Peugeot 607 “The overtime car”
Discussion
Some progress today. The heater resistor turned up. I have to admit I wasn’t confident this would fix the problem, I just had in my mind that it was going to be some sort of wiring problem that took ages to find.
It worked! 5 minutes to change, it’s just underneath the glovebox and easily accessible.
Old original one from 2006;
New one fitted;
I can live with things like this going wrong if they’re such cheap and easy fixes.
It worked! 5 minutes to change, it’s just underneath the glovebox and easily accessible.
Old original one from 2006;
New one fitted;
I can live with things like this going wrong if they’re such cheap and easy fixes.
So today has had its highs and lows! Went to get the car aligned. Sometimes it felt like it was going straight then others the steering would be off centre to keep it going straight. The alignment showed the issue was the rear toe. The rear left was at 9 minutes toe in and the rear right was at 18 minutes toe in. This was concerning as the bolt to adjust the toe looked pretty crusty. Fortunately it turned out to be solid and even adjusted easily. For some reason the standard setting have the rear toe in at 15 minutes presumably for stability. I decided to set it to 9 minutes to hopefully aid turn in a bit. It’s never going to be touring car but changing the alignment on the Skoda made a bigger difference than I expected.
The car now drives straight and doesn’t react to different road surfaces like it did before.
Since I got the car I’ve been wondering why the stereo sounds crap given it’s meant to be a decent JBL system. The screen has a million different menus and I couldn’t find the one for the settings until today. For some reason the previous owner was a bit of a nutcase and set the front speakers all the way to the right and rear speakers all the way to the left. No idea why but it’s made a massive improvement setting it all back to the middle.
Next was disaster. I got in the car to leave work and the car decides to flash up abs/esp errors. Like any normal person who buys an old french car for not a lot of money I shat my pants. Could this kill the car? Is it going to be expensive? How will I even find out what it is? Maybe it really isn’t a good idea to replace a 3 year old completely reliable car with an old french barge?
Luckily google came to the rescue. Something you can always rely on with an old french car is that many other people have had the same problem as you! Turns out the alignment means the steering angle sensor needs to be recalibrated. This can be done with a Lexia cable and Peugeot planet which I don’t have. eBay to the rescue and it’s on its way, hopefully arriving on Friday. Panic over. Well, unless it is a different fault but we’ll find out soon enough!
The car now drives straight and doesn’t react to different road surfaces like it did before.
Since I got the car I’ve been wondering why the stereo sounds crap given it’s meant to be a decent JBL system. The screen has a million different menus and I couldn’t find the one for the settings until today. For some reason the previous owner was a bit of a nutcase and set the front speakers all the way to the right and rear speakers all the way to the left. No idea why but it’s made a massive improvement setting it all back to the middle.
Next was disaster. I got in the car to leave work and the car decides to flash up abs/esp errors. Like any normal person who buys an old french car for not a lot of money I shat my pants. Could this kill the car? Is it going to be expensive? How will I even find out what it is? Maybe it really isn’t a good idea to replace a 3 year old completely reliable car with an old french barge?
Luckily google came to the rescue. Something you can always rely on with an old french car is that many other people have had the same problem as you! Turns out the alignment means the steering angle sensor needs to be recalibrated. This can be done with a Lexia cable and Peugeot planet which I don’t have. eBay to the rescue and it’s on its way, hopefully arriving on Friday. Panic over. Well, unless it is a different fault but we’ll find out soon enough!
406 highlander, I’ve bought a laptop and all the kit from a seller on eBay. It’s probably a more expensive way of doing things but I don’t have any kind of computer at home anyway so it’s not a disaster.
Nick, it’s executive trim level. Honestly I’m not sure what the differences between trim levels are.
Nick, it’s executive trim level. Honestly I’m not sure what the differences between trim levels are.
Gary C said:
SAS Tom said:
Diagnostic kit arrived this morning. Plugged it in and it said the front right hand wheel speed sensor had died. I’ve ordered a Pagid replacement from eurocarparts for £38 which I’ll collect tomorrow.
Yay, a win !Certainly cheaper than replacing all four, or going to Peugeot for a 'diagnostic session' for £100.
So I went and picked up the abs sensor from eurocarparts this morning. I was meant to be spending the whole did with my girlfriend as it’s her birthday. In true ph fashion I decided to fix my car instead.
The job wasn’t too bad to be fair. I expected it to be stuck which it was. I tried my best to remove it in one piece but it wasn’t happening. Drilled it into many pieces until I could pull it out. I tried to put the new sensor in but the hole was still pretty crusty. I cleaned out all the crud with my drill and eventually the new sensor went in. I put it all back together, plugged in the lexia and cleared the code. A quick test drive and the fault hasn’t returned, success!
Remains of the old sensor;
My attempt at cleaning the crust off the mount;
This picture I took to see how much crust was still in the hole;
As you can see the suspension parts are all pretty crusty. There’s nothing of any concern that I’ve found mainly just that the parts were all painted and it has all flaked off. At some point I’ll attempt to treat it.
The job wasn’t too bad to be fair. I expected it to be stuck which it was. I tried my best to remove it in one piece but it wasn’t happening. Drilled it into many pieces until I could pull it out. I tried to put the new sensor in but the hole was still pretty crusty. I cleaned out all the crud with my drill and eventually the new sensor went in. I put it all back together, plugged in the lexia and cleared the code. A quick test drive and the fault hasn’t returned, success!
Remains of the old sensor;
My attempt at cleaning the crust off the mount;
This picture I took to see how much crust was still in the hole;
As you can see the suspension parts are all pretty crusty. There’s nothing of any concern that I’ve found mainly just that the parts were all painted and it has all flaked off. At some point I’ll attempt to treat it.
Bit of an update on the car. Over the past week or so it has been great, I really enjoy driving it around as it’s so comfortable. The non working air con has been a bit of a pain as I’ve had to drive a lot with the windows open which is a shame as it’s just so quiet with them closed. Still the air con is getting looked at on Wednesday next week.
I’ve covered over 1000 miles in it now and it has averaged 42.2mpg. Nothing amazing but given the average speed of just 22mph it’s pretty decent going. The engine itself has improved quite a bit in my ownership. I think the combination of shell v power, egr cleaner and a good blast has made it quieter and at least feel a bit better.
Unfortunately on Sunday the front left wheel bearing became grumbly. It’s not too bad, there’s no play and it still steers fine. I’ve got it booked in to be done next week. A bit of a bigger spend but nothing unusual and certainly nothing to worry about. I’m hoping that by the end of next week all of the little niggles will be ironed out.
I’ve covered over 1000 miles in it now and it has averaged 42.2mpg. Nothing amazing but given the average speed of just 22mph it’s pretty decent going. The engine itself has improved quite a bit in my ownership. I think the combination of shell v power, egr cleaner and a good blast has made it quieter and at least feel a bit better.
Unfortunately on Sunday the front left wheel bearing became grumbly. It’s not too bad, there’s no play and it still steers fine. I’ve got it booked in to be done next week. A bit of a bigger spend but nothing unusual and certainly nothing to worry about. I’m hoping that by the end of next week all of the little niggles will be ironed out.
A few more updates on the car. The first one not so good, I bought some poorboys iron remover last week to clean the car with. Unfortunately it didn’t survive the trip home as the lid for the bottle wasn’t on properly. Any of you that have used iron remover will know that it stinks! 20 minutes of solid jet washing got rid of all the suds from the boot mat but it still smells a bit although you can breathe with the windows up now.
I got started on cleaning the car up today. Started off with a snow foam agitating it in all the window seals to remove the moss which produced a lovely brown gunge, then washed it. Sprayed it with a new bottle of iron remover which was surprising how much of it turned purple in some places. Then I removed the tar with tardis, rinsed that off and started claying ready for a polish. The paint felt pretty rough, I think it was mainly from tree sap given then amount of leaves and twigs I’ve found around the car. The clay has made the paint smooth again and already looks better having removed some of the light marks dotted around the car.
What I have found is that all these cleaning jobs take a long time on a car that is nearly 5 metres long! Polishing tomorrow is going to take a long time!
I got started on cleaning the car up today. Started off with a snow foam agitating it in all the window seals to remove the moss which produced a lovely brown gunge, then washed it. Sprayed it with a new bottle of iron remover which was surprising how much of it turned purple in some places. Then I removed the tar with tardis, rinsed that off and started claying ready for a polish. The paint felt pretty rough, I think it was mainly from tree sap given then amount of leaves and twigs I’ve found around the car. The clay has made the paint smooth again and already looks better having removed some of the light marks dotted around the car.
What I have found is that all these cleaning jobs take a long time on a car that is nearly 5 metres long! Polishing tomorrow is going to take a long time!
Eventually got the car cleaned and polished up having spent 11 hours in total doing it. Various small scratches and marks were removed and got a good finish. I could have probably got a better finish with a more aggressive pad but as it was the first time polishing this car I didn’t know how hard the paint was. Still I’m happy with the finish, it’s shinier than much newer cars now and the paint looks really good.
For comparison this is one of the door handles before and after;
I also bought some new plates as the originals were knackered and the screws were crumbling away.
I think it’s looking pretty smart now.
It’s not been plain sailing with the car. As mentioned before I had a wheel bearing on the way out. I booked it into a local garage who I’ve used before but aren’t my preferred garage. They did one side but decided not to do the other because they’d struggled to get some things apart. I accept on an old car that things become seized but I thought it was odd that they didn’t expect that. The main issue for them was a stuck abs sensor which I had the same problem on the other side and fixed pretty easily. Just to rub it in I ran over a screw on the way home and had to get a part worn fitted at some dodgy garage on the way home. They sorted me out but I wouldn’t return there either I don’t think. Anyway, they’d replaced the non noisy bearing which isn’t a disaster as I wanted it doing but had to arrange for my usual mechanic who was now back off holiday to sort the other one.
There were no real issues doing this as it was completed within 2 hours and extra care taken doing things like clearing the rust out of the recess for the circlip holding the bearing in. The car has returned to being super quiet again.
The air con man has been to look at the car and found the condenser leaking. He’s currently got a Hella replacement part on order and will fit it in the next few weeks. I have done nearly 1500 miles in it now and it has passed 120k. The engine seems to be clearing itself out more and more as I use it and feels much more responsive than when I first got it.
For comparison this is one of the door handles before and after;
I also bought some new plates as the originals were knackered and the screws were crumbling away.
I think it’s looking pretty smart now.
It’s not been plain sailing with the car. As mentioned before I had a wheel bearing on the way out. I booked it into a local garage who I’ve used before but aren’t my preferred garage. They did one side but decided not to do the other because they’d struggled to get some things apart. I accept on an old car that things become seized but I thought it was odd that they didn’t expect that. The main issue for them was a stuck abs sensor which I had the same problem on the other side and fixed pretty easily. Just to rub it in I ran over a screw on the way home and had to get a part worn fitted at some dodgy garage on the way home. They sorted me out but I wouldn’t return there either I don’t think. Anyway, they’d replaced the non noisy bearing which isn’t a disaster as I wanted it doing but had to arrange for my usual mechanic who was now back off holiday to sort the other one.
There were no real issues doing this as it was completed within 2 hours and extra care taken doing things like clearing the rust out of the recess for the circlip holding the bearing in. The car has returned to being super quiet again.
The air con man has been to look at the car and found the condenser leaking. He’s currently got a Hella replacement part on order and will fit it in the next few weeks. I have done nearly 1500 miles in it now and it has passed 120k. The engine seems to be clearing itself out more and more as I use it and feels much more responsive than when I first got it.
The weekend usage seems to have really made a difference to the car as I’ve finally been able to take it on a couple of long runs. It is great on the motorway, proper arm chair comfort as glides along. It’s very quiet as I’ve said before with the engine note providing most of the noise.
A run over the woodhead pass showed once again that the car handles well despite the weight and soft suspension. Some provocation on a wet roundabout even produced some very slight lift off oversteer! On the way back I decided to go over Holme moss. That seems to have done the engine a world of good going up flat out in 4th, clouds of smoke pouring out the back. Obviously no scientific data to back it up but it seems much more responsive than when I bought it and I haven’t noticed any smoke out the back since.
As the Michelin’s on the front are nearly worn out I bought 5 part worn Goodyear winter tyres for £160. The spare needs to be replaced as it’s a Pirelli that originally came in the car and has definitely seen better days. They’ll be going on the car soon. Air con man is coming on Monday to replace the condenser, hopefully it doesn’t put up too much of a fight.
A run over the woodhead pass showed once again that the car handles well despite the weight and soft suspension. Some provocation on a wet roundabout even produced some very slight lift off oversteer! On the way back I decided to go over Holme moss. That seems to have done the engine a world of good going up flat out in 4th, clouds of smoke pouring out the back. Obviously no scientific data to back it up but it seems much more responsive than when I bought it and I haven’t noticed any smoke out the back since.
As the Michelin’s on the front are nearly worn out I bought 5 part worn Goodyear winter tyres for £160. The spare needs to be replaced as it’s a Pirelli that originally came in the car and has definitely seen better days. They’ll be going on the car soon. Air con man is coming on Monday to replace the condenser, hopefully it doesn’t put up too much of a fight.
Had a spare hour or so to do some job. Firstly I wanted to test the ramps I bought as it’s much easier and safer to use them instead of jacking the car up for jobs that don’t require the wheels off.
First was a gearbox oil change. It took some finding out but these gearboxes are filled via the breather. First it was drained, the magnetic sump plug hadn’t picked up too much filings from the gears in the last 120k miles. Maybe it has been changed in the past but it didn’t look like it as it was pretty dark compared to the new oil. A quick drive this afternoon has revealed nicer shifts although it’s still a bit vague. I suspect a characteristic of the box.
Next job was to treat the rust on the subframe. It certainly looks worse than it is due to the crusty paint that’s flaking off. A good stab around found no unwanted holes which proved my thoughts that it is just surface rust. I treated it all with Kurust which will hopefully prolong its life. I’ll most likely cover it all in ACF50 before the winter.
Now just work out how to remove the purple stains from my hands!
First was a gearbox oil change. It took some finding out but these gearboxes are filled via the breather. First it was drained, the magnetic sump plug hadn’t picked up too much filings from the gears in the last 120k miles. Maybe it has been changed in the past but it didn’t look like it as it was pretty dark compared to the new oil. A quick drive this afternoon has revealed nicer shifts although it’s still a bit vague. I suspect a characteristic of the box.
Next job was to treat the rust on the subframe. It certainly looks worse than it is due to the crusty paint that’s flaking off. A good stab around found no unwanted holes which proved my thoughts that it is just surface rust. I treated it all with Kurust which will hopefully prolong its life. I’ll most likely cover it all in ACF50 before the winter.
Now just work out how to remove the purple stains from my hands!
So far the french barge hasn’t lived up to its french barge reputation so it’s hard to complain about it. For a £950 car never mind a french £950 car rammed with electrics it’s been surprisingly reliable.
Yes, I’ve spent some money on age related maintenance and more money on bits to make it look a bit nicer but it’s not been expensive. It’s been completely reliable so far and the parts I have replaced haven’t been expensive as they are shared with most of the PSA group cars of the time. Compared to German cars of a similar spec (S class, A8, 7 Series) it’s a much cheaper proposition although I do think the German cars are probably nicer still. Funnily enough, if you start reeling off the spec most people think it cost more than 10 times what it actually cost.
I think I’m the end I was lucky with the timing of the advert for this particular car. There are a few 607’s on eBay and AT at the moment but the ones for similar money to this one are the earlier pre facelift cars with lower spec. The executive trim level cars seem to be up at around 2 grand and one person is even asking 4 grand! While I sometimes think a V6 auto would have been nicer, I’m sure it would have been more expensive and more trouble given what people say about them.
Yes, I’ve spent some money on age related maintenance and more money on bits to make it look a bit nicer but it’s not been expensive. It’s been completely reliable so far and the parts I have replaced haven’t been expensive as they are shared with most of the PSA group cars of the time. Compared to German cars of a similar spec (S class, A8, 7 Series) it’s a much cheaper proposition although I do think the German cars are probably nicer still. Funnily enough, if you start reeling off the spec most people think it cost more than 10 times what it actually cost.
I think I’m the end I was lucky with the timing of the advert for this particular car. There are a few 607’s on eBay and AT at the moment but the ones for similar money to this one are the earlier pre facelift cars with lower spec. The executive trim level cars seem to be up at around 2 grand and one person is even asking 4 grand! While I sometimes think a V6 auto would have been nicer, I’m sure it would have been more expensive and more trouble given what people say about them.
Some good and some bad news after the air con man has been today. Firstly, everything came apart pretty easily apart from the main part we needed to come apart. The pipe that goes into the front of the condenser was well and truly stuck. The pipe snapped off in the condenser. The air con man had warned me of this and it makes sense given the design. Due to this we didn’t finish the job. A quick look on servicebox gave us the part number although no price. I couldn’t find any Uk sites online that sold it so left it to him to source. He has found got it through Peugeot but it has to come from France and costs £140! I want working air con so it’s got to be done but that is steep for a small pipe!
Taking the front end of the car off was handy. As the fans are mounted on the front of the radiator/condenser all sorts of crap gets stuck in between. There were several handfuls of leaves, cig butts, chewing gum wrappers and general dirt all of which was pretty soggy. I’m glad to have removed it all. It also gave me the opportunity to treat the rust I couldn’t reach the other day at the front end of the car.
Not the result I wanted however it was worthwhile for the other little jobs I got done.
Taking the front end of the car off was handy. As the fans are mounted on the front of the radiator/condenser all sorts of crap gets stuck in between. There were several handfuls of leaves, cig butts, chewing gum wrappers and general dirt all of which was pretty soggy. I’m glad to have removed it all. It also gave me the opportunity to treat the rust I couldn’t reach the other day at the front end of the car.
Not the result I wanted however it was worthwhile for the other little jobs I got done.
More jobs done today. When the second wheel bearing was done the mechanic commented that an engine mount was knackered. He wasn’t sure which one but suggested replacing the small one at the top. This turned out to be good advice as the bush had split all the way through.
New febi bilstein mount
And fitted
Not a bad little job and has made the gearbox feel much nicer to use and the lever doesn’t move under load anymore.
I’ve mentioned before that the car hesitates at very low throttle and very low revs when cold. I’ve checked for faults before but nothing came up. I checked again today and I got P1351 which relates to the glow plug relay. A bit of googling suggests it could be the relay or it could be the glow plugs. More investigation is needed but I’m hoping it’s the relay as the glow plugs are down the back of the engine.
My question to PH is if the glow plugs aren’t working correctly, would this cause the hesitation when the engine is cold?
New febi bilstein mount
And fitted
Not a bad little job and has made the gearbox feel much nicer to use and the lever doesn’t move under load anymore.
I’ve mentioned before that the car hesitates at very low throttle and very low revs when cold. I’ve checked for faults before but nothing came up. I checked again today and I got P1351 which relates to the glow plug relay. A bit of googling suggests it could be the relay or it could be the glow plugs. More investigation is needed but I’m hoping it’s the relay as the glow plugs are down the back of the engine.
My question to PH is if the glow plugs aren’t working correctly, would this cause the hesitation when the engine is cold?
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