406 1.9td 1998

[robster1973]

hi new here i have a 406 1.9td she runs well but seems a little slow on pulling away i here most people talking about the egr valve and blanking this of where is this on the car. also what should the tick over be she is running about 1100rpm if this is to high how do i turn it down.

thanks Rob

[Gary406]

when you say slow ? how slow actually ? they are a generally slow engine really.

the 1100 rpm tickover will be the cold start sticking on. ive only found one way to fix this and it works fine. did it on both my 1.9td and even in cold it still starts 1st time everytime

below is a diagram of the cold start mechanism. it must stick with age because every 1.9 i come across has this issue

anyway the bracket arrowed ORANGE needs to be bent to the right a little. get a hammer and hit it to the right you can see how i bent mine.
dont worry u wont break it . it bends very very easy. only a light tap with a hammer is needed

once you done that simply screw the bolt arrowed GREEN in. undo the little nut holding it into place its 14mm then screw that nut to the top of the bolt .
then screw the bolt in (clockwize) once you have got your right tickover RPM screw the 14mm nut back down to lock it in place

do all this while the engine is running. when you screw that bolt in you will hear the engine drop revs to 800rpm

[Gary406]

i set my RPM to 900RPM i find it better here than 800RPM . for moving off in 1st gear no revs is needed to set off at 900rpm.
if you set it to 800rpm revs are needed to set off in 1st gear.

[robster1973]

thanks Gary I will try that over the weekend if it don't snow. she is not extremely slow at pulling away but I think like you said it may be the car its self. apart from that she seems to run well around town she is giving me around 39 mpg and on a run around 45 mpg not sure if this is good or bad.

regards Rob

[gumby6371]

Do you mean it doesn't go very fast in first gear or from 0 to 30 and onwards?
First gear on most 406's is under geared and pretty much to get you rolling, unless I'm pulling into a tight gap at a junction I generally shift up as soon as the revs are high enough not to struggle in second.

As Gary said they're not fast cars but having owned 2 there are most defenitely good ones and bad ones, my other half refused to drive my old one because it was painfully slow away from junctions etc, my new one is quicker than her 54 plate 110 307

Regular fluid and filter changes should help, blocked diesel filter and air filters full of crap will starve the engine and lose performance.
Leaky inter coolers and associated pipes will rob you off boost from the turbo. Squeeze the intercoller pipe in 1 hand and rev the engine with the other, you should feel the pressure build in the pipe.

Just remember the 1.9td is spritely if well maintained but by no means quick.

[robster1973]

thanks it sounds like its just one of those slow old engines, like you said its only in low gears once she is upto speed there is no problem.

regards Rob

[robster1973]

do any of you know what the stop light is on the dash this comes on now and again not very often but seems to clear its self whilst driving has not caused any problems as yet.

regards Rob

[Gary406]

stop could be a few things. nout major really.
when was the last time it was fully serviced ? new fuel, air, oil filter and oil ?

is coolant level good ?

what temp does the engine run at ?

[robster1973]

she had all new filters on last month.

rob

[robster1973]

coolant levels are all good

[gumby6371]

I used to get the stop light and EML if I went down hill in too high a gear and let the revs drop. Shifting to a lower gear cleared it straight away but I never worried about it.

[robster1973]

thanks sounds like what i am getting but not on hills on a flat road at any speed normaly between 30 - 40 mph

regards Rob

[Menophanes]

"Below is a diagram of the cold start mechanism. it must stick with age because every 1.9 i come across has this issue. Anyway the bracket arrowed ORANGE needs to be bent to the right a little . . . " (Gary406)

Is the black tubing shown to the right of the bracket (just below the orange arrow) supposed to join onto anything? In my 1997 car (otherwise identical to Gary's image), this bit of hose is a mere stump, about a centimetre long and stopping short in mid-air. Has somebody been bodging? ('Please, sir, it wasn't me!') If so, where does the other end of this hose go?

I have not had any problems in starting or running.

Oliver Mundy.

[Gary406]

on mine it joins to a T peice thing that seems to go nowere on that side. but the other side were the cable runs goes to the back of the fuel pump (cold start valve)

[Menophanes]

I have attached an image of the part of my engine compartment roughly corresponding to that shown in Gary's picture. (Mine is a good deal grubbier, but what can you expect in a car bought for £355?*) It shows how the bit of tubing to the right of the diaphragm-chamber (I suppose that is what the round thing is) stops short, whereas in Gary's car it goes on, apparently heading towards the nearside suspension pillar. The Haynes book on the 1997-9 cars (page 4B.5) describes it as a vacuum hose and says that it should be disconnected before adjusting the fast-idle, but fails to explain where its other end is. I suppose the vacuum-pump on the end of the cylinder-head (just below and a little to the right in the pictures) would be the obvious place, but there does not seem to be any unoccupied connection-point on this.

*This picture was taken 24 hours ago, not ten years! My camera has amnesia.

Oliver Mundy.