Hamble InfoZone


Hamble InfoZone - Cars

Vauxhall Zafira 2.0 DTL

If it works, great , seating with 7 seats all in the car all the time excellent clever idea. GM cars cheap but  spares too expensive e.g . they sell you £900 steering rack assembly to replace track rod end bushes. (a more comprehensive but similar repair to Peugeot 307 was £150)

Also had ECU fault caused by voltage regulator assembly falling off clip on the side of the battery box,  and rattling about under a sharp bit of metal until cables cut through.

Final death turbo oil seal blowup at 140k miles: Sold car for £1 as part-ex scrap and sold Haynes manual for £7. Sums it up really.


Things that be denied by the garage and Peugeot UK:

Every Peugeot we have owned

Fault : Boot catch loop comes loose and boot or tailgate cannot be opened.

Cure: Adjust position of loop and retighten fixing bolts HARD.


Peugeot 307 HDI90 '52

Fault:Sudden fuel leak on filling up

Cause: The fuel pickup/sender is held on by a  threaded plastic ring which is screwed onto the tank. The tank top thread is too large in diameter for the ring which doesnt tighten down on the gasket under the sender properly, so it pops up and the fuel leaks.

Cure :  Replace fuel tank for £600, or cut slot in ring to increase its circumference by 2mm or so. Use large Jubilee clip to clamp ring back onto tank top. Use high temp/fuel resistant silicone (leave to cure before tightening )  to fabricate a gasket bead around the top of the tank before tightening the fuel sender back down. My fix has prevented fuel leak for several years.

Peugeot 307SW HDI90 '04

Fault: 'Random' stop
My car keeps stopping suddenly with an Emission Control Fault and the Engine Check light comes on , all the lights flashing. When restarted after a struggle the engine check light will come on and stay on.  I have an OBDII scan tool bought to check why - it comes up with a vendor-specific code but nothing about fuel as far as I can tell.

Cause: Air in the fuel. It eventually twigged when I had three events like this with the fuel low light about to come on each time. It always happened after going round roundabouts. Of course this is a French car so they hammer round roundabouts the other way so they probably dont see the problem in France.
Cure: Fill up with more diesel and fill up again after 400 miles . Fortunately about 10 miles or two engine starts after a topup this particular engine check light goes out.
Eventual Cure: Replace fuel tank pickup/sender unit. Only found by Hamble Motors after they realised it wasnt an electronics fault but a real old-fashioned faulty bit of kit.

Fault: Front indicators stop working
Check the spring touching the side of the bulb - it was not pressing very hard on my car

 
<mike@hamble.demon.co.uk