Peugeot 405 TD Executive Estate - sold!

[bezzabsa]

Poundshop satin black for the win

[Cord Fourteener]

That's a lovely 405 estate. Got any pictures of the seats folded maximally?

[SmokinWaffle]

2 hours ago, Tim_E said:

That's a lovely 405 estate. Got any pictures of the seats folded maximally?

Sadly not - but soon!

The chap did say he had the parcel shelf somewhere and was going to look for it, fingers crossed - seems they can be a bit hard to find.

Bonus though - someone I know who specialises in breaking/fixing/generally 405 mad had a spare radiator / expansion tank cap that is the same as mine (but not broken) on one he was scrapping today and he's posting it to me free of charge - stroke of luck, what a gent. 

I love how this car looks too - every time I go outside it makes me smile. Very handsome.

[Noel Tidybeard]

maybe this is a candidate for a rola cola cooling sysytem flush?

[SmokinWaffle]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:27 PM, Noel Tidybeard said:

maybe this is a candidate for a rola cola cooling sysytem flush?

As in coca cola? 

Rad cap on the way, thermostat should be available to pickup Thursday along with some coolant and a thermostat gasket. Weekend hopefully will be drain, test and / or replace thermostat and gasket, refill and bleed then fingers crossed its not the head gasket! 

[Tartan58]

Those seats look amazingly comfy!

Don't suppose you fancy selling me the reg? I'm Mark M😉

[SmokinWaffle]

7 hours ago, Tartan58 said:

Those seats look amazingly comfy!

Don't suppose you fancy selling me the reg? I'm Mark M😉

Be a shame for it to lose it's original reg really - but I'll keep it in mind!
 

Keep worrying this might be head gasket, but keeping a positive mind. I had a 405 Saloon way back I regret selling - and I do really like this. Being Bosch pump, XUD and estate ticks all my boxes so even if it is HGF I'd consider fixing it...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That is a really nice car, BRUTAL lacquer peel aside! The interior is lovely. 

29 minutes ago, SmokinWaffle said:

Be a shame for it to lose it's original reg really - but I'll keep it in mind!

My dude, if someone wants to offer you actual cash money for that completely anonymous numberplate, TAKE IT!

Although I sympathise with Mark if he's struggling to find a plate with his name on. My christian name is Pussidry and I've never been able to find a good private plate for my car. 

[omegod]

I've spotted a tucked away 405 covered in moss near me, you are giving me dark thoughts of knocking on the door

[SmokinWaffle]

1 hour ago, Conrad D. Conelrad said:

That is a really nice car, BRUTAL lacquer peel aside! The interior is lovely. 

My dude, if someone wants to offer you actual cash money for that completely anonymous numberplate, TAKE IT!

Thanks! And it depends on how much to be honest, I like to think that the reg of a car is quite special. All those years trotting around with the original plates - it's just nice to me to keep it as it was. Weird, maybe!

45 minutes ago, omegod said:

I've spotted a tucked away 405 covered in moss near me, you are giving me dark thoughts of knocking on the door

Do it!

[loserone]

Make sure the price of the place includes replacement dealer plates with the new number so it looks original before you sell it to me

[Lord Sterling]

Noice. An executive too. You can feel like a mid 90s middle manager who has made it in the company car carpark war.

Welcome to the world of Red Peugeot diesel ownership.

[Tartan58]

6 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

Thanks! And it depends on how much to be honest, I like to think that the reg of a car is quite special. All those years trotting around with the original plates - it's just nice to me to keep it as it was. Weird, maybe!

Completley understand. Number plates are kind of my weird fetish and nothing upsets me more than seeing a classic that has obviously been plate-raped (isn't is strange how many 50s Jags were seemingly registered in Caithness for example).

Not sure this car falls into that category for me but that doesn't change the principal.

If the unthinkable happens and it gets scrapped or broken for parts I'd give a few quid for the plate rather than see it die to the system.

[ProgRocker]

Nice buy! 

I remember having an issue of What Car? magazine from the mid 1990s where there was a group road test of an identical model of this.

Not only that but a 405 Exec or GTX saloon in exactly the same colour was featured in another group test. Can't remember what engines they had.

Lovely looking velour seat trim in these from memory. Certainly nicer than the generic charcoal grey cloth I have in my current crock and any other newer car. 

[carlo]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:06 PM, SmokinWaffle said:

Sadly not - but soon!

The chap did say he had the parcel shelf somewhere and was going to look for it, fingers crossed - seems they can be a bit hard to find.

Bonus though - someone I know who specialises in breaking/fixing/generally 405 mad had a spare radiator / expansion tank cap that is the same as mine (but not broken) on one he was scrapping today and he's posting it to me free of charge - stroke of luck, what a gent. 

I love how this car looks too - every time I go outside it makes me smile. Very handsome.

Don't get too addicted, you'll end up like me driving nothing else for 15 years!  My GTX saloon is still going strong.

Vulcan Red, nice distinguished colour.  Always seemed to be PSA's pearlescent colours which had the laquer peel issues.

[stuboy]

think ive said it before, went with a friend to price up a new roof on a garage and elderly gentleman had a 405 diesel estate that drip oil, we got talking about it and said should be worried, i told him only to be worried when it stopped dripping oil.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

You didn't happen to be travelling Westbound on the A2 the other day near Canterbury, did you?

[KitKat]

Love a 405 estate!!! Yours looks mega, and that full leather looks super sumptuous too 🙂 

I actually had one - albeit briefly- very much like yours. Same colour, engine, lacquer peel, although mine was in a more advanced state of ailment. Off the top of my head, its one of only four or five diesels I'd ever entertain owning (joining a ZX Volcane, 205 STDT, 406 TD) 

[SmokinWaffle]

On 3/18/2021 at 1:32 PM, GrumpiusMaximus said:

You didn't happen to be travelling Westbound on the A2 the other day near Canterbury, did you?

As in - the 405? The 405 has gone on the back of a truck from maidstone to Medway via the A2 - then sat on my drive. BX has been in the garage since December, unless you managed to recognise me driving the modern we have which is a 62 plate corsa!

16 minutes ago, sickboy said:

Love a 405 estate!!! Yours looks mega, and that full leather looks super sumptuous too 🙂 

I actually had one - albeit briefly- very much like yours. Same colour, engine, lacquer peel, although mine was in a more advanced state of ailment. Off the top of my head, its one of only four or five diesels I'd ever entertain owning (joining a ZX Volcane, 205 STDT, 406 TD) 

Thank you! It's really comfy. I do love an XUD - that's why I'm keeping my fingers crossed - they are one of the few diesel engines I entertain also!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

4 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

As in - the 405? The 405 has gone on the back of a truck from maidstone to Medway via the A2 - then sat on my drive. BX has been in the garage since December, unless you managed to recognise me driving the modern we have which is a 62 plate corsa!

I did wonder.  Only because I saw a 405 of a similar age and colour on the A2 not too long ago, that's all.  It may have even been an M-reg estate in the same colour (my memory isn't 100%) but it drew my attention enough to point it out to my other half!

[Shirley Knott]

This looks amazing- Well played

I've always wanted a 405 estate in derv format, in fact I think my opening Autoshite post involved me looking for one albeit in NA non turbo flavour (Because I'm dull)

Definitely a thread to follow as far as I'm concerned!

[SmokinWaffle]

21 hours ago, Shirley Knott said:

This looks amazing- Well played

I've always wanted a 405 estate in derv format, in fact I think my opening Autoshite post involved me looking for one albeit in NA non turbo flavour (Because I'm dull)

Definitely a thread to follow as far as I'm concerned!

I hope you enjoy it! I've got a non turbo 1.7 Diesel BX in the garage if that tickles your fancy - theres a thread on that somewhere here!

Progress today!
Drained the coolant, annoyingly didn't have the right socket to drain the block (I need to buy a decent big ol socket set!) - but I took off the bottom hose to the rad and popped out the thermostat and that did the job. Flushed it through the thermostat a bit too just to be sure. Both the rad and that ran clear so happy days.

Tested the thermostat on it (the original one it seems!) and it worked a treat. New one worked too but looked much less beefy. Figured if it ain't broke don't fix it. Gave it a new gasket though and put that back in.

This was my first time doing a coolant change/bleed - so it was fun!

Got a upside down coke bottle sealed to the expansion tank on the side of the rad and went to work, got coolant from the bleed valves. Long story short, there was a lot of air in the system. I noticed the temp creeping closer to 90 (which is OMGHGF danger zone) - shouted to my friend who was helping not to open the bleed valve but before I could he opened it and we got some kettle/steam action. Thankfully no damage to his face/hand! Hopefully no head gasket damage, it touched 90 then we turned it off and then he opened the valve and muchos steam so the heat went pretty fast.

I did thing it had HGF anyhow as the expansion tank was intermittently bubbling on the header extension I made - but once we'd fully bled it - it stopped.

Still didn't seem to be getting the heaters warm and I knew it could take a bit more coolant - then we figured out where the heater matrix bleed valves were - they were quickly bled and the heaters are super warm.

Idles fine, sits around 70-78C on the gauge, when driving sits around 80. If we give it some load on idle it'll slowly raise to 84C, thermostat opens, fans come on, cools down, all good. Holds temperature fine for now. 

Took it out on a drive on the estate, pulls well, held temp, heaters fine, no crazy temperature movement. I'm hoping that it was just a huge air lock and a faulty radiator cap - as there doesn't seem to be any physical leak anywhere.

After the drive (5-6 min drive and 15 mins or so of idling beforehand) I let it cool for a few minutes and popped off the expansion rank/rad cap with a rag and there wasn't any excess pressure in it which is a good sign! Water level sitting just on max.

I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days and see if it's lost any just sitting on the drive - then I'll start to get it up to idle temp every day and see how it goes. 

Is it worth getting one of those cheap sniff testers on eBay with the colour changing stuff? I almost want to live in ignorance...

No pictures as I actually did some work instead of sitting being confused and taking photos, which was nice. 

[wesacosa]

if it doesn't lose water or overheat I wouldn't bother. The sniffer will only tell you if the coolant is getting combustion gases, but if it was I would expect it to pressurise.  One way to check is to run it from cold for a few mins then take the cap off.  If the stat is closed and coolant is cold the only way it can pressurise is by combustion gases

[SmokinWaffle]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

if it doesn't lose water or overheat I wouldn't bother. The sniffer will only tell you if the coolant is getting combustion gases, but if it was I would expect it to pressurise.  One way to check is to run it from cold for a few mins then take the cap off.  If the stat is closed and coolant is cold the only way it can pressurise is by combustion gases

Annoying as to use it, I need to run it, to run it, it needs and MOT, for the MOT it'll need some tickling to the top mounts as I mentioned - but I'll do that test (thanks!) and monitor with it running on my drive to temp ect. Fingers crossed

[wesacosa]

ah ok. well if it's to check it out before you spend big wedge on an MOT it might be worth the coolant test if it sets your mind at ease , Although might be worth reading up to see what reviews they get as I have no idea if they are any good or not. Definitely worth doing the check I mentioned first

[Lacquer Peel]

The temperature gauge moves around a lot on these and 90°c is perfectly normal. Fingers crossed it just needed a flush and bleed. 

[Cord Fourteener]

5 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

I'm hoping that it was just a huge air lock and a faulty radiator cap - as there doesn't seem to be any physical leak anywhere.

I had this on my E46, I'm always paranoid especially on cold humid days, when there's lots of steam coming from the exhaust. If course it's normal atmospheric conditions, but then I had bubbles in the header tank (after topping up the header tank because of a very very slight leak - omghgf!) No, even the bubbles were not omghgf! I had not realised how to bleed the coolant properly. 

Lesson is to make sure you're on top of the 'is it plugged in' stuff before running down the street declaring 'omghgf!'.

[Faker]

I had a couple of 405 derv back in the day. Both td and both surprisingly quick. I’m hankering for an estate if I’m being honest, as it would be an ideal tow car for the 106 Rallye down the line.

David Higgins works team had a white 405 estate as a chase car during the 1994 British championship.  Photo of said 106 with said 405 in the background.

Found this one for sale in Northern Ireland the other day. Really nice car but I don’t have a spare £2k for the asking price.

[SmokinWaffle]

On 3/20/2021 at 6:59 PM, wesacosa said:

if it doesn't lose water or overheat I wouldn't bother. The sniffer will only tell you if the coolant is getting combustion gases, but if it was I would expect it to pressurise.  One way to check is to run it from cold for a few mins then take the cap off.  If the stat is closed and coolant is cold the only way it can pressurise is by combustion gases

Appreciate that tip.

18 hours ago, Faker said:

I had a couple of 405 derv back in the day. Both td and both surprisingly quick. I’m hankering for an estate if I’m being honest, as it would be an ideal tow car for the 106 Rallye down the line.

David Higgins works team had a white 405 estate as a chase car during the 1994 British championship.  Photo of said 106 with said 405 in the background.

Found this one for sale in Northern Ireland the other day. Really nice car but I don’t have a spare £2k for the asking price.

£2k is a bit rich - then again - they break well. Saw a rotten CATD estate similar to mine with more miles sell for £600. A nice one could be worth that!

Had some spare time this afternoon to give it a test and a clean.

Warmed it up on the drive, the cap was hissing a tiny tiny bit and there was still some pressure it it once I'd let it cool for a few minutes then removed the cap which implied something was off. That was running for 15 minutes or so though - so was at 70C (and stable - no signs of even slight overheating, even holding it on boost) .

Following @wesacosa advice - I ran it from cold for 3-5 minutes, turned it off, no hissing, no pressure in the system at all. Looking good. I'm thinking it might just be the rubber on the bottom of the rad cap - even on the spare cap I got it's still 20 years old. I'll look for a new one.

I do also wonder if I'm meant to have a pipe coming out of the overflow/relief hole on the top of the expansion tank - answers on FB so far as inconclusive...Maybe the hissing is coming from here but normally it'd go through the pipe so it wouldn't hiss:

I'll see what people say. If anyone here knows....feel free to advise!

Got a water in fuel warning after a while, drained what was in the filter just to be sure but it seemed just like diesel to me. My 306 used to do it randomly and they're over sensitive, A fuel filter change will most likely fix that.

Also realised there was an air leak yesterday - found out why:

That'll do it. That goes to the air filter box so it doesn't quite seal anymore. I'll replace that in time.

Also realised it's missing half of the scuttle cover - that'll be why the pollen filer is disgusting...

I didn't plan to clean the interior - but it just sort of happened. It smells musty, cobwebs, dirt so I figure it's something to do and the weather was okay. Boot was filthy, as were the rear seats - the previous chap used it mostly as a load lugger with the seats down I believe.

Looks a lot lot better. I only had two antibac wipes left in the pack so the door cars ect were wiped/scrubbed with warm water, weak soap/degreaser and a sponge, dried with a paper towel so they still have some dirt on them but nowhere near what it did. Having all the doors and windows open for a while helped air it out too.

Took up the weird aftermarket floor mats - bit musty under them where they have been there for so long but fine. The rear passenger one it seemed someone has spilt something there at one point as it was soaked in a small area under it and I think it's just sat there for ages. Took it up and dried it as best as I could - left them all out for now so the interior can air a bit.

These are in the boot too:

BNIB, sealed roof bars from a dealership that is now just a boarded up building. Pretty cool. Must have been in there at least a decade.

Booked my welder to come take a gander on the 27th, top mounts looking.....rusty:

Under the car has surface rust but the metal itself is quite solid - same on the sills - so hopefully his assessment will be that it'll still MOT without mega welding elsewhere we can sort the top mounts and pop it in for one. He did say it'll clean up well and make it solid but not super pretty at a decent price - we will see.

Part of the reason I want to save it (as well as just liking it as a car) - it starts so strongly/well. This is from cold:

Ignoring that pulley squeak of course. 

And the picture you've all been waiting for - the full load space featuring the future Mrs SmokinWaffle:

Before it was cleaned too. What a star.

Outside next. Would say it's a shame my pressure washer broke and I chucked it - but I'm not sure there would be much left paint wise if I had one!

[outlaw118]

<<PUNCHING>> 

I've got a Bissell spot cleaner wetvac thing you can borrow if required, just shout.