My first 406

Hi from England guys,

Just bought my first Pug, a 1998/99 3.0 V6 Manual Saloon with 77K on the
clock, tatty body and a bit messy under the bonnet. Wasn't really thinking
of buying it but my mate spotted it on the forecourt and was interested so
we both had a test drive.

On the test drive the only things I noticed are:

Handbrake not too good, had to pull it up a bit to keep the car still.
Some shaking (under the bonnet?) when I put my foot down a bit.
Once I heard a bit of a crunch putting it into reverse, but not after that.

But, man, the car is so smooth! Plenty of oomph with the a/c on full blast.
Probably be a bit thirsty though. Equipment levels are just great, electric
everything, A/C, leather interior, cd changer (Philips), though no sunroof.
Handling seemed pretty good but I didn't push it too much. Anyway, for the
price I couldn't complain, so I bought it there and then.

I really want to keep this car long term so what should I look out for?
Any advice/tips woud be appreciated 'cos I don't want to regret this
'impulse' purchase!
Is there a Haynes manual on it, and is it comprehensive? BTW, what's the
length of the car?

Sorry about all the questions, but I'm just so excited/curious/worried all
at the same time.

Thanks very much for replies.

gino

 

"> Just bought my first Pug, a 1998/99 3.0 V6 Manual Saloon with 77K on the

I haven't found a manual yet.
But with all that power you need to check the brakes and the discs. Nothing
should shake under the bonnet! The A/C should be checked 'cos after 5 years
the coolant will have evaporated. The battery should have been replaced in
the fourth year, if it hasn't it will soon. Timing belt needs looking at, it
maybe good to 100k, but not always. I replaced mine at 72 even though it was
still good.
When they're good they're great otherwise it's a bag of French ****
Don't worry about the sun roof in this weather, when it's hot it's like a
magnifying glass and I have to close the cover.
I've the V6 auto estate certainly a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

The first thing you MUST do is change the cambelt, unless you are
absolutely sure it has been done recently. And by the same token have
a major service on it.by a reputable garage. Then act on what they
find.

 

Hi John

I will look around for a manual. How much do you think from Peugeot?
Got good pads but disks look a bit thin to me.
Will get the a/c looked at.
Battery is good
Is the Timing belt supposed to go to 100k? I will get it looked at anyway.
About the sunroof, when I got one, I don't use it much. But when it's not
there I miss it.
I'm only a small guy, and the gear throw seems a bit long to me. Is there a
speedshift kit for this car?

gino

 

Hi Nigel

I'm not sure if/when the cambelt was done. Will get it checked.
How much you reckon for a major service?

gino

 

The shaking I mentioned in the original post was mainly due to all the
wheels being out of balance! Looks like the previous owner/s just rotated
the wheels and that's all. No wonder, I had to look for ages to find a place
that could balance solid alloy wheels (must be a French thing). Anyway, the
shaking has gone now, so I'm a bit happier.

gino

btw, the cd changer doesn't work. It keeps coming up on the display as "no
disk" after it goes through each one. What's that about?

 

Hi Gino, The handbrake on my 406 isn't the best. On steep hills, there's
hardly any chance of it holding the car completely still. It worked for a
while when I had the rear discs(&drums) changed, but went back to normal
after a couple of months. I put it down to being such a heavy car,

Neil

 

For a V6 with a cambelt, try to get a P3 service. Maybe £450 depending
on your local labour rate. Cheaper at a non-pug dealer, but make sure
they know what they're doing, especially with the cambelt!!

 

They did suffer from water in the cd changer from the rear lights.

 

£450!? I'd better do a lot of looking around. What does the P3 service
involve? Is it pretty comprehensive?

gino

 

So change the cd changer and it should be fine? Is it possible to remove the
Philips head unit and install, say, an Alpine or Pioneer cd player in the
car and preserve the current display/controls etc? Also, I might want to
install a sub and amp at a later stage. Any thoughts?

gino

 

Hi Neil. I know exactly what you mean. Reminds of my old Bimmer. Same
problem. So there's no 'permanent' cure for this then?

gino

 

Yeah, everything is checked, changed and adjusted. Mind you, I don't
know whether it is available outside the UK, but I would of thought
there would be something equivilent.

 

You could try drying it out. What I have done before is remove the
unit and put it upside down, with the sliding door open, on a radiator
for a few hours. That has worked. Otherwise take it to a radio
specialist and get it checked out. While you're there ask them about
what will work with the display/controls. I'm not really in to
modifing ICE equipment!!

 

And don't forget to stop the leak past the rear light seals.

 

Don't take offence, but the CDs are in the right way round? That's label
side down

Peter

 

Stupid suggestion, but check you have the cd's the right way round, the
carriage *can* be put in wrong way also.

James

 

Whoops, too late now. I took out the original head unit and replaced it with
a single cd/mp3/wma player from my old car... but forgot to empty the
changer. Damn! Now my cd's are trapped in there! Anyway, I got the sounds I
like now so I'm not that worried.

I think I need a code for the original Philips head unit. Can anyone help me
out here? I didn't get a manual with the car (I didn't get the original
wheel nuts that were replaced by the lock nuts either).

Thanks for all the replies guys.

gino

 

Got the handbrake shoes and insides of rear disks cleaned out, bit of lube
here and there. There was plenty left on the shoes. The handbrake seems a
bit better now. Don't know how long this will last though. May consider
changing cable in near future.

We've been having some sunny weather recently (although as I write this it's
pissing it down!). I've noticed that the car does not seem quite as powerful
in warm/hot weather. Any ideas how to improve this? Also, what's a good
performance filter for this car (to drop straight in the filter box)?

gino