406 Fan

Common fault. The heater fan is just above the front passenger footwell behind the flexible cover there (like carpet). What happens is that over time the connections on the side of the fan break down. Give the cover a tap with your foot whilst the fan is tunrned on full or remove the cover and jiggle the wires on the side of the fan assembly. Fan assembly is easy to change if you want to but not needed as this 'fix' can work OK for months at a time :)

Ditto for the Xantia. My son discovered this fix by slamming the glovebox shut. When ever it stops I just lean over and wallop the carpet bit. I must get this fixed sometime in the next few years.

I had one like this.....it turned out that up to 1999 the fan feed was routed through an aux contact on the back of the ignition switch. It had burnt out. Replacing the switch on the back of the ignition lock fixed it!

Wow, you are spot on, a good thumping and it started working, trouble is being an engineer, my curiosity will force me to find the exact wire or connection that is causing the problem under there....

Indecently, does anybody know if this car is fitted with a pollen filter?

Many Thanks Andy

Fan assembly is easy to

I seem to be in the same position, and frequently have to wiggle the wires into the back of the fan at the moment. As I'll be driving to the Alps at the end of the month I figure I'd better sort this out....

You suggested changing the fan assembly... What is the exact nature of the problem? (being a bit stingy). Is it not just a re-soldering job? Is it usually the crimps in the connector, or internal to the fan unit?

Peugeot electrics seem to be pretty bad to me. This is the 5th electrical fault in 2 years on my 98 406 estate!

Andy

Right.... managed to sort out my fan problem at lunchtime. There is a 4-way connector that plugs into the back of the fan if you stand on your head int the passenger footwell. For a while, the fan has started working again after poking around that area. I pulled the plug out (was a bit tight - needed a pair of pliers on it) and the contacts were a bit grubby. The crimp on the thick black wire was blackened. The plastic shell of the connector can be opened quite easily, and each wire taken out with its crimp (don't mix them up!) You can then clean them up with a bit of sandpaper, squeeze them a little and re-assemble with some switch cleaning fluid for good measure.

There appeared to be nothing wrong with the spades on the fan unit itself, but the garage would have probably swapped it in any case!

Thanks for that, another fun job for the weekend.

Andy

Pollen Filter. If you have aircon then 100% yes otherwise maybe not.

This leads to another common 406 fault. If ever you get a mechanical 'click' 'click' 'click' from behind the glovebox area then it is the flap in front of the pollen filter that is at fault. It is a mechanical flap driven by a cog (which fails in either the open or close position). Part costs a fortune from a dealer but the drive cogs of Tamiya remote control cars are a great fit and a fraction of the price :) Of course if the flap 'fails' open then just leave it - no great shakes.

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Thanks for that, yes there is a click, click noise, mainly when I turn on the recirc button though...

Andy