406 Dash warning system going crazy!

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craigb

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Fellow Frogger
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Nov 26, 2011
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Adelaide
I have tried to search on here and wider on google and not finding clear answers - thought i would start a thread and who knows may help someone at a later stage too.

I have a 2002 406 HDI Wagon with about 270k km that is still working perfectly - just that random crazy warnings are coming up on the dash and today the indicator 'clicking' and dash direction indicators stopped - although outside working fine. At the moment the odometer area is showing all zeros on the bottom and '003.1' above it - in case that means something. Once keys are turned off and removed the A/C still runs and stop light on dash comes on and beeps - I then disconnected the battery.

Working backwards, yesterday I drove the car some 25km to Lion auto in Adelaide and the car performed perfectly with no warning lights. Mark started it to test battery, charge etc and then it went off with its routine to date of engine warning light first, door open light, fuel/ tach/speedo/ temp guages each dropping to zero in turn and then back to normal, stop light and beeping etc and cycling through that randomly. Connected to error reader and of course long lists of all sorts of error codes came up. I think intake temp might have been a more common one? Battery showed 'replace' on the tester and it was last replaced in 2013 so I just got a new one put in. charging was normal. We put in a new aircleaner element and in that process the plug to the MAF came out, so that got a clean and made sure in properly when replaced. On reconnecting new battery the climate control panel was lit up. On starting car everything was normal but on the 25km return trip on two occasions the engine warning light came on and speedo and tach dropped to zero but then all just went back to normal. The second time I noticed the odometer went to all zeros and above i think was something like 030. Climate control panel was lit up still when i stopped but then went off after a short time when i checked. Used the car later for about a 10km run and performed faultlessly..... thought it was fixed until today!

One last thing i wondered about, and comes from comments made somewhere about a leaking windscreen causing problems - last night we had heaps of rain and the sunroof leaked. This happens from time to time and i pull off trims and get to the sunroof drains that be blocked (stupid design i reckon!). Will park it in the sun that is out now and see what happens.

We have loved this car but between trim falling apart and now these problems I have fears it may have ended its economic life. Will be a sad loss for our family. Damn shame with a car that still delivers excellent economy, power, handling etc. etc. and makes me angry that they design cars this way for what seems obsolescence, although I know they all do that now. I don't want to get on the treadmill of any update - anyone know of a nice 504 wagon for sale?

Thank you of course in advance for any help.
 
It does sound like water damage within the BSI which is the body computer behind the glovebox on most Pugs. Check to see if you notice moisture.
Obviously find the cause of water entering the interior of the car and then get the BSI opened and cleaned.
I have done this on a Berlingo and it cured most of the anomalies. Vehicle also hand a dodgy fuel pump relay. So best to cure the common problems 1st and then rescan for error codes.

Sent from my SM-G900I using aussiefrogs mobile app
 
Fantastic - thanks guys. As an interesting extra comment, drove the car about 30km this morning with the heater wound up to 30 (middle of winter with all the windows down) and car was faultless. My wife just said that when she got in the car after the storms a couple of days ago the drivers carpet was wet from what i am sure is the sunroof drain overflow. Will keep updating progress but thanks particularly for the guidance on BSI and connector locations.
 
Thanks for that - update is that I pulled the carpet up...... Oh for the good ol days when you could just pull a floor mat and not have to pull seats etc etc out! It was still wet under there with lots of water soaked up into the sponge that is the carpet. But once in there I was a bit shocked to see heaps of wires going into 3 big connectors, one black, one blue and one white, all laying flat on the floor on the one place that any water would run to. I tried to reposition them to the side - even a couple of cm off the floor to the side - there is even a recess there they could sit them in. I get that they didn't plan for the sunroof seals to be so easily blocked, but i just wouldn't plan to put connectors on a floor knowing that a water bottle etc etc could spill and will always run to where those connectors are. Enough whingeing!

When i was trying to reposition them, it was causing some beeping to go off, so I reckon I am in the right place. Also the black one in particular, once open it showed quite a bit of corrosion - that sunroof has blocked many times over our ownership of the car and no doubt been wet before but now maybe corrosion is a problem.

I was thinking WD40, gave a squirt, put back and it was still doing funny stuff. Then i got a can of contact cleaner and protector (something like that from jaycar) and then left it all open in the rare bit of sun we had today. Put it back together and for a while it seemed ok but then I was getting random beeps (really annoying!) and then at one point the glow plug was just flashing at random intervals and at different times to this random beep. I might prop the carpet up a bit and get a heat gun tomorrow and just gently heat it from time to time and just try and get it all dried out properly. With the corrosion, I could get some fine sandpaper and do the male pins but hard to get into the female plugs.

And dmccurtayne - you said 'other side on 406' - is that the BSI? is that up under instruments and not behind glovebox as first suggested? I figure i should go searching for that too.

- sidetracking, I probably should have checked first but I checked the front sunroof drains again and sure enough more mud in there. I decided to bite the bullet and just cut the bottom 'valve' bit off the rubber end. I just can't see why it is a big deal to stop anything getting back up there and best just to let it run free and stop these blockages.
 
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Re. BSI - yes on 406s it's on the driver's side - under the fuses. You have to remove a significant amount of trim panels to get a proper go at it. I found a you-tube video that covered the procedure quite well.
Cheers
Alec
 
Just finishing off (hopefully!) - I kept parking the car in the sun with carpet propped up and eventually got the 'sponge' underlay dry. It was still playing up from time to time but for the last few days it has been trouble free. See how that goes and I hope typing this doesn't make it start again! Thanks for the help.
 
Do mean to brag but how spot on was my dart the best way to fix is to delete the connector mainly the black one . I will wait by the mail box for my cheque lol
 
Yep thanks for that. So are you suggesting cut the connector out and solder each wire together, maybe heat shrink on each one?
 
New update! All been going well until this afternoon car stopped - no warning lights etc. Starter turning etc. just not firing up. It had been raining and looking for things to do i drained a bit of diesel by undoing the tap on bottom of filter housing - can water collect there? After about 15 mins had a go and fired up. The small engine light then came on and "anti-pollution fault" came up on centre screen. Just googled that fault and numerous different things came up. So first just wondered if this fits with my other problems or something new. Breaking down in the pouring rain is really testing my relationship with this car!
 
Anti pollution on the display comes on for too many reason's. Our C5 Mk1 Carlo5 did this last week a good italian tune by the wife cleared. Previously it would come on if I disconnected the MAF sensor connector and forget to reconnect before starting. So just ignore for now and solve the water ingresa problem into the interior 1st.

Sent from my SM-G900I using aussiefrogs mobile app
 
Biggest concern now is a car that is cutting out in the middle of traffic and not sure it that is the water problem. That is dry now and no random warning lights happening. I get from searching that the anti pollution fault warning is a bit pointless and really should say "drive to the dealer and pay to have your codes looked at" The same warning came up when my brake booster rear seal went. So I am going to go straight to the basics of fuel delivery (and ignition, which of course not relevant on diesel!) - will try a fresh fuel filter and see if it leaves me stranded again...... this car is living on borrowed time! Anyone after a good HDI engine and gearbox..... hoping the car can read my thoughts and gets its act together!!
 
Just keeping my 'Diary' going...... While after the stopping event and restarting, engine light stayed on and the anti-pollution message and after being at home for a while and trying again, car was normal but that light stayed on. I gather there is some sort of delay on that warning system. After a day went to restart and light and message gone. Car has been behaving completely normal, although a new fuel filter is on its way and will fit this week. The floor area around the plugs remains dry - I have left that side trim off so i can continue to put my hand down there and check. So I am back to a normal car but an abnormally nervous driver! The only different thing compared to before and after the stopping event, was that it was pouring with rain at the time.
Just wondered now how fuel cut-off works, but looks like in HDI there is no cut off but signals all come from the computer - does that sound right? But everything else seemed normal and just wondered if anything else that stops fuel getting through on a diesel. From googling sounds like most common reason for stopping is the lift pump in the tank. If it happens again (only happened that once) I will listen at the rear of the car when it is turned off and on and listen for a noise. Apparently you can knock around the pump area and sometimes jump them into life. I can also maybe remove the fuel line off the filter housing and turn the ignition on quickly and see if anything comes out.
Mainly writing all this in case someone (like me!) is having a problem and googling for solutions and can maybe glean something out of all this!
 
406 HDi fuel pump test

To test the lift pump: loosen the fuel filter housing drain, turn ON ignition, watch the fuel spray everywhere. This will a. drain any sediment or water from the filter housing, b. demonstrate that the lift pump works.

Regards,

Farmpug

Thanks for updating the thread with what you are finding!
 
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