205 DTurbo

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Wed 4 Sep 2002 19:05
205 DTurbo - Bats
Have had this car a couple of months (1991, H, 138K miles) and have a problem with the tacho. It works ok when the car is cold , then about 15 - 20 minutes into a journey it goes erratic and eventually dies completely. Suspect this may be related to the underbonnet temperature, but would appreciate any advice.

The car runs well and is very lively (within its narrow rev range when the boost picks up around 2000 rpm). I like it apart from the extremely harsh ride that only seems to calm down when theres a decent bit of extra weight on board (single occupant mostly). The car is, I believe, fitted with the same suspension as the 1.6 GTi.

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Thu 5 Sep 2002 08:25
205 DTurbo - RichardW
It's probably the sensor, which is located on the back of the engine, flywheel end - nice and accessible. You could try checking for a loose connection in the wiring, but it sounds to me like the heat is makeing the sensor go open circuit. It's a common problem I think with Cit/Pug diesels.

Richard
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Thu 5 Sep 2002 08:35
205 DTurbo - M.M
Richard is right, quite common with this engine. Sender is a reasonable price so replace that first and then ponder more if it still does it.

Other less likely problems are in the wiring or the instrument itself.

Sender cost about £15.

It is located in an area nicely filthy with oil and gunge...can make it hard to spot.




David W
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Thu 5 Sep 2002 19:17
205 DTurbo - Bats
Thanks for that guys. I have had a look for the sensor/wiring and have found a plug, it must be for the tacho as the tacho dies if I disconnect it. On tracing the wiring it disappears behind the engine on the passenger side, but I can't see a thing (big engine in little space). Is it possible to access the sensor from the top, or do you need to get at it from underneath. Once I do find it, how is it removed??
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Fri 6 Sep 2002 08:12
205 DTurbo - RichardW
Yep, you'll need to get it from underneath. Once you get under there access shouldn't be too bad (drive shaft and turbo oil pipes will be doing their best to get in the way). I don't know how it comes off, but it should be fairly obvious I'd have thought once you get to it.

Richard
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Thu 5 Sep 2002 23:09
205 DTurbo - Andrew T
Having had just such a car for 8 years I would say that there are very few things under the bonnet that are 'accessible'. Luckily the oil filter isn't too bad.

I wouldn't call the ride extremely harsh, but certainly firm and 'thumpy' at the front. I put this down to the 60:40 weight distribution due to the very heavy block for a car of this size. Because of this I am sure the suspension will not be the same as the GTi.

Failed items: radiator; lighting switch/stalk; stop solenoid. Last two cheap enough from a scrapper. Rad is a special with 2 fans, about £100.
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Fri 6 Sep 2002 22:00
205 DTurbo - Andrew T
Oh, and I forgot - clutch cable failed at the pedal end. That was fixed temporarily at the roadside, but I found that the cable routing was so congested that it was virtually impossible to replace it without a lot of dismantling. So I rode my luck for a few months, then rather regretfully sold the car.
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