Impulse buy: Peugeot 205 GTi 16v
Discussion
Thanks all for you kind words. The old girl certainly isn't mint, but scrubs up well. I'm OK with this, as it means I'm happy to use it all year round. I can't imagine seeing any of the £30k truly mint cars being driven through Wales in March in torrential rain 
I've got a couple of major jobs planned on the car later this year, so it won't be going anywhere for now
Definitely get a thread up on yours Mark, it looks great!
I've got a couple of major jobs planned on the car later this year, so it won't be going anywhere for now
Definitely get a thread up on yours Mark, it looks great!
Good afternoon
I have just spent a pleasant hour reading your epic post about life with your 205 GTi. It will surely be my online reference manual as I work through rejuvenating the tired 1992 Gentry auto I have recently acquired.
Way back in 2017 you posted about repairing the central locking system in the roof of your car, and mentioned "a friend who is well versed in electronics has set up a little business recoding these old French systems."
The unit in my car has suffered a fire in the past (apparently not unusual, helped by a leaking sun roof) and is well knackered.
I still have central locking using key in driver's door, but it would be good to get the original remote facility working again.
Hoping that your friend is still up for such repair, if you would kindly send me his contact (jlarkin@mail.com) I can hopefully send bits for repair.
Hope to hear.
Happy Xmas
John Larkin
I have just spent a pleasant hour reading your epic post about life with your 205 GTi. It will surely be my online reference manual as I work through rejuvenating the tired 1992 Gentry auto I have recently acquired.
Way back in 2017 you posted about repairing the central locking system in the roof of your car, and mentioned "a friend who is well versed in electronics has set up a little business recoding these old French systems."
The unit in my car has suffered a fire in the past (apparently not unusual, helped by a leaking sun roof) and is well knackered.
I still have central locking using key in driver's door, but it would be good to get the original remote facility working again.
Hoping that your friend is still up for such repair, if you would kindly send me his contact (jlarkin@mail.com) I can hopefully send bits for repair.
Hope to hear.
Happy Xmas
John Larkin
John Larkin said:
Good afternoon
I have just spent a pleasant hour reading your epic post about life with your 205 GTi. It will surely be my online reference manual as I work through rejuvenating the tired 1992 Gentry auto I have recently acquired.
Way back in 2017 you posted about repairing the central locking system in the roof of your car, and mentioned "a friend who is well versed in electronics has set up a little business recoding these old French systems."
The unit in my car has suffered a fire in the past (apparently not unusual, helped by a leaking sun roof) and is well knackered.
I still have central locking using key in driver's door, but it would be good to get the original remote facility working again.
Hoping that your friend is still up for such repair, if you would kindly send me his contact (jlarkin@mail.com) I can hopefully send bits for repair.
Hope to hear.
Happy Xmas
John Larkin
Thanks for reading John! Unfortunately the leaking sunroof / aerial causing a fire is not unheard, as you say. Regarding the recoding, it's not something he does any more, but from what I gather it's not too hard - you need to make sure the soldered and cut legs match on the key and the receiver chips. So, hopefully it's just a case of finding a new receiver then cutting / soldering the legs as necessary.I have just spent a pleasant hour reading your epic post about life with your 205 GTi. It will surely be my online reference manual as I work through rejuvenating the tired 1992 Gentry auto I have recently acquired.
Way back in 2017 you posted about repairing the central locking system in the roof of your car, and mentioned "a friend who is well versed in electronics has set up a little business recoding these old French systems."
The unit in my car has suffered a fire in the past (apparently not unusual, helped by a leaking sun roof) and is well knackered.
I still have central locking using key in driver's door, but it would be good to get the original remote facility working again.
Hoping that your friend is still up for such repair, if you would kindly send me his contact (jlarkin@mail.com) I can hopefully send bits for repair.
Hope to hear.
Happy Xmas
John Larkin
As you may have seen, my previous 205 was a Gentry converted to manual GTi spec. That was a great car, but unfortunately it had to make way for this one. If you need any advice with yours give me a shout, I'm by no means an expert, but I've been tinkering with Peugeots / Citroens for many years!
Whilst I'm here, I may as well post an update on the 205. A few weeks ago it sailed through it's MOT, the only advisory being a corroded rear brake pipe. Slightly annoying as I spent ages checking, cleaning and repainting the front to rear pipe earlier in the year (it was solid, just showing some surface rust). Ah well!
Despite the 500 mile road trip back in March, I still only added a total of 1032 miles to the 205 in the last year. An embarrassingly small number, but at least most of the miles were done for pure enjoyment, no other reason. I mentioned back in another post that I had considered selling up and trying something else - partly because of the rising cost of keeping the car on the road - tax, insurance, fuel, servicing, spare parts etc all adds up for just 1k miles per year!
Fortunately I came to my senses and instead of selling the 205, I employed some pretty dodgy man maths and replaced my sensible daily EV with a modern(ish) hot hatch to complement the 205. The interest in this car started way back in 2014 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed:
IMG_7216 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
And now, I finally own one (although not in the 'interesting' two-tone paint):
20231222_120939 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
20231123_140243 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
20231123_140302 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
It's a 2015 208 GTi 30th i.e. celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the 205 GTi. The original release of the 208 GTi was considered OK, but somewhat lacking compared to its contemporaries and this model added a little extra spice, with more power/torque, lower, stiffer, wider, better brakes and an LSD, which resulted in a much more complete package. Apparently! For me, I loved the nods to the original 205 GTi - the red highlights inside and out, the rear quarter badges, the black wheel arches. And, of course it was finally a Peugeot GTi worthy of that badge,
But, it is still a 8 year old French car, so the first month of ownership has not been without it's problems. I've had a few of these:
20231127_075756 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
And yesterday one of the low profile tyres lost an argument with a pothole:
20231222_104157 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Typically, it was one of the relatively new Continentals on the front rather than the budgets on the rear!
But overall, I love the car. I'll spend some time ironing out the kinks and doing some preventative maintenance, which will hopefully result in a reliable daily driver that I can also have a bit of fun in. And for the time being I'll keep 205 alongside it - the sensation of driving a much more analogue car is very different and therefore still something to look forward to, even if the performance of both cars is fairly similar.
Despite the 500 mile road trip back in March, I still only added a total of 1032 miles to the 205 in the last year. An embarrassingly small number, but at least most of the miles were done for pure enjoyment, no other reason. I mentioned back in another post that I had considered selling up and trying something else - partly because of the rising cost of keeping the car on the road - tax, insurance, fuel, servicing, spare parts etc all adds up for just 1k miles per year!
Fortunately I came to my senses and instead of selling the 205, I employed some pretty dodgy man maths and replaced my sensible daily EV with a modern(ish) hot hatch to complement the 205. The interest in this car started way back in 2014 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed:
IMG_7216 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAnd now, I finally own one (although not in the 'interesting' two-tone paint):
20231222_120939 by CarlosV8, on Flickr20231123_140243 by CarlosV8, on Flickr20231123_140302 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIt's a 2015 208 GTi 30th i.e. celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the 205 GTi. The original release of the 208 GTi was considered OK, but somewhat lacking compared to its contemporaries and this model added a little extra spice, with more power/torque, lower, stiffer, wider, better brakes and an LSD, which resulted in a much more complete package. Apparently! For me, I loved the nods to the original 205 GTi - the red highlights inside and out, the rear quarter badges, the black wheel arches. And, of course it was finally a Peugeot GTi worthy of that badge,
But, it is still a 8 year old French car, so the first month of ownership has not been without it's problems. I've had a few of these:
20231127_075756 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAnd yesterday one of the low profile tyres lost an argument with a pothole:
20231222_104157 by CarlosV8, on FlickrTypically, it was one of the relatively new Continentals on the front rather than the budgets on the rear!
But overall, I love the car. I'll spend some time ironing out the kinks and doing some preventative maintenance, which will hopefully result in a reliable daily driver that I can also have a bit of fun in. And for the time being I'll keep 205 alongside it - the sensation of driving a much more analogue car is very different and therefore still something to look forward to, even if the performance of both cars is fairly similar.
Thank you for your speedy reply.
Appreciate your offer of help. I shall doubtless need to ask you lots of idiot questions in the coming year.
Electrics is basically beyond me, so I will pass info about the remote locking to my friendly neighbourhood auto electrician.
You'll always hopefully have the 205 to keep you mobile as you enjoy your new car !!
I have found that cars without message facility on the dashboard seem to have less faults.!!
Merry Xmas
John Larkin
Appreciate your offer of help. I shall doubtless need to ask you lots of idiot questions in the coming year.
Electrics is basically beyond me, so I will pass info about the remote locking to my friendly neighbourhood auto electrician.
You'll always hopefully have the 205 to keep you mobile as you enjoy your new car !!
I have found that cars without message facility on the dashboard seem to have less faults.!!
Merry Xmas
John Larkin
I have a few winter jobs to do on the 205, but I've been pretty slow in getting them done. I planned to take the 205 away last weekend, so thought I get an easy one ticked off - a gearbox oil change. I didn't bother jacking the car up, with the wheels at full left hand lock I thought I could just reach under to get the the drain plug - wrong! It was totally seized in place. After some swearing it eventually came out a bit battered, but fortunately I had a replacement on a spare gearbox:
20240115_223653 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
So with that done we had a family trip away in the 205. The only reason for taking this over the 208/Corsa was that we managed to squeeze in breakfast at Caffeine and Machine, which is always a pleasure:
20240121_095217 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The 205 was the oldest car there, I guess everyone else's 'classics' are safely tucked up in the garage. Back at home I gave the underside a pressure wash to get rid of the muck and salt, which gave me an opportunity to grab a photos of the 2 Pugs:
20240122_135201 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I'm still enjoying the 208, although the experience has been slightly tinged by a recurring EML light when giving it some beans. I started doing some preventative maintenance this week and have hopefully discovered the problem... this was the intake to the turbo:
20240122_100713 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The garage I bought it from had replaced this rubber seal, but clearly had not refitted it properly which is annoying. In the end I replaced the whole intake pipe with a silicone version to avoid any future problems. So far the EML has not come back despite some trips to the red line at full throttle, and the car appears to be much more eager in 1st and 2nd gear. Result! Still to do is an oil change (engine and gearbox), new plugs and new ignition coils - all preventative so no rush for now, but plenty of tinkering to do with the 205/208 combo!
20240115_223653 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSo with that done we had a family trip away in the 205. The only reason for taking this over the 208/Corsa was that we managed to squeeze in breakfast at Caffeine and Machine, which is always a pleasure:
20240121_095217 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe 205 was the oldest car there, I guess everyone else's 'classics' are safely tucked up in the garage. Back at home I gave the underside a pressure wash to get rid of the muck and salt, which gave me an opportunity to grab a photos of the 2 Pugs:
20240122_135201 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI'm still enjoying the 208, although the experience has been slightly tinged by a recurring EML light when giving it some beans. I started doing some preventative maintenance this week and have hopefully discovered the problem... this was the intake to the turbo:
20240122_100713 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe garage I bought it from had replaced this rubber seal, but clearly had not refitted it properly which is annoying. In the end I replaced the whole intake pipe with a silicone version to avoid any future problems. So far the EML has not come back despite some trips to the red line at full throttle, and the car appears to be much more eager in 1st and 2nd gear. Result! Still to do is an oil change (engine and gearbox), new plugs and new ignition coils - all preventative so no rush for now, but plenty of tinkering to do with the 205/208 combo!
CarlosV8 said:
I have a few winter jobs to do on the 205, but I've been pretty slow in getting them done. I planned to take the 205 away last weekend, so thought I get an easy one ticked off - a gearbox oil change. I didn't bother jacking the car up, with the wheels at full left hand lock I thought I could just reach under to get the the drain plug - wrong! It was totally seized in place. After some swearing it eventually came out a bit battered, but fortunately I had a replacement on a spare gearbox:
20240115_223653 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
So with that done we had a family trip away in the 205. The only reason for taking this over the 208/Corsa was that we managed to squeeze in breakfast at Caffeine and Machine, which is always a pleasure:
20240121_095217 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The 205 was the oldest car there, I guess everyone else's 'classics' are safely tucked up in the garage. Back at home I gave the underside a pressure wash to get rid of the muck and salt, which gave me an opportunity to grab a photos of the 2 Pugs:
20240122_135201 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I'm still enjoying the 208, although the experience has been slightly tinged by a recurring EML light when giving it some beans. I started doing some preventative maintenance this week and have hopefully discovered the problem... this was the intake to the turbo:
20240122_100713 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The garage I bought it from had replaced this rubber seal, but clearly had not refitted it properly which is annoying. In the end I replaced the whole intake pipe with a silicone version to avoid any future problems. So far the EML has not come back despite some trips to the red line at full throttle, and the car appears to be much more eager in 1st and 2nd gear. Result! Still to do is an oil change (engine and gearbox), new plugs and new ignition coils - all preventative so no rush for now, but plenty of tinkering to do with the 205/208 combo!
glad you sorted it mate! have you seem cafine and machine are taking over meon hut! cant wait. 20240115_223653 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSo with that done we had a family trip away in the 205. The only reason for taking this over the 208/Corsa was that we managed to squeeze in breakfast at Caffeine and Machine, which is always a pleasure:
20240121_095217 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe 205 was the oldest car there, I guess everyone else's 'classics' are safely tucked up in the garage. Back at home I gave the underside a pressure wash to get rid of the muck and salt, which gave me an opportunity to grab a photos of the 2 Pugs:
20240122_135201 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI'm still enjoying the 208, although the experience has been slightly tinged by a recurring EML light when giving it some beans. I started doing some preventative maintenance this week and have hopefully discovered the problem... this was the intake to the turbo:
20240122_100713 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe garage I bought it from had replaced this rubber seal, but clearly had not refitted it properly which is annoying. In the end I replaced the whole intake pipe with a silicone version to avoid any future problems. So far the EML has not come back despite some trips to the red line at full throttle, and the car appears to be much more eager in 1st and 2nd gear. Result! Still to do is an oil change (engine and gearbox), new plugs and new ignition coils - all preventative so no rush for now, but plenty of tinkering to do with the 205/208 combo!
As Mr Zephyr Speedshop mentioned, the new Caffeine and Machine opened recently about 30 mins from me. I had a ticket for 9am on the opening day, so the 205 was washed, the family were dragged out of bed and this was us at 9.30:
20240317_100627 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
A gradually worsening mis-fire eventually stranded us a few miles away. It's the first time the 205 has let me down when out and about (I think!) and now marks the 3rd time I've called the RAC in the last year, albeit for 3 different cars. Not a great statistic!
After sulking for a few weeks I thought I better get the 205 sorted. First stop was to pull the spark plugs:
20240406_165405 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Cylinder 1 plug looking a bit sooty there! I've had a long standing concern over the injector wiring on this cylinder as it had a bit too much insulating tape for my liking (admittedly I may have added some of this!), but up until this point I had taken the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" stance. Having removed the tape it was most definitely broke:
20240425_111112 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I'm not overly confident when it comes to wiring - I'm happy to fit a stereo, but I've always tried to avoid working on the more important looms, so I decided to try and call an expert in. Contacted a local auto-electrician with good reviews and his exact words were "sorry thats out of my league". FFS. This put my back up, so decided to have a go myself - what's the worst that could happen?! I don't have a proper criming tool, so instead bought a pre-wired plug off Ebay for a few quid. Practiced on a few old bits of wire, and then attacked the 205 injector loom and managed to splice it in:
20240425_114649 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
It's not super neat, the wires are the wrong colour, and the plug is a different to design to the others, but it does the job. And it it looks acceptable once everything was back in place. For peace of mind the spark plugs, leads and ignition coil were also swapped out for new items. The test drive revealed that all was well again, and if anything it was running slightly smoother, but that might have been a placebo.
Still haven't made it to C&M, but I did get out to the breakfast club at Goodwood at the weekend. The 205 performed faultlessly, and was a joy to drive there and back. I was allocated a parking spot with some other hot hatches - was great to see some other 205s there, including a proper LHD Rallye, along with a few other 90s throwbacks. I was parked with a more modern Fiesta ST on one side and an Alfa Brera on the other - but the variety is part of the appeal with these events!
20240505_072432 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
In other French hot-hatch news I decided to bite the bullet on a suspension refresh for the 208. They have a habit of eating through front suspension components and mine all looked original and a bit tired. So this little lot was acquired, and to save time, I got my local garage to fit it all:
20240419_152657 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The difference is astonishing. Everything is so smooth now, no more knocks and bangs from the front end and the car feels more eager to turn in. Very pleased with that. Next thing to address is a clicking CV joint, then some service items.
20240317_100627 by CarlosV8, on FlickrA gradually worsening mis-fire eventually stranded us a few miles away. It's the first time the 205 has let me down when out and about (I think!) and now marks the 3rd time I've called the RAC in the last year, albeit for 3 different cars. Not a great statistic!
After sulking for a few weeks I thought I better get the 205 sorted. First stop was to pull the spark plugs:
20240406_165405 by CarlosV8, on FlickrCylinder 1 plug looking a bit sooty there! I've had a long standing concern over the injector wiring on this cylinder as it had a bit too much insulating tape for my liking (admittedly I may have added some of this!), but up until this point I had taken the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" stance. Having removed the tape it was most definitely broke:
20240425_111112 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI'm not overly confident when it comes to wiring - I'm happy to fit a stereo, but I've always tried to avoid working on the more important looms, so I decided to try and call an expert in. Contacted a local auto-electrician with good reviews and his exact words were "sorry thats out of my league". FFS. This put my back up, so decided to have a go myself - what's the worst that could happen?! I don't have a proper criming tool, so instead bought a pre-wired plug off Ebay for a few quid. Practiced on a few old bits of wire, and then attacked the 205 injector loom and managed to splice it in:
20240425_114649 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIt's not super neat, the wires are the wrong colour, and the plug is a different to design to the others, but it does the job. And it it looks acceptable once everything was back in place. For peace of mind the spark plugs, leads and ignition coil were also swapped out for new items. The test drive revealed that all was well again, and if anything it was running slightly smoother, but that might have been a placebo.
Still haven't made it to C&M, but I did get out to the breakfast club at Goodwood at the weekend. The 205 performed faultlessly, and was a joy to drive there and back. I was allocated a parking spot with some other hot hatches - was great to see some other 205s there, including a proper LHD Rallye, along with a few other 90s throwbacks. I was parked with a more modern Fiesta ST on one side and an Alfa Brera on the other - but the variety is part of the appeal with these events!
20240505_072432 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIn other French hot-hatch news I decided to bite the bullet on a suspension refresh for the 208. They have a habit of eating through front suspension components and mine all looked original and a bit tired. So this little lot was acquired, and to save time, I got my local garage to fit it all:
20240419_152657 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe difference is astonishing. Everything is so smooth now, no more knocks and bangs from the front end and the car feels more eager to turn in. Very pleased with that. Next thing to address is a clicking CV joint, then some service items.
I arrived quite early and there were no other 205s at that point - fairly normal these days. Was great to see 3 others when I came back, but unfortunately missed the owners. Which one was yours? I think we have crossed paths at Goodwood before... I always try and get the 205 in for the appropriate BC themes!
The 205 continues to make my life difficult! Decided to take the family for a nice drive across the New Forest a few weekends back. Got stuck in the usual nice-day-traffic through Lyndhurst. Although traffic jams and 30 year French cars generally make me nervous, the 205 hasn't been too problematic in that sense since I overhauled the cooling system a few years back. Got through it OK, temperature climbed slightly but the fans kick in and kept it under control, then driving out the other side a misfire appears and gets bad very quickly, to the point I have to pull over. FFS. After some swearing I popped the bonnet and did the usual checks, nothing looked amiss. Tried it again and all was fine... drove the next 5 miles to our destination without fuss. I took the slightly longer route home to avoid the traffic, and all was well until we got near home and spent in a few minutes waiting at some traffic lights, once again the misfire reappeared once through the traffic, to the point where the engine just died. This time it started again after a few minutes and got us the last mile home (with a few coughs and splutters). Not the stress free morning out I had envisaged!
When on the move it ran great - power all the way through the rev range as normal. The temperature climbed a little, but only to the point the fans kicked in, nothing extreme. I'm not sure what's going on. When I replaced the ignition components a few months back I used a Bosch coil pack, and it didn't feel as good quality as the old Valeo unit. I may be clutching at straws, but I'm going to swap that out first off in case the Bosch unit is struggling with the under-bonnet temp. If that doesn't work I'm open to suggestions!
The 208 stable-mate continues to be an excellent daily driver. I managed to get the clicking CV joint fixed under warranty so it's now finally all working well. Decided a service was in order, so changed the engine oil, filter and gearbox oil. I thought this would be a quick job, but both the oil filter and gearbox filler (breather) are a bit buried, so had to remove some bits:
20240901_115340 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I do seem to like a French hot hatch with a crammed engine bay:
20240901_114748 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
All done after a few hours, and the gear change is slightly better now, which is a good result. The 208 continues to be our car of choice for any longer journeys, with the Corsa-E doing anything local where an EV makes more sense. I also need to make better use of it for those fun drives by yourself, where you don't really go anywhere but just want to enjoy the roads/car - because it's very capable and grin inducing (but in different way to the 205). Had one such drive out to Goodwood a while back:
20240522_191238 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Hopefully a few more to come soon. Maybe I should just start a thread of it's own!
When on the move it ran great - power all the way through the rev range as normal. The temperature climbed a little, but only to the point the fans kicked in, nothing extreme. I'm not sure what's going on. When I replaced the ignition components a few months back I used a Bosch coil pack, and it didn't feel as good quality as the old Valeo unit. I may be clutching at straws, but I'm going to swap that out first off in case the Bosch unit is struggling with the under-bonnet temp. If that doesn't work I'm open to suggestions!
The 208 stable-mate continues to be an excellent daily driver. I managed to get the clicking CV joint fixed under warranty so it's now finally all working well. Decided a service was in order, so changed the engine oil, filter and gearbox oil. I thought this would be a quick job, but both the oil filter and gearbox filler (breather) are a bit buried, so had to remove some bits:
20240901_115340 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI do seem to like a French hot hatch with a crammed engine bay:
20240901_114748 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAll done after a few hours, and the gear change is slightly better now, which is a good result. The 208 continues to be our car of choice for any longer journeys, with the Corsa-E doing anything local where an EV makes more sense. I also need to make better use of it for those fun drives by yourself, where you don't really go anywhere but just want to enjoy the roads/car - because it's very capable and grin inducing (but in different way to the 205). Had one such drive out to Goodwood a while back:
20240522_191238 by CarlosV8, on FlickrHopefully a few more to come soon. Maybe I should just start a thread of it's own!
CarlosV8 said:
The 205 continues to make my life difficult! Decided to take the family for a nice drive across the New Forest a few weekends back. Got stuck in the usual nice-day-traffic through Lyndhurst. Although traffic jams and 30 year French cars generally make me nervous, the 205 hasn't been too problematic in that sense since I overhauled the cooling system a few years back. Got through it OK, temperature climbed slightly but the fans kick in and kept it under control, then driving out the other side a misfire appears and gets bad very quickly, to the point I have to pull over. FFS. After some swearing I popped the bonnet and did the usual checks, nothing looked amiss. Tried it again and all was fine... drove the next 5 miles to our destination without fuss. I took the slightly longer route home to avoid the traffic, and all was well until we got near home and spent in a few minutes waiting at some traffic lights, once again the misfire reappeared once through the traffic, to the point where the engine just died. This time it started again after a few minutes and got us the last mile home (with a few coughs and splutters). Not the stress free morning out I had envisaged!
When on the move it ran great - power all the way through the rev range as normal. The temperature climbed a little, but only to the point the fans kicked in, nothing extreme. I'm not sure what's going on. When I replaced the ignition components a few months back I used a Bosch coil pack, and it didn't feel as good quality as the old Valeo unit. I may be clutching at straws, but I'm going to swap that out first off in case the Bosch unit is struggling with the under-bonnet temp. If that doesn't work I'm open to suggestions!
Sorry I didn’t reply to the earlier thread. My car was in the car park….grey, GTI with an mi16 on jenveys.When on the move it ran great - power all the way through the rev range as normal. The temperature climbed a little, but only to the point the fans kicked in, nothing extreme. I'm not sure what's going on. When I replaced the ignition components a few months back I used a Bosch coil pack, and it didn't feel as good quality as the old Valeo unit. I may be clutching at straws, but I'm going to swap that out first off in case the Bosch unit is struggling with the under-bonnet temp. If that doesn't work I'm open to suggestions!
I’ve never had problems with temps apart from on track which I don’t do anymore and once when the fan switch on the rad died. In ambient temps of 30 it behaves. Standard fan set and rad albeit lowered because of the tb’s. I don’t run an oil cooler either but the sump is the early finned alloy.
I have a misfire that comes and goes and with little use approx 500 miles a year I’ve killed 3 coil packs in 12 years and one tps.
Funnily enough today I tested the alternator to see if it was charging. Based on my return from revival it started to miss in the rev range around 3k intermittently like about 3 times. It’s done this before when really hot…..I’d sat in the car park for about an hour.
My coil pack is bolted to the head at the battery end. I think it’s cheapo 106/306 one.
Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 6th October 19:06
Simes205 said:
Sorry I didn’t reply to the earlier thread. My car was in the car park….grey, GTI with an mi16 on jenveys.
I’ve never had problems with temps apart from on track which I don’t do anymore and once when the fan switch on the rad died. In ambient temps of 30 it behaves. Standard fan set and rad albeit lowered because of the tb’s. I don’t run an oil cooler either but the sump is the early finned alloy.
I have a misfire that comes and goes and with little use approx 500 miles a year I’ve killed 3 coil packs in 12 years and one tps.
Funnily enough today I tested the alternator to see if it was charging. Based on my return from revival it started to miss in the rev range around 3k intermittently like about 3 times. It’s done this before when really hot…..I’d sat in the car park for about an hour.
My coil pack is bolted to the head at the battery end. I think it’s cheapo 106/306 one.
You're running a similar setup as me then. I suspect mine also needs re-mapping as it was originally done at Emerald when converted many years ago and a few things have changed since then. As mentioned previously my loom is not great either. I probably need to suck it up and spend some money!I’ve never had problems with temps apart from on track which I don’t do anymore and once when the fan switch on the rad died. In ambient temps of 30 it behaves. Standard fan set and rad albeit lowered because of the tb’s. I don’t run an oil cooler either but the sump is the early finned alloy.
I have a misfire that comes and goes and with little use approx 500 miles a year I’ve killed 3 coil packs in 12 years and one tps.
Funnily enough today I tested the alternator to see if it was charging. Based on my return from revival it started to miss in the rev range around 3k intermittently like about 3 times. It’s done this before when really hot…..I’d sat in the car park for about an hour.
My coil pack is bolted to the head at the battery end. I think it’s cheapo 106/306 one.
Edited by Simes205 on Sunday 6th October 19:06
On the temp side of things, the coolant and oil temps are fine on the gauges, but I wonder whether the Bosch coilpack is getting too hot and playing up. The older Valeo item certainly looks and feels a higher quality part. I've sourced another NOS Valeo item, so I will swap that over this weekend and see what happens.
Yep I think cheap coils cause issues.
Mine was mapped by Dave at Emerald too, I fitted a new Emerald loom on install so in theory it should be fine.
My rev counter flickers under load…again another job I occasionally investigate (crap earth) but to no avail.
You can always plug in and see the state of the timing…..and set the cold start, something I might actually do this winter!
Mine was mapped by Dave at Emerald too, I fitted a new Emerald loom on install so in theory it should be fine.
My rev counter flickers under load…again another job I occasionally investigate (crap earth) but to no avail.
You can always plug in and see the state of the timing…..and set the cold start, something I might actually do this winter!
New year, new update time! Following on from the misfire saga a few months back I decided on course of action to try and get the 205 running well again. Firstly swap out the Bosch ignition coil for an original Valeo item. Comparison of the Bosch (right) to the new Valeo (left):
20241013_160832 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Size may not be everything... but the Bosch coil just feels cheap in comparison.
Secondly, I decided to take the throttle bodies off and give them a clean. I periodically give the trumpets and throttle openings a clean, but decided it was worth stripping everything down to do a proper job. The old inlet manifold gasket was well and truly stuck - to both the head and the manifold. It took a lot of time with a plastic scraper and various chemicals to get both surfaces clean again. I gave everything else a good clean and check over, then put it all back together again. It also gave me an opportunity to try a new toy:
20241229_151259 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
My throttle bodies don't have the idle adjuster screws, so I couldn't get them perfectly balanced, but they're all now pretty close to pulling in 5.5kg/hr at idle. I gave the car a quick rev after setting these up and the end of the throttle cable popped off at the linkage. Luckily I found the little grub screw end (and it didn't make it's way into a throttle body!) but I couldn't get the cable back into it. I needed a clean cable end, so snipped 1cm off, connected it back up and then realised it was too short. Damnit.
Obviously it's not a standard throttle cable, but fortunately the cheapest solution was a standard GTi cable which came in kit form:
20241226_131554 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Ideal for my needs and only took about 10 mins to fit. With that done I reset the TPS in the ECU, as after messing around with everything it was now showing 1% throttle at idle, which from previous experience can cause problems.
My final job was to swap out the fuel pump for a new one. No particular reason, but I just wanted a completely new fuel and ignition system and I suspect the current pump is 30+ years old. This didn't quite go to plan - in theory you lift the back seats, remove a plastic cover, undo the connections and mounting bolts and pull it out. But no matter how I angled and twisted the pump it wouldn't come out. Slightly annoyed, I put everything back together with the old pump still in. I did a bit of reading around and came across a forum post by a previous owner of the car - he had the fuel tank out to do some work. I'm not sure if this is likely, but I think the tank may have been mounted a few mm off centre, just enough to prevent me getting the pump out. You can see in this picture the pump is not aligned with the access hole:
20250103_185109 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
So I need to see if I can loosen the tank and shift it slightly in order to remove the pump. But it's not urgent, and I didn't fancy laying under the car messing around, so that can wait until another day.
It had taken me far too much time to get to this point, and as a result the MOT had run out, so with the car back together just before Christmas I then couldn't take it out for a drive to see how it ran. I got an MOT booked for Saturday, and I'm pleased to say it passed with no advisories. I only had time to rack up a few miles, but it seems to be running very well. I'll go out for a longer drive this weekend.
Elsewhere on the driveway the 208 has now been in my ownership for just over a year, and it continues to be a bit of a drama queen. Every now and again I'd get a message saying it had gone into 'Economy Mode' when starting up in the morning. I noted when I had the engine bay apart for the gearbox oil change that the battery was dated 2015 i.e. the original. So I got a new one fitted over Christmas, and I haven't seen the economy message since, and the Stop/Start has decided to start working too (it's worked twice for me up to this point). I've also been treated to a couple more EML lights - firstly the recurring O2 sensor which I'll get changed at some point to see if that fixes it, and today 2 knock sensor codes which is a new one. This also put it into limp home mode which was annoying. I've cleared the code, so we'll see how it goes. Ironically, I'd filled up with super unleaded for the first time last week - clearly didn't like that!!
20241013_160832 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSize may not be everything... but the Bosch coil just feels cheap in comparison.
Secondly, I decided to take the throttle bodies off and give them a clean. I periodically give the trumpets and throttle openings a clean, but decided it was worth stripping everything down to do a proper job. The old inlet manifold gasket was well and truly stuck - to both the head and the manifold. It took a lot of time with a plastic scraper and various chemicals to get both surfaces clean again. I gave everything else a good clean and check over, then put it all back together again. It also gave me an opportunity to try a new toy:
20241229_151259 by CarlosV8, on FlickrMy throttle bodies don't have the idle adjuster screws, so I couldn't get them perfectly balanced, but they're all now pretty close to pulling in 5.5kg/hr at idle. I gave the car a quick rev after setting these up and the end of the throttle cable popped off at the linkage. Luckily I found the little grub screw end (and it didn't make it's way into a throttle body!) but I couldn't get the cable back into it. I needed a clean cable end, so snipped 1cm off, connected it back up and then realised it was too short. Damnit.
Obviously it's not a standard throttle cable, but fortunately the cheapest solution was a standard GTi cable which came in kit form:
20241226_131554 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIdeal for my needs and only took about 10 mins to fit. With that done I reset the TPS in the ECU, as after messing around with everything it was now showing 1% throttle at idle, which from previous experience can cause problems.
My final job was to swap out the fuel pump for a new one. No particular reason, but I just wanted a completely new fuel and ignition system and I suspect the current pump is 30+ years old. This didn't quite go to plan - in theory you lift the back seats, remove a plastic cover, undo the connections and mounting bolts and pull it out. But no matter how I angled and twisted the pump it wouldn't come out. Slightly annoyed, I put everything back together with the old pump still in. I did a bit of reading around and came across a forum post by a previous owner of the car - he had the fuel tank out to do some work. I'm not sure if this is likely, but I think the tank may have been mounted a few mm off centre, just enough to prevent me getting the pump out. You can see in this picture the pump is not aligned with the access hole:
20250103_185109 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSo I need to see if I can loosen the tank and shift it slightly in order to remove the pump. But it's not urgent, and I didn't fancy laying under the car messing around, so that can wait until another day.
It had taken me far too much time to get to this point, and as a result the MOT had run out, so with the car back together just before Christmas I then couldn't take it out for a drive to see how it ran. I got an MOT booked for Saturday, and I'm pleased to say it passed with no advisories. I only had time to rack up a few miles, but it seems to be running very well. I'll go out for a longer drive this weekend.
Elsewhere on the driveway the 208 has now been in my ownership for just over a year, and it continues to be a bit of a drama queen. Every now and again I'd get a message saying it had gone into 'Economy Mode' when starting up in the morning. I noted when I had the engine bay apart for the gearbox oil change that the battery was dated 2015 i.e. the original. So I got a new one fitted over Christmas, and I haven't seen the economy message since, and the Stop/Start has decided to start working too (it's worked twice for me up to this point). I've also been treated to a couple more EML lights - firstly the recurring O2 sensor which I'll get changed at some point to see if that fixes it, and today 2 knock sensor codes which is a new one. This also put it into limp home mode which was annoying. I've cleared the code, so we'll see how it goes. Ironically, I'd filled up with super unleaded for the first time last week - clearly didn't like that!!
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