rev counter & engine smoothness

[TheMoleMan]

Hi all, I am a 'new' 406 owner having recently bought a 1997 1.9DN GLX estate.

Has a few foibles and what nought, as to be expected of a car that's done 180K...

The one that has me stumped is usually when I start the car, the rev counter doesn't work & the engine sounds like a 1930's communist built tractor

The odd things is if I 'flick' the rev counter on and of quickly so the engine keeps running, the rev counter springs into life and after a couple of seconds the engine starts run significantly more smoothly.

Anyone have any idea what may cause this? Is the rev counter plugged into an engine management system or something?

Any help as to what may be the cause of this would be most appreciated.

[Gary406]

the 1.9 (same as mine) does sound like a tractor in a morning , its the nature of the car.

but a good service can quieten it down. oil (10w40 semi synthetic) and filters (filters cost £13 that includes oil filter, air filter and fuel filter)
yes £13 ,

your dodgy rev counter will probably relate to dry solder joints on the back of the clocks. my money is on this.
the clocks need to be removed its a pretty easy task. and a soldering iron to reheat the solder joints and connect them back up.

the 1.9 is a bomb proof engine capable of doing in excess of 300k miles (service and cambelt chages is important to acheive this milage)

[TheMoleMan]

Hi
gary, the car was given a full service just a month a go, and it did make a noticeable difference, once i do the trick with the ignition.

Just confused why the rev counter working improves the engine's smoothness

is there a thread on removing the clocks or is it time i bought a Haynes book of lies?