Peugeot 406 - C U L8R 406

[SiC]

Yep, impact wrench is needed... Prob can't get one tomorrow though.

 

 

Machine Mart are open on Sundays.

[beko1987]

I've not got enough money sadly

[RobT]

Is it worth posting in News 24 or Ask a Shiter, asking if anyone local has an impact wrench you can borrow? I've got one here you're welcome to use, trouble is I'm 60 miles away. The offer is there when you come to do the other side though.

[bub2006]

My impact wrench is on deaths door but I've picked up some impact socket bits to fit a drill. All 3 sizes covered too. I'll let you know if hammer function has the same effect!

[Tamworthbay]

My impact wrench is on deaths door but I've picked up some impact socket bits to fit a drill. All 3 sizes covered too. I'll let you know if hammer function has the same effect!

It won’t, impact drivers work in a very different way. Be careful when you fire it up mate, could wrench the fuck out of your wrist.

[bub2006]

Mmm ok I won't try that then I'll just use the drill adapters on other nuts!

[Matty]

Mmm ok I won't try that then I'll just use the drill adapters on other nuts!

Ahh just turn the clutch down on the drill. It'll be right enough

[beko1987]

Well we drank at home, then drank at the pub and I felt no better. Now we are home with McDonald's and I can (hopefully) feel the spirit of Dave brewing. Fucking come on Dave...

[sierraman]

Blow torch is ok on track rod ends but under the CV joint too much risk of burning through gaiters and messing bearings up. Wouldn’t fuck about mending the CV boot with some RTV, while driveshaft is our slip another stretch boot on. Adds another £3 or so onto the job.

[Zelandeth]

Also if you do get heat on it, be careful.

 

My local garage is well used to Citroens (the former keeper of my Activa has been using them for going on 20 years apparently), and had a good story of tackling one such ball joint with the torch on it, when the internal pressure got to such a point that it fired the ball part of the ball joint across the workshop with "some considerable force." So make sure you are not in the line of fire.

 

Also regarding torches, if you don't have a MAPP gas torch yet, get one.  Propane really isn't up to it for this sort of job, and a MAPP torch (the ones with the yellow bottles) is about the best thing you will get without access to an actual oxy-acytaline setup.  Moderately less terrifying to use too.

[beko1987]

Well, it hasn't fixed itself overnight, the wonderful Mr Arthur foxhake is coming over with some impact tools!

 

I'm so tempted to start another job, the rear brakes maybe but I have the fear now...

[NorthernMonkey]

If you can’t get a meaty impact gun on to the job, i’m afraid you’re going to have to remove the hub from the strut, get it in the biggest heaviest vice you can find and get a bloody long breaker bar on to the job

[sierraman]

Wire brush and plenty of releasing fluid round the bottom of the strut. Also grab a copper faced mallet to whack the fucker with. Make sure you don’t shear the strut pinch bolt otherwise you’ll be doubly fucked then.

[Isaac Hunt]

If the inner cv has already popped out of the gearbox, can you not plug the hole with a bit of Brom handle and cloth. Than take to whole suspension leg off ?

 

I'm not familiar with 406's but is how I do Rover 200/400 out cv gaiters. Take the whole leg off and do the work on the bench.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

This isn't going well. We haven't achieved anything bar now making the thing undrivable!

 

We can't stop the hub turning when we lean on the breaker bar. The straps I bought for holding the battery down are not cutting it... Bar finding some better straps, does anyone have any ideas?

 

IMG_20190302_165211.jpg

 

Have you got over this? Hub nut, put the caliper and pad back on and hold the brake or put the wheel on and drop the car or the ball joint, put the rack track rod end back in and use steering lock or hold the steering? Failing that, cut the thing off.

[cpjitservices]

Is it a CatD then? 

 

The wording at bottom of the V5 would suggest so.

 

 

My old man had one of these for about 5-6 years... in the end needed too much welding. Mind, he'd done thousands of miles in it over that time only ever really needing a starter motor, tyres and a few services. It was a diesel 1.8/2.0? Cant remember which engine it was now. Had moon mileage on it when he scrapped it. 

[beko1987]

Well, it's a fail for the Weekend.

 

Ill do a better write up later, but even with 5he whole strut removed, arthur_foxhake's battery impact wrench didn't shift it, and the 3 garages we went to all said all their big tools were locked away for the Weekend... Cars all back together and I've driven home although with a nice new knock, but the job has got bigger

 

My rough plan now is to find a friendly local garage. Have a couple of ideas there

Have both struts fully off, and take them to said garage and hope

 

The droplinks and tie rods will be fucked. They are on the drivers side, we ripped them to shreds removing them and refitting them, so the passenger side will be the same. So new of all that needed

 

2 new driveshafts gaitors needed, I've probably lost alot of grease from the drivers side one!

 

I need to push the armagedden button about some wheels for the rest of the month though, and fuelling and insuring one will probably use up any cash I have for the new parts and if a garage wants any money for removing the ball joints.

 

I need to think, and see what I can pull out of my arse!

 

Most of the disappointment is in how everything fucked up despite us doing the job rather well. It shouldn't have been this tricky.

 

Then, once that's all done I've still got to fettle the rear brakes, and look at the horn. I got the battery strapped down though!

 

Oh, and will brake pads with snapped off wear sensor cables be a fail? One was in half when we removed the pads, pads themselves are fine though, and there's no light on the dash with them unplugged

[sierraman]

Fettle usually means fanny about with something rendering it unroadworthy in the process. Those 12v impact wrenches are really only for roadside jobs anyway. I’d just order the boot from J&R and take the strut to a garage and get them to run it off. Wouldn’t worry about the pad warning cables, take them off. Wouldn’t worry about the drop links, you usually end up grinding tha bastards off anyway.

[beko1987]

Ah, the weekend started off so well! Look, this is when my mate was smiling (about 20 minutes after we started)

 

 

However, 24h later, having made things worse, this is my friend and Arthur_Foxhake of this parish, very much not smiling

 

 

I have many options really, I am at a proper crossroads...

 

Option 1 - Carry on fixing the 406

 

The guy at Number 13 works in a garage and has said he would happily take the hubs in one day and give them a bash with some meaty tools. However, free time is a bit lacking at the moment, I could potter away at it during the evenings, it'll be quicker to just hacksaw the TRE and droplinks off on the drivers side, then the rest should be fairly easy as we had it all off already.

 

Passenger side though, will be a fucking battle! Then hope and pray he can get the balljoints out. If he does, then I can buy parts, as we now need droplinks and TRE's deffo for the drivers side, and we will by the end for the passenger side. and some inner CV driveshaft boot clips, and some CV grease. I cleaned to the CV boot we nipped earlier and danny put a drop of glue on it, I haven't checked to see if it's held or not...

 

Then the back brakes still need rebuilding to make the one side work, and hopefully throughout all of this, the graunching noise from the brakes over the last few weeks buggars off

 

Horn needs fixerating, could be connectors at the horn, could be steering wheel off...

 

Option 2 - scrap it and start again...

 

As much as I don't want to be 'the guy' who scrapped a car due to needing a pair of fucking ball joints, I'll have maybe an hour and a half of light a night to do anything with. Plus a SORN and un-MOT'd car after the 17th which will be on a public road... If I drive it to ASM I'll get £190, and I can put the old shit wheels back on and pass Moog's nice set on for what I paid for them. I'll then have a pair of balljoints and top mount bearings as my only expenditure. Whip my radio out etc.

 

In the meantime? Well, I have the offer of a loan car. Gareth's mazda needs an alternator, which came last week. He is quite happy getting the train to work (1 stop away on a frequent service) so I could troll over there tomorrow and we get that fitted. and I use that. Negatives? I don't have 3rd party cover on my policy anymore, so it's £30 for the month to add me as a driver (last month of his policy, I imagine it would be more with longer left to run. £50 a week on pez too as it's a drinker...

 

I've been offered a lift by Allan from IT, who owes me many lifts. Positives? Will cost me a pack of baccy a week as I'm not a huge detour from him. Negatives? I'll be picked up at 7am... Although back by 4.30 for aformentioned 406 fettling for an hour. And if he's off, I dont get to work!

 

Or, OPTION 3 - Scrap the 406 (or sell here for scrap money, which is fine) and start again! The 406 was obtained with winter beater in mind, and my head and heart still want to save it, but more and more of me is thinking fuck it, scrap it for £200, Gareth said he could lend me £100 if needed and there's a lovely bubble micra for £250 in Slough with MOT until november, a good history and a massive dent in the bootlid... WCPGW?

 

I'm torn, all 3 options are do-able, but have a sliding scale of massive faffing to go with it. Who knew a simple balljoint change would be so difficult! What's also making me hesitate is throwing a car away (yet again) with a recent cambelt and clutch. But I can't make time magically appear to work. I won't be able to get annual leave without 2 weeks notice, and it'll be out of test by then. Also the big gamble of the balljoints coming out at all, too much heat and it's C U L8r CV joint which will be another £80 for 2 cheap ones of those!

 

DILEMMA!

[320touring]

Scrap it.

 

Too much like hard work - something with long test and frugal shouldn't be too hard to come by

[bramz7]

Probably best to scrap it, sadly. I would offer the Multipla to you for cheap, but I need it to move things. Plus it will also fail it's next MOT....

[The Moog]

Agree. If you could stick it to one side for another day then fine. But as your only car I would avoid.

 

Get bubs zx for short term.

[beko1987]

I've already been chatting with bub but it'll cost another £100 to go fetch it...

[purplebargeken]

The ZX would be pretty much perfect.

[purplebargeken]

He's getting the Beemer tomorrow. Lift up to get it maybe?

[SiC]

How much for a garage to fix?

[beko1987]

He's getting the Beemer tomorrow. Lift up to get it maybe?

I wont have the cash tomorrow. And am at home because Eva's got a hospital appointment, so charlie needs looking after

[beko1987]

How much for a garage to fix?

At roughly £60/70 a hour labour, itll be more than I can afford. I unlock £200 by binning the 406...

[loserone]

Sounds like Charlie is going on a collection mission to me, with a bank transfer to follow. If Bub is up for that, anyway.

 

I'm also inclined to suggest just getting a garage to fix it, but if the money ain't there..

[SiC]

At roughly £60/70 a hour labour, itll be more than I can afford. I unlock £200 by binning the 406...

Ouch. I'm lucky to have a local friendly garage that is only 50quid an hour through the books. Supply parts and it's a fair bit cheaper.

 

You need to make a few mechanic friends!