2001 Peugeot 406 D9 Engine Vibration

Hallelujah! Praise the lord! The gearbox is out!

I/we tried rotating the gearbox so as the stud would clear the body work. Lack of strength or ineptitude, this wasn't successful but we did reconnect the gearbox back up to the motor. Haynes advises to use a stud remover if it's too tight for a spanner which was the case. Unfortunately, you can't get a stud remover down onto the stud due to the engine mount bracket immediately above it. Anyway, and I hate to do this, a pair of vice grips proved the solution. We didn't have to cut off the stud, it isn't pristine, but should clean up okay - I think.

With the gearbox out, we took out the thrust bearing, fork, pressure plate, driven plate and flywheel. Having worked on many 504s, it was a real surprise to see how small the thrust bearing on a 406 is - and part of it is plastic! The clutch plate has even wear, but clearly needs to be replaced, but the flywheel and pressure plate look like they have been a little hot.

Next week, I'll price the parts needed. I'm a little concerned about the flywheel. No score marks but some discolouration. I don't know how common this is. I'll replace the thrust baring guide sleeve, as dmccurtayne advised, particularly as the thrust bearing has worn it on one side.

As always, very happy to get advice from more knowledegable others.

Thrust Bearing.jpg
Stud.jpg
Pressure Plate.jpg
Flywheel.jpg
 
Peter C said:
Hallelujah! Praise the lord! The gearbox is out!

I/we tried rotating the gearbox so as the stud would clear the body work. Lack of strength or ineptitude, this wasn't successful but we did reconnect the gearbox back up to the motor. Haynes advises to use a stud remover if it's too tight for a spanner which was the case. Unfortunately, you can't get a stud remover down onto the stud due to the engine mount bracket immediately above it. Anyway, and I hate to do this, a pair of vice grips proved the solution. We didn't have to cut off the stud, it isn't pristine, but should clean up okay - I think.

With the gearbox out, we took out the thrust bearing, fork, pressure plate, driven plate and flywheel. Having worked on many 504s, it was a real surprise to see how small the thrust bearing on a 406 is - and part of it is plastic! The clutch plate has even wear, but clearly needs to be replaced, but the flywheel and pressure plate look like they have been a little hot.

Next week, I'll price the parts needed. I'm a little concerned about the flywheel. No score marks but some discolouration. I don't know how common this is. I'll replace the thrust baring guide sleeve, as dmccurtayne advised, particularly as the thrust bearing has worn it on one side.

As always, very happy to get advice from more knowledegable others.

View attachment 222849View attachment 222852View attachment 222853View attachment 222854
Click to expand...
Congratulations on the perseverance and getting the gearbox out.

That stud will clean up fine with a single cut file, just remove the burrs.

I would get a complete clutch kit to replace all the worn bits shown.

The fly wheel, take it to a machine shop and get it refaced. What ever amount is taken off the running face will have to be taken off where the pressure plate is bolted and also the locating dowels so that the original pressure will be applied by the pressure plate.

Your almost half way there, just need to source the parts machine the flywheel and re-assemble.

Keep up the good work (y)
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Col and thanks for the advice re the flywheel. Decades ago, I had a 504 flywheel machined and they didn't maintain the "step" down to where the pressure plate bolted on. After that, the clutch didn't really slip, but wasn't right.

It's the Kings Birthday Holiday Holiday tomorrow so a day of rest until Tuesday when I can check around for the best price for the parts. I'll
renew the rear crank seal while I'm at it. I've had the car for 10 years and there has been a slight weep from there for the whole ten years.

One issue is that seeing as I removed the passenger side engine mouint stud, it's supposed to be tightened to 37 ft lbs. Could be difficult as I don't have a very long reach socket. Maybe I should just tighten it up to what I reckon it was. I don't have a locking tool to lock the flywheel in place while torqueing up the flywheel bolts. Will have to think about that one.
 
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I've gotta say, if not mentioned before, doing a clutch on a 504 is a breeze compared to a 406 - or probably any other front wheel drive. There are all those pipes, cables and stuff to contend with. Out of interest, does anyone know how much workshops charge for doing a 406 clutch?
 
That thrust wasn't far off from punching through
Someone has been sitting stationery with their foot on the clutch, these cars are very delicate in this area and you can't afford to sit with your foot on the clutch
 
I'm trying to work out what's what with that clutch. The car has done about 166km's, it's 23 years old and I've had it since late 2013. I've done about 60km in it, mostly a 2km round trip to the paper shop each day. I know it isn't ideal for any car.

Although I'm not paranoid, I make an effort not to ride the clutch. . Interestingly, I had to renew the gear selector cables in July 2015. When taking a pre-purchase test drive, I dismissed a couple of "not quite right" gear changes as lack of familiarity on my part. In retrospect, it was the gear cables on the way out.

I know nothing about the driving habits of the previous, first owner. I actually bought it from someone who only owned it for a couple of months so, technically, I'm the third owner. I'm not suggesting I'm perfect when it comes to looking after a car.

The clutch plate is down just past the slots and just short of the rivets, the clutch fork has significant signs of wear and the throw out bearing, although broken, is not binding. Pugrambo is right, the throw out bearings are fairly light in construction with the inner sleeve part being made of some sort of plastic. On the other hand, this car is 23 years old and nothing lasts forever. Plastic deteriorates, so maybe this is part and parcel of owning an ageing car?
 
Things has got in the way, but we're now about to bolt flywheel back on.

A couple of questions. First, does anyone know the reason for the five stage tightening sequence and, in particular, the fifth stage which requires tightening to 21 degrees rather than just torqueing up to x ft lbs?

Second question. Anyone know of an effective way of locking flywheel in place when torqueing up the bolts? It's so long since I've done this I can't remember what I did.
 
If you cut a piece of right angle steel about 20 mm long place it on engine block where bellhousing bolt would go and insert bolt with large washer then tighten bolt so ends of angle iron are in ring gear teeth that may do?..jim
 
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Hi Jim. Thanks for the tip. We'll give it a shot.
 
Another issue. The flywheel has been machined and it has come back with a pronounced cross hatch. The last time, decades ago, when I had a flywheel machined, it came back with a smooth surface. Although I understand that it would be better with a photo, should I be worried about the cross hatch finish?
 
No problem with the cross hatch, it will help the clutch bed in, much like cross hatching in a bore does to help the rings bed in.
 
Ok. Thanks. As I've mentioned before, it's decades since I've done a clutch, and I don't work on cars much these days so lack the confidence I once had.
 
Well, the clutch has been done, and the car drives well once again. As is apparent, it's been a long and drawn out job.

One of the obstacles was removing the gearbox. Although I'm told its possible to remove it without first removing the engine mount stud on the left hand (battery) side, it's far easier if the stud isn't in the way. The problem we had was that, although it has a hex section, the nearest size is 16mm - but that didn't fit, it slipped. The solution was a long reach 5/8 socket which fitted perfectly. What the?

Having now done a clutch change on a front wheel drive for the first time, we'd be a lot quicker next time. The last clutch I did was on a 504 probably over 25 years ago and it was a lot easier and quicker. Experience and recent experience are your friends.

The only problem I have now is that I have a spare bracket. Now, this is a long shot, but does anyone recognise it (from the photos)?
Bracket 1.jpg
Bracket 2.jpg
 
Peter C said:
Well, the clutch has been done, and the car drives well once again. As is apparent, it's been a long and drawn out job.

One of the obstacles was removing the gearbox. Although I'm told its possible to remove it without first removing the engine mount stud on the left hand (battery) side, it's far easier if the stud isn't in the way. The problem we had was that, although it has a hex section, the nearest size is 16mm - but that didn't fit, it slipped. The solution was a long reach 5/8 socket which fitted perfectly. What the?

Having now done a clutch change on a front wheel drive for the first time, we'd be a lot quicker next time. The last clutch I did was on a 504 probably over 25 years ago and it was a lot easier and quicker. Experience and recent experience are your friends.

The only problem I have now is that I have a spare bracket. Now, this is a long shot, but does anyone recognise it (from the photos)? View attachment 223621View attachment 223622
Click to expand...
Congratulations Peter you have done very well as Mr Grace would say. It doesn't matter how long the job took, the main thing is you got there in the end.

That bracket looks like it holds a pipe or hose of some kind, but can't help you out with where as I don't know these cars.

Again well done (y) (y)
 
Thanks Col. We might tackle getting my Mi16 on the road next. Shouldn't need much work for a roadworthy.

One of the clips looks as though its for a loom, and the other for a cooling system rubber pipe.
 
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Peter well done on getting the clutch replaced, and it must be a French thing with not using 16mm hex but 5/8", have found this on the Mk1 C5 and all the bolts that held the auto box to the engine block were 5/8" so some non metric engineers must have been involved in the design. Made no sense at the time why I had to dig into my imperial sockets. Now I keep the 5/8 with the metric tools
 
Good job. Have a look at the parts diagrams for the cooling, AC, steering pipes and engine bay harness as they often show the brackets and securing clips. That one may be listed as some individual parts combined. Try this parts info others have been referring to lately:
https://catalogs.ssg.asia/peugeot/?lang=en#
 
It didn't occur to us that it might be non metric, and that held us up for a long time trying to work out how get the gearbox out with it still in place.
 
Yes, the parts diagram. That's a good idea. I presume Servicebox still works these days?
 
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