[Peugeot-L] 405S winter driving

From: Bob Bruce <bobbruce_at_mts.net>
Date: 01/19/08

There are several cold weather design flaws that have lead to catastophic engine failures on many 405 8 valve engines.

There is no provision for warm air intake in cold weather the best Peugeot can come up with is removing the intake pipe that connects from the grille to the airfilter box.

I flatten and ovalize a 3 or 4" dia piece of aluminum flex duct to fit onto the airfilter intake once the pipe is removed. Then bend it around to get the other end to the rear of the engine above the exhaust manifold to get warm air.
On the automatics I cut the plastic pipe in half remove the front half and connect a piece of flex duct to the exhaust area.

Remove the 2 screens from the oil fill cup, one is in the cap the other you have to pull the cup apart to access.

The problem with the design of the hose.... All engines will produce water vapor in the crankcase getting rid of it is important.
The hose goes down from the fill cup then as it traverses to the left side it comes up before it goes down and into the block just above the oil pan.

This up sweep forms a water holding trap like in a sink The cold air blasting through the rad freezes this water forming a solid block of ice in the oil fill and breather hose.

This causes pressure to build in the crankcase oil is pushed out past the seals and gaskets. And if you discover you are out of oil it won't go past the block. 2 that I have bought were both self destructed similarily the #2 rod came through the front of the block ..no oil.

I cut the oil fill hose apart removing the 90 that goes from the upsweeping horisontal down shortening the bottom vertical then connecting the hose back together with a 3/4" close 90 copper pipe fitting It is a tough push to get the larger end into the hose. If you do this right you will have removed the trap...the hose will slope down all the way from the bottom of the oil fill cup to the block So no water will collect and not freeze.

To limit the blast of cold air at the front of the engine a cut a piece of cardboard the width of the rad and a few inches higher that the rad Pop the rad loose with the spring clips at the top Slide the cardboard between the rad and the ac condenser pull the rad forward and the clip will grab the rad.
Fold the remaining cardboard back
You can pull the cardboard up or push it down to regulate the flow of air into the rad Currently my rad is blocked off completely it is 32 below.

DON'T FORGET 
DON'T LEAVE IDLING 
DON'T LEND CAR 
DON't FORGET TO REMOVE AS TEMP RISES

Peugeots answer to this fiasco was a hot wire down the oil fill hose see below.
You got the wire if you complained under warranty If not it was $275 CD plus installation
And you will know when the wire burns out becaause of the big bang as the #2 rod snaps and pokes a hole in the front of the block

At least the oil fill hose on the Mi16 is all sloping down So flex duct from the exhaust to the airfilter and some cardboard in front of the rad and Bob's your uncle

Bob Bruce
Winnipeg
Great White North

  • Original Message ----- From: brian douglass To: Bob Bruce Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 2:48 PM Subject: Re: [Peugeot-L] O2 Sensor Questions 405S

  I had this problem with my 405 s but Peugeot had a recall in Canada for this problem and fixed it free.Brian

  • Original Message ---- From: Bob Bruce <bobbruce@mts.net> To: Bill Branch <bill@billbranch.net>; Peugeot List <peugeot-L@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 8:59:25 AM Subject: Re: [Peugeot-L] O2 Sensor Questions 405S

  The reason the dip stick blew out was because the crankcase venting system   is
  a totally flawed design. In cold weather without modifications you are at   risk
  of destroying your 8 valve.

  Write for detailed modifications and the reasons why your motor will   self-destruct
  if left to it's druthers

  Bob

  • Original Message ----- From: "Bill Branch" <bill@billbranch. net> To: "Peugeot List" <peugeot-L@yahoogrou ps.com> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 5:29 AM Subject: [Peugeot-L] O2 Sensor Questions 405S

  Hello,
  In the past years I have seen how malfunction of the O2 sensor can bring on   bad running and the CHECK ENGINE light. Once I got it in cold (-10°F) when   the oil blew out the dipstick and soaked the sensor. I got it this year   after flooding my Mi16 and finally getting it started. Now I think the   problem has recurred. Three times after driving in very wet winter storms,   after stopping for a short period, the engine will chug along, barely   idling, and will clear itself up in twenty or thirty seconds, and of course   bring up the self-enrichment fault code. This never happens in dry weather.   I read to never get anything on the outside of the sensor, could chemicals   dumped on the roads cause problems?

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Received on Sat Jan 19 10:01:23 2008