My first 406

"> 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.

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