Tom's China HDi DTurbo 2014

[Niall]

Bloody hell Tom! You'll of owned more 306s than me soon lol

She looks good though. I hope the fact your doing all this work means your gonna keep her.

Course he won't. He will get a flat tyre in a few hundred miles then blame it on the car and have to get rid because he can't trust it any more :p

[Toms306]

Nialls exactly right....

Though I have copper greased the replacement wheel hook and will pump up the spare just incase.

[Eeyore]

True, hadn't thought of that. Pretty sure Rowell has 283s, will see if his pedal feels the same as mine next weekend.

Surely the pedal would creep with the engine off if there was still in the system though?

I have 283s on the estate. They wont fit on the 1.8 though unfortunately :/

[powerandtorque]

I've got 283mm GTi-6 brakes on the front of my HDi with a standard MC.

Pedal is fine and not really any different to the other HDi that's totally standard brake wise - a smidgen more travel thanks to the larger piston but that's it, and otherwise it's a nice firm, progressive pedal.

Almost certainly still air in the system judging from your description - bleed, bleed and bleed some more, and finally trigger the ABS to purge it of any air that's trapped there. Air in the system gives long pedal travel and a spongy feel but won't cause pedal creep - pedal creep is when you're losing fluid and/or pressure in the system, typically from a leak or a failing MC.

[Toms306]

True, hadn't thought of that. Pretty sure Rowell has 283s, will see if his pedal feels the same as mine next weekend.

Surely the pedal would creep with the engine off if there was still in the system though?

I have 283s on the estate. They wont fit on the 1.8 though unfortunately :/

Ah yeah, I remember now!

I've got 283mm GTi-6 brakes on the front of my HDi with a standard MC.

Pedal is fine and not really any different to the other HDi that's totally standard brake wise - a smidgen more travel thanks to the larger piston but that's it, and otherwise it's a nice firm, progressive pedal.

Almost certainly still air in the system judging from your description - bleed, bleed and bleed some more, and finally trigger the ABS to purge it of any air that's trapped there. Air in the system gives long pedal travel and a spongy feel but won't cause pedal creep - pedal creep is when you're losing fluid and/or pressure in the system, typically from a leak or a failing MC.

Hmm. Its not spongy at all though, and with the engine off its rock solid, no creep, no sponginess. Meh, I'll leave it for now and let the brakes bed back in.

[Toms306]

Soooo, this morning fitted the powerflow catback from the breaker, and refitted spare wheel and cage.



Then got the jetwash and degreaser out!









Much better!

Then set about the interior, removed rubber 3 spoke wheel, gearknob, skinny headrests, annoying ac temp fan, floor mats, parcel shelf with 6x9s at head height...







And fitted 4 spoke leather wheel, phase 4 headrests, gearknob from the breaker (not sure what its from), standard parcel shelf and oem rubber mats...running short on time so only one halfarsed pic of the lot lol.





Then gave the exterior a very quick wash and dry...poor pic quality but not bad for a high miler!







Front looks really high for DTurbo spec though lol, was expecting about 30mm between this and the Meridian. Maybe it just needs to settle after being jacked up for a week though.

[Tom]

Looks real good mate!

[Toms306]

Looks real good mate!

Thanks Tom.

[Tom]

No problem Tom

[mcglynn]

Looking well, definately doesnt show its miles!

[7057sam]

Yeah body work looks very good

Any rust underneath?

[SupaStar88]

Is pp2k software easy to get hold of ?

[Toms306]

Any rust underneath?

Nope! Was expecting the front chassis rails to be rotten but they're still solid.

Is pp2k software easy to get hold of ?

Yeah, plenty on ebay, or other sites, just search online for it.

[SupaStar88]

Thanks found one

[Grant]

Looks good Tom

I love a China 3dr.

[Toms306]

So, done around 60 miles in this today....made it more comfortable by loosing some air in the rear tyres....38psi Simon!? Down to 34psi all round which is much more spine friendly lol.

Anyway, issues found today:-

Collosal injector tick - meh, to be expected, just have to drive over 3k lol.
Backbox knocking on beam occasionally - could I use some of the rubber 'edge sheath' from under the bonnet between the backbox and beam? Its used to stop pipes rubbing under the bonnet but not sure if it'll just melt on the backbox?
Annoying squeal - Pretty sure this is the manual aux tensioner, I knew it was knackered, but the new auto tensioner seems to have put more strain on it I guess, do have a spare good one now though. If not that probably the AC pulley, which I also have spare lol.
No boot light - Don't realise how much I use the boot light until it's not there! Tried a known working one to no avail so not sure whats wrong there.
Rear brakes binding slightly - hopefully they'll bed in again after a bit more driving.
Brake judder from speed - calliper sliders were regreased the other day so I can only assume this is a warped disc, will have to live with it for now
Clutch still isn't smooth - Now maybe the ~year old cable has dried out already, but assuming it hasn't, is there any part of the pedal mech that can get 'sticky'? Its the only thing left tbh lol, and yes I removed the pedal spring as well. It's fine for gearchanges, but for slow manoeuvres at like half bite its difficult to let it or in smoothly.
Parcel shelf rattles over bumps - gonna see where its hitting and put some foam between I think
Access to rear seats is compromised, could do with an extra hinged panel behind the front doors...

Apart from those though, which most people would probably ignore anyway lol, it's pretty good, amazed at how much difference the undertray makes to engine noise as well....though still loud compared to my silent 1.8 lol!

[Eeyore]

Itll probably just melt on the exhaust. Must be a massive backbox if its touching the beam! Have you removed the 'sport spring' from the clutch? Now that Ive fitted a normal back box to the 1.8 its a completely changed car. It feels slower but it purrs and is lovely and quiet

[C2K]

Boot light is the trigger on the bootlid. Be careful If you have a known working light in it will drain the battery as it will now be on with the boot shut. I noticed on a tip run with the seat down, forgot to fix it.

Tyres were 36psi on my pump, checked religiously once a week! Front suspension I think was meridian spec, can't remember if it was that or from a xsara. Still looks unsettled though, don't remember that arch gap, look at the pics I sent you I guess.

Chav cannon. :o

[Toms306]

Itll probably just melt on the exhaust. Must be a massive backbox if its touching the beam! Have you removed the 'sport spring' from the clutch? Now that Ive fitted a normal back box to the 1.8 its a completely changed car. It feels slower but it purrs and is lovely and quiet

Yeah, I guess I knew it'd just melt, wishful thinking lol.

The box isn't overly big, its just not well positioned. I reckon the whole thing got slightly bent in the crash as it came from the breaker. Suppose I could try bending the mounts a little to move it though.

Yep took the spring off, didn't make much difference tbh.

The noise is just engine noise tbh...and injector tick lol, only really get exhaust noise under load which is how I want it. Had forgotten how loud diesels were compared to petrols though, forget the 1.8 is running half the time!

---

Boot light is the trigger on the bootlid. Be careful If you have a known working light in it will drain the battery as it will now be on with the boot shut. I noticed on a tip run with the seat down, forgot to fix it.

Tyres were 36psi on my pump, checked religiously once a week! Front suspension I think was meridian spec, can't remember if it was that or from a xsara. Still looks unsettled though, don't remember that arch gap, look at the pics I sent you I guess.

Chav cannon. :o

Ah I guessed it might be something like that so I left it unplugged anyway. Where is the trigger for it? Can't say I've seen a switch so guess its a micro switch in the lock?

Hmm, either your pump is wrong or Sainsbury's one is then. Also do mine every week, as the rear cyclone has had a slow puncture for the last 4 and a half years and drops to 27psi in a week...

And its not a chav cannon, it's pretty subtle imo. Not loud either really...unlike when I drove it with nothing past the cat....that was bloody deafening lol!

As for the front suspension, yeah it's Meridian height, measured floor to wing arch and it's the same as the 1.8. Might stick the Xsara struts on that I bought for the 1.8 tbh.

[devils_fuel]

Tom take the plastic boot lid cover off and you will see a white-ish capsule with 1 thin wire going to it. Unbolt the capsule and shake it as the mercury may not make a proper connection - Simons thread about the boot light helped me fix mine . Look in his thread

Nice car btw

[Toms306]

Tom take the plastic boot lid cover off and you will see a white-ish capsule with 1 thin wire going to it. Unbolt the capsule and shake it as the mercury may not make a proper connection - Simons thread about the boot light helped me fix mine . Look in his thread

Nice car btw

A mercury switch!? In 2001!? How can I have never seen one of these after breaking a few 306s.

The known good light didn't work when I plugged it in btw, but both the lights work when plugged into the 1.8.

Edit - Just seen Simons thread....it works backwards apparently lol.

[devils_fuel]

Yeah it's cheep Tom, like the budgie lol, the bootlid I got from a 6 had a pin switch...the rest I've seen are the cheapie switches in the tailgate . Ha ha found Simons post then

[Toms306]

Lol, honestly cant say I've ever seen one. Looks like the 1.8 might have to go without its current one though.

[devils_fuel]

Change the white liquid filled capsule under the bootlid plastic also clean up the contacts as well, may also be worth cleaning the contacts not plug into the light

---

My light doesn't always work, I know is my switch though...think about it I may have a spare switch from the original bootlid...I'm on my 3rd bootlid as the mrs can't drive

[Toms306]

Yeah yeah, blame the missus.

[devils_fuel]

Connor can vouch for all the dents/panel changes since she started driving

[Toms306]

Connor can vouch for all the dents/panel changes since she started driving

If she's that bad tell her to buy own car to ruin lol. Either that or some special awareness...

[devils_fuel]

Or a bumper car surround

18 months driving, 3 bangs in the first 3 months...

[Poodle]

That'll be a euros backbox then lol, had to get them to send three in a row the other day when the first two literally wouldn't fit, like resting on the beam and bumper at once with the mating faces at the wrong angle and one mount not reaching. If you grab it from underneath and bounce on it a few times it should bend enough to stop the knocking, failing that take a pry bar to the mounts.

Sticky clutch could be knackered fork bushes or the release bearing.

[Toms306]

It's a powerflow cat back. . Cost the previous owner quite a bit so I hope it fitted well originally lol.

Release bearing is new. Bushes aren't as I couldn't get the arm off. The pins seem to be ridiculously tight on the HDi boxes. These ones had barely any play though, much less than the 272k box lol.