406 water in footwells :-(

I'm losing water, mostly into the passenger footwell, but a small amount into the drivers side too...... Already used radweld which bought me the last 3 months or so (put it in when I first detected the coolant smell). Car is 1998 estate. Is this likely to be the heater matrix, or rubber connecting hose that has been mentioned here before?

Either way, I guess this it gonna cost me :-( .....anyone know how much?

John

Reply to
John Ricketts
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If it were a 405 I would say it's most likely to be the rubber o-rings where the matrix is connected to the water system, otherwise the matrix itself ... but I don't know how much a 406 differs from a 405!

If it were a 405 then this link would help. It's for a Rangerover, but the o-ring contruction is virtually identical

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Matrix for a 405 is (was) £50 from Peugeot. They say you have to take the fascia off and all up cost is £500 in London. (Worth going to France where it's cheaper) But on a 405 you can take the glove box out. But a

406 might be different ... I'll watch this thread with interest

Cheers

John Ricketts wrote:

Reply to
Wichita

The matrix can be removed by removing the glovebox, as the 405. Then you can prperly see whether it is the matrix itself or the o-rings. I don't know how much a matrix is from Peugeot, but you should be able to get one cheaper from a radiator place. The book time for doing the job is under 2 hours.

Reply to
nigel

Local Peugeot dealer (Warners, Gloucester) who I have found in the past to be quite good, quote:

Labour £352 including vat O rings 39p each! Matrix £44 plus vat

Now the question is, is my saturday worth £352.............

Reply to
John Ricketts

I may be corrected, but I was told by three Peugeot garages (the third in France) that the book time is around five hours because they have to take the whole fascia out.... BUT we're still talking about a 405 and have yet to hear if a 406 is the same set up.

On a 405 a temporary solution to stop the flood while heat not required is to clamp the hoses at the bulkhead inside the engine compartment, or release the hoses (whoich can be difficult) and bridge with a ubend pipe and jubilee clips.

Cheers,

Reply to
Wichita

Book time 4 hours for 406 (according to Warners, Gloucester)....that makes the labour rate £75 an hour plus vat! Pahh...

Reply to
John Ricketts

I'm going to look in to this. I understood the book time was under 2 hours. Maybe there is a difference between an early and a late 406. I shall find out tomorrow. As for the 405. The early models, up to 1992, were easy to change the matrix, around an hour. But the facelift models were different and they increased the time to 6 hours because of the different dash. In the event, we found out it can be done in around 2 hours by loosening the dash and pulling it out while removing the matrix--a 2 man job. Anyway, 405,406,early, late, always renew the o-rings!

Reply to
nigel

The book time is 1.4 hours. It used to be 4 hours, and a dash removal, but then someone discovered they could do it without removing the dash, and I guess Peugeot heard about it, looked in to it, and modified the time. Interestingly, the time for later 405s is still 6 hours although it is well known it can be done in 2!!

Reply to
nigel

Thanks Nigel!

After being quoted 4 hours labour (£352) plus the parts at my local Pug dealership, I mentioned to the service manager that I thought the book figure had been reduced to 1.4 hours. The result was that the total price for the job including vat and new matrix came in at £193. They even made up the coolant strength with some they had "lying around".

I don't know if the price would have come out the same if I hadn't mentioned it.....

John

Reply to
John Ricketts

Amazing what you come across! I was going to suggest the same thing but someone beat me to it.

I wrote most of that RangeRovers.Net page!

Ron

Reply to
p38arover

I can only say "Thank you". It's amazingly helpful when you are diving under the dash wondering what you'll find. But I think someone else here originally pointed it out. I've saved it on my harddrive.

p38arover wrote:

Reply to
Wichita

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