That V6 406 (D9)

[Minimad5]

Innocently scrolling through various pages, and a certain V6 406 catches my eye.

It has good 'bones', and appears to have been well looked after, but is suffering with a few issues.

Before getting giddy the resident shite shifter @worldofceri is contacted for a quote, (as one of its issues means a collection mission is off the cards). A plan with the now previous owner is hatched, all I could do is sit and wait.

Before long, I'm greeted with the above WhatsApp picture. Exciting times.

[warren t claim]

The best thing about a 406 auto is that you don't wear out the skin on your left elbow on the centre armrest like you do with a manual 406!

[Minimad5]

Just now, warren t claim said:

The best thing about a 406 auto is that you don't wear out the skin on your left elbow on the centre armrest like you do with a manual 406!

Centre armrest ? , pfft this has individual armrests. POSH 😅

[warren t claim]

2 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

Centre armrest ? , pfft this has individual armrests. POSH 😅

All 406s have twin armrests!

[warren t claim]

 

[Minimad5]

Obviously I missed Ceri dropping this off, so he as always, parked and secured this in a Professional manner. 

Once home I cracked on:

Lets try understand what is going on 

She's certainly unhappy about cylinder 5, but why ?

The previous owner told me he'd spent good money on having new coils and plugs fitted, so at first I ruled them out and ordered an injector, so whilst waiting for that to be delivered I cracked on, removed the engine cover and investigated further.

Three different makes of coil, now my OCD / finicky head really dislikes mismatched brands, so I hit up euro car parts - Non in stock, tried local factors - no, Autodoc - x2 Behru in stock. Ordered, and add to email list when back in stock.

Lets not waste time waiting for parts 

Checked compression of all cylinders, and all returned satisfactory results.

[Minimad5]

I actually forgot !

You have to take the inlet manifold off, in order to get to the rear bank -

As you can probably see, it covers the back 3 cylinders.

Hhmm lovely, lots of instant gasket.

Thankfully before pulling anything apart, I thought to order a set of gaskets (Did so too, as I was adamant I could hear a vaccum leak)

Also making an appearance is the new coil (No idea why Beru / Behru came in BorgWarner boxes)

[Minimad5]

So with everything out the way and a  compression test done, I had a niggling in the back of my mind - 'Do we actually have good spark, is the injector getting a pulse??'

One way to find out

Apologies for the poor picture, but with a noid lamp -  (Freshly purchased from https://www.sealey.co.uk/product/5637205125/6pc-noid-light-set ) , it was confirmed we had injector pulse.

And Halfords spark tester  (https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/electrical-diagnostics/laser-ignition-spark-tester-in-line-208694.html ) , it was also confirmed we had spark, but a rather weak looking one. Tried a new coil and things looked much healthier, result.

Old plugs removed and replaced 

[Minimad5]

At this point I was waiting for the injector to turn up, so turned my attention to other things.

Airbag light was illuminated, thankfully the previous owner @406V6 was spot on with his diagnosis - Drivers seat being the culprit. Didn't grab any pictures of this, as I was kneeling on gravel, and just wanted to get done, but found the offending item:

With that snipped out, a new plug and socket was fitted

 

Did it work?

Did the injector turn up ?

Will it ever see the road again ?

*Dramatic music* Stay tuned for updates 

[fatharris]

So glad this is getting a second chance, it is a lovely motor, I had a 1996 1.8 when I was 18 back in 2008 and felt like the bollocks, until it shat a conrod five days out of warranty.

Still think they look great.

[Kringle]

My life feels like I'm just sitting around waiting for parts/ tools/ time whilst the days tick by.

This however is like one of those ADHD porn videos with a split screen of four sets of tits bouncing around at the same time. Love it 👌

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, Kringle said:

My life feels like I'm just sitting around waiting for parts/ tools/ time whilst the days tick by.

Are you me?

[jon.k]

These must be soooo comfy and wafty with the v6 auto! I loved my hdi.

[2flags]

Hope you soon get it sorted.

[Minimad5]

This nifty chap turned up (old one pictured)

So we've had new plugs, new coils (x2 - Still awaiting others to be in stock) , new injector and a new Airbag plug.

Checked everything was plugged in before refitting the inlet manifold, broke open the new gaskets, torqued down to spec, and ...

It fired straight into life 🥳, so decided to treat it to a new air filter, as I wasn't too sure when the last service was (Juley ?)

A quick trip around the block, and I could still hear a air leak - Can't be manifold as all gaskets are new here, but peaking beneath the throttle body, I found this

Rang up Peugeot/ Citroen dealer, and they basically said 'LOL NO', so unfortunately had to sleeve it, with some pipe. Refitted and no more unmetered air. The idle seemed to be much smoother now too.

So the next few days I put some miles on it, as I wanted to make sure all this work (and more) was worth it.

267 miles later, I can confirm it's a good car.

So with that in mind, it got MORE NEW STUFF

New brakes all round - discs, pads and shoes.

 

[Minimad5]

'Ooft, must eat juice being a V6'

The autobox seems to change up early, meaning you're never stressing the engine, it just wafts, BUT press the sport button and its a different version of events, I can see why they chose a V6 in the mental Clios.

A few weeks (month ?) Of wafting around in this, and I won't lie it is THE most comfortable car I've owned, I even lent it to a friend, and even he said 'this floats along similar to my old Bentley, just needs less aggressive tyres to be silent' , genuinely not making that up !!! .

Anyway non of this work would have been worth it, if it couldn't pass a MOT

MOT WHILE YOU WAIT. 🙈 These sort of places never normally end well, but:

Yep, advisory free PASS.

[Minimad5]

Obviously I've glossed over parts, and made this appear to be a simple 'Throw on some new bits and MOT'

But some diagnostic work and time has gone into this, for instance the vacuum leaks, wasn't a simple case of 'Yeah this pipe', the drivers seat repair and fettling of door locks. 

So now I'm at a loss, its a fully working car that just does what it needs to do, in comfort and relatively reasonable MPG (even the blooming Aircon works), but it's just not me 🤷‍♂️

If anyone wants to literally give me what it owes me, I'll happily try dig out reciepts etc for proof .... but it's open to be purchased.

[mk2_craig]

So good to see it escape death, well done!