Yes, I'm aware of that housing, but mine steams from the opposite end of the engine this time.

I'd say it needs some ramp time. Of course this happens when it's least convenient.

[Junkman]

Made it back home, didn't top it up or anything, car made it without any hickups. Will check level tomorrow morning before I set off to the West Midlands.

 

Besides, they have removed the hard shoulder practically all the way between Manchester and Birmingham. they call this attempted murder "upgrading". It doesn't exactly put you at ease when you know your car has a coolant leak.

 

Also, it was like driving at Bonneville (just 300 slower). Is that much salt on the road really necessary at 12C? This can't be good for that nature either.

[beko1987]

Not got a pinhole in a hose has it?

 

When my old xm was loosing coolant I couldn't see it anywhere, was only when I (angrily) revved the crap out of it with the bonnet up after weeks of driving around with a boot full of water that I saw the small stream of coolant shoot out of a hose... I couldn't see it as by the time I'd pulled over to top it up, it all dried out instantly with the engine heat, and didn't do it at idle, only with revs.

 

Get someone to pummel the throttle whilst you look everywhere, catch it before it dries

 

The only other coolant leak I've ever had was the Puma, but that was a bit more blatent as it split its stupid buried plastic thermostat housing at asda, walked back to ye olde puddle of inevitability all around the car. Aa job home that was...

[alf892]

It's fucked!

 

 

 

 

Has this got the steel pipe that runs just to front of the engine low down?

[Junkman]

There are pipes everywhere, so I'd say yes.

[Junkman]

Not got a pinhole in a hose has it?

 

It could be anything really, even the water pump, which was changed during the cambelt change last year.

I'm afraid it needs some ramp time to find the root cause. These have the weirdest cooling system I have ever seen in any car, with a plethora of hoses and pipes going from anywhere to everywhere, but no expansion tank or anything.

[beko1987]

Fill it with jelly, that won't leak, thicker than water you see

[D Spares & Tyres]

The radiator and expansion tank are combined. Many people fill the radiators to the brim then the car expels some water and people think there is an issue!

 

As for the metal pipe, it can't be that. 405s don't rust

[Junkman]

I'm not most people and the car releases steam, not drips, from somewhere low down at the right side of the engine, not the area around the rad.

[Junkman]

Is a post still unoriginal if I show you that I bought some original Peugeot spares?

 

[Jim Bell]

Is a post still unoriginal if I show you that I bought some original Peugeot spares?

 

Isn't that something a cunt would say?

 

 

A: No.

[Junkman]

A cunt can only say something a cunt would say.

[Junkman]

The reason for the desirability of the original wiper blades is these:

 

 

 

They hold the spray bars to the blades:

 

 

 

 

And look:

 

 

 

However, this is shocking:

 

 

 

 

Why this system with a spray bar for the screenwash being attached to the wiper blade hasn't been widely copied ever since is beyond me.

[Timewaster]

Because they freeze up at the slightest hint of a frost IME

[Junkman]

Would that be Inspector Frost, or Nick Frost?