Pug 205 - mardi gras

[Ahsan]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on a pug 205 mardi gras. Are the 1.8 deisels easy to work on? I have promised to help a friend with restoring his dad's car as a gift for his dad's 60th birthday

 

The car in question has 117k on the clock and ia on an M plate. The shell is fairly straight (barring some rust bubbling around the rear windscreen.

 

The engine runs a bit rough, however, the car has been lying garaged since 2017 - 18.

 

Our list of things to do for the recommission so far is as follows

 

Engine / mechanical :

1. Full service (oil, filters, glow plugs)

2. Brake fluid refresh

3. Coolant refresh

4 new pads all round.

5. Timing belt

 

Body/ interior :

0. Passenger side front window glass (any help on sourcing this would be appreciated).

1. New headlamps

2. Brake lights refresh (take off and clean)

3. Rust repair on tailgate

4. New hubcaps

5. Clean up of the sunroof chanels

6. Full 2 stage machine polish

7. New gear knob

8. Full interior clean

9. Replace / recommission rear window regulators

 

Do let me know if you think I have missed any thing that should be done as part of the recommission.

 

Thank you

 

Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk

 

 

[wuvvum]

@davidfowler2000 is the expert on recommissioning diesel 205s.

[New POD]

Whilst you are doing pads, I'd do the discs too. 

Cam belt, water pump or are these chain? 

[jon.k]

You probably know this, but the places to look for rust are the boot floor and under the rear seat. And (as I found out this weekend) on the seam between the front wings and the engine bay, behind the washer bottle and the jack. Apparently it's often worse on the washer bottle side because of people spilling washer fluid down there for years. I sold mine this weekend and the buyer found that I had been blissfully unaware of some quite serious rust there when I bought it. The buyer was still happy to have the car, but his inspection was a bit more thorough than mine had been.

If you are looking for parts, the 205 facebook pages usually have cars being broken and parts for sale. 

[Scruffy Bodger]

I'm sure you'll have fun with the glow plug behind the pump, they're a twat but it is possible. As for belts make sure the auxiliary belt is new too. XUD's have an uncanny knack of sucking these up when they snap and it wrecking the engine. 117K is nothing for one of those, especially non turbo examples. Stick a see through pipe in immediately before the pump to spot air bubbles if the fuel system is a bit iffy and be aware the one way valve in the fuel grenade can shit itself at a moments notice if it hasn't been touched for years and will cause starting issues if it does.

I'd also spend some time cleaning up every earthing point you can find.

 

[dozeydustman]

Welcome!

205 diesels are not too bad to work on; the engine has a cam belt and this drives the water pump as well, so change this at the same time. Don’t sod around with trying to rebuild the pump just whack a new one in along with a tensioner. Access can be a bit tight if you have large hands and arms. Change the alternator drivebelt as well; it’s got to come off if you’re doing the cam belt. Access is a lot easier if you have the car on stands and remove the front driver’s side wheel.
 

XUDs are pretty hardy engines and hide neglect well, and rough running can often be sorted with a good service - filters and fluids - and checking the fuel lines for air or diesel leaks. Some of the rough running may be where it’s so cold at the moment and the car has been laid up for some time; just let it tick over and get up to temperature and see how it is. Keep an eye out for non-return valves in the fuel system as these can cause all amount of issues when recommissioning.

I would personally change all the brake service items and flexi pipes and flush out the old fluid, the same applies for the cooling system.

Keep it well looked after and it’ll do 300k miles easily.

[artdjones]

New gear knobs are about the same price new on eBay.fr as second hand ones are in the UK. Is the car 3 or 5 door as that makes a difference for the door glass?

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/NEUF-POMMEAU-LEVIER-DE-VITESSES-BE3-PEUGEOT-205-GTI-CTI-TD-XS-GRIFFE-GL-GRD-GT-/283754160577

[Ghosty]

eBay gearknobs aren't very good, they're too soft and tend to deform, especially when it's hot. The GTI knob also isn't the same one as you'd get in a Mardi Gras.
The Peugeot heritage museum at Sochaux sell repro ones that are excellent quality, they're about 30€ posted. The gear pattern caps are NLA, 

205s are very easy to work on, in my experience the potential rot spots are the trailing edge of the boot floor and the inner wings behind the headlights.  Nothing that the MOT man will bother about, though.
The starter motor wiring decomposes and goes high resistance meaning nothing happens when you turn the key, this often needs rewiring. Cleaning the glowplug relay often helps too - it's under the battery with the multiplug facing downwards, so can get quite dirty.
The fuel filter is an element type, but the canister often blocks up which can also cause issues starting. Replacing these with an inline filter helps (one from a BMW 320D is a good fit), and a priming bulb if there isn't one already. 

Great fun little cars. 

[tobyd]

I know of a (Sceptre) turbo one of these local to me with a broken engine (snapped cambelt) thats been sat for a while (3 years?). I think you'd have to have the entire thing taken away but might be yours for a few hundred quid as a parts car?

Believe its a 5 door. and has a sunroof.

I think its done >200k but various things probably still work. Its almost certainly been heavily smoked in so the interior might be a bit ming.

You'd have to have it recovered but not that far to Northampton from near Bury St Eds?

Can possibly get pictures.

I seem to recall the back axles get all rotted too. I believe this one has a decent one.

Let me know if interested and i'll see if i can get some more info.

Has been scrapped.

[RayMK]

Check the rear suspension beam, trailing arms and all mountings for corrosion.  It is referred to as a beam because that's what it looks like, but it is not a torsion beam in the normal sense as each side is independent and the 'spring' is a pair of torsion bars which run across the car.  If corrosion is bad in this area (unlikely), or the trailing arms corroded and/or bearings are shot, repairing and replacing the assembly is generally regarded as a pain and not worth doing if the car needs a lot of work overall.  It sounds to me as though the car in question has a good chance of being a straightforward rejuvenation. Like previous posters have indicated, 100K is nothing for a diesel 205.  Ours were all still running fine and economically well past 170K. The only slight fault was a weep at the injector pump lever spindle. It can upset some MOT bods but is easily treated by a quick clean up prior to test. Driveshafts and front lower suspension arms and bushes were really the only replacements necessary every few years. 

[davidfowler2000]

On 2/10/2021 at 1:42 PM, wuvvum said:

@davidfowler2000 is the expert on recommissioning diesel 205s.

I was lucky with mine being low mileage when it was put away. Most of the work I done was basically a general service and the rest being farmed out. A lot of the jobs (like the brakes) I could have done myself but so much that was needing done by more experienced, more well equipped hands required all the piddly jobs to get in to (eg taking the brakes off to do the wheel bearings).