Strange smoke..

[Big Jazzle]

hey guys,

picked up a 306 hdi and its got a few problems..

ive identified that the injector seals have gone:


now noticed that theres smoke coming out the header tank too, Would this be connected with the injector seal problem? Ive never known this on a car...



Its getting hot in traffic although when driving it sticks around 75/80 degrees. After 15 mins of traffic crawling it goes up to 90 degrees..

thanks for any advice..

[powerandtorque]

Around 80 degrees on the move and slowly crawling upto 90 degrees in traffic sounds normal for an HDi.

[Big Jazzle]

I'm just trying to establish wether or not to get rid asap or spend a little time and money doing bits on it...
I paid over the odds for its condition, 105K - Hasnt had the cambelt done, injector seals need doing, needs a good service, noise from the pass side wheel when turning..

Just needed a derv commute mobile and bought it in a hurry, The smoking header tank concerns me! :-(

[Paul_13]

105k?! That's only bed in and low mileage compared to most hdi's out there
sort it in my opinion!

[powerandtorque]

A little steam from hot coolant with the cap off wouldn't unduly concern me.

Something like a headgasket problem would typically show as excessive pressure in the cooling system and unexplained loss of coolant with no leaks, possibly together with an exhaust smell and occasionally mayo.

If the rest of the car is otherwise in good condition and you're handy with a spanner (or happy to pay someone who is) then that list of issues doesn't sound too bad. Unfortunately, most cars of this age and price bracket tend to need work doing particularly if they've had unsympathetic owners or ones that have maintained them on a shoestring, so sometimes it's better the devil you know rather than selling an replacing with something that might have other more serious issues lurking...

As Paul says, 105k miles is quite low for these cars - my last one was on 250k and still going strong.

[Big Jazzle]

Thanks chaps, encouraging words.

I have all the previous MOT certs for it and theres never been anything too bad, It passed with one advisory last year ( Handbrake cable) and the current MOT runs out end of July.

Would you say getting the cambelt changed out is a priority for a hdi of this age/mileage?

---

http://www.gumtree.com/p/peugeot/peugeot...1100885435

This is the car, I got it for 400.

[powerandtorque]

Depends when it was last done. If you've no history of it being done, it would be a sensible move to replace it IMO.

The belt intervals are quite long on the HDi engines and they're not generally prone to snapping, unlike say a GTi-6.

[shervo]

Cambelt Interval is either 80,000/8 years or 100,000/10 years depending on driving conditions (from my autodata) IMO if you have no history of the car having it done then get it done. Can be easily done with basic tools in a few hours.

[Toms306]

If you plan to keep the car for a while then it's probably worth doing. If its just a stop gap for a few months I personally wouldn't bother, I am still yet to see a HDi snap a belt through age, the crank pulley will fall apart and take the belt out long before that lol.

It is reasonably to change yourself if you do go for it, buy branded parts from factors/ebay though, don't get ripped off at the dealers for the same parts in an expensive dealer box lol.

As for the steam, its normal tbh.

[Big Jazzle]

Nice one guys, I think i'l persevere with it then.

Il get the wheel bearing done and attempt the service and injectors myself..
Hopefully she holds out!

Wheres the best place to buy 306 parts inc service items...

[Paul_13]

Carparts4less.co.uk

[shervo]

either car parts 4 less, peugeot dealer as service items from there aren't expensive or get friendly with you local motor factors.