The impossible task

[scoobyh123]

Thanks for all the suggestions, the impossible task continues but they will have to compromise.

Dave the 623 GSi is midnight blue with cream leather, with the diff roaring the way it is I wouldn't attempt to drive it from south wales to suffolk though. If you can trailer it then it will be available shortly once I have found them something else.

Dave

Thanks Dave, i'll look into the availability and how much of a job it is to change the diff and/or the box itself - a lot will also depend on whether my Jeep passes the MoT in the near future! Slightly worrying that the diff has gone at such a low mileage, makes me wonder if perhaps some other damage has happened, a severe kerbing perhaps that damaged the diff bearings.

Great colour combo by the way on the 623 GSi, definitely interested if i can get the other things to fall into place.

Nothing wrong with the Pugs, we`ve had several small ones in our family

My 306 (2001 model) I had it for 7 years and put 125k on the clock.

My only criticism is the metalwork is too thin

I had several Pug/Cit works vans and all of them had dodgy brakes from new. Also worked at a Pug main dealers for a while and the quantity of serious engine problems, particularly on the N/Asp diesel models was horrendous! A 55k mile 406 diesel that had the remains of a cylinder head attached to the block was one of the worst. When i say the remains of a head, the rest had crumbled into the cylinders and/or been explled out of the exhaust system!
As for the electrics, Pug/Cit electrical systems are the worst i've ever seen with Renault a close second. hey are predominantly Valeo or a subsidiary of Valeo and the main electrical problems on the 800 are with components made by Valeo, namely the fob/alarm/immobiliser, front fogs etc. The one exception to this is the fusebox, made by Lucas-Rists but that was made using EU-spec lead-free solder. 'nuff said!
In fairness, the 306 was one of the better models but still had it's stupid idiosynchrasies that cause problems. Even they had multiple recalls in the short time i was there, mainly for starter motors (Valeo starter - no surprise there!) but various other things as well.

[deano]

Never had a desiel, ours were all 1.1 or 1.4 petrol engines

Brakes were always adequate although they had drums on the rear and the shoes were never changed ever.

I don't recall any real electrical problems....
Had an issue on the 306 with the drivers door elec window, TWICE.
but that was down to the cable fraying, not the switches or motors failing.


We went thru quite a few exhausts though

[scoobyh123]

I've seen a Peugeot Partner/Citroen Berlingo pirouette in the outside lane of the M3 because the driver just touched the brakes to slow a little. The van behind me was a Citroen Relay (the biggest they do) and the brakes decided they were no longer going to function with it approaching the back end of my vehicle at least 70mph faster than i was travelling. put another way, i stopped, he couldn't!
So a Pug/Cit caused the multiple pile up in the first place, another Citroen created it by hitting me at 70mph or more. I still get problems now with my neck from the whiplash and that was nearly 16 years ago. The Citroen Relay was a write off, the front strut was where the drivers door should have been. The van i was driving had a bent back bumper and slightly creased rear doors. Oh yeah and a bent step.

On another occasion, driving a Berlingo company van, the brakes decided not to work as i was approaching a set of red traffic lights on the A27 near Brighton so i went through a set of red lights while stood on the brake pedal at 60mph and it had already tried sending me round in circles by locking up one or the other rear brakes for no apparent reason. This also happened with at least 2 other new Berlingos i had and was what caused the one on the M3 to spin.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, they should carry Govt Health Warnings IMHO.

As for the 1.1/1.4 petrol engines, they are in fact about the best of the bunch and generally seem to keep going. It's when you go bigger or change to diesel that the gremlins start.

All the alternators have a built in fault called the voltage regulator. Eventually it will fail and the first symptom will be bulbs blowing quite often and the lights becoming extra bright for a few seconds to a few minutes followed by overcharging and cooking the battery until eventually it won't start so a new battery will be fitted. Because these alternators do it intermittently it will almost certainly test ok if tested and the only way of proving it would be to fit a datalogger monitoring battery voltage.

The cabling is generally underspecified and barely up to the job but you've already found that with the window.

The window switches do fail as well, in fact i've got two sat here, one of which is dead after a friend could no longer operate the drivers window in her Saxo (same switch covers loads of different Pugs/Cits) and is a very common failure :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... dow+switch

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?&_from ... w%20switch

Loads there as they are a big seller because they are forever going!

Can't really comment on the exhausts as it depends a lot on where and how you drive, journey length etc but they do seem to eat them quite quickly and again, the world and his wife sell them.

[deano]

We only had 306 and 206`s...

Never had any probs with the alternator, original batterys were good for 6-7 years too.

Did used to go thru a few headlight bulbs...
I remember on the 306 I`d buy a pair of high brilliance bulbs £20+ each (halfords) but I would be replacing them every 6 months.
pissed me off so much I went back to cheap and cheerful.

Also had quite a few of the instrument panel bulbs go, many hours spent taking dashboards apart

Coilpacks went wrong a few times too

[scoobyh123]

Can't imagine why - too much voltage from the alternator probably!