A neighbour of mine recently purchased a Picasso diesel. After signing for the vehicle,the salesman drove him to the local Tesco, one and a half miles away, and put £40 worth of fuel in to it.On the way back 1 mile from Tesco the engine stopped and was started and driven 1/2 mile to showroom, where he was told that the salesman had put petrol into the tank.After waiting 4 hours he was told everything was O.K. now and he took the car home.He has had no trouble since,but wonders if any long term damage has been done
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I was checking my tyre pressures on the xantia and just be chance i took of the trims and had a look to see if the weights were there an lo and behold only the offside front had a 5g weight, all others nothing there.

For a while i felt the car is not particularly stable at high-speed ie 70mph+ and recently noticed some vibration at 80mph. the tyres are avons.

Everything else (alignment, spheres, bushes etc all all fine)

So would this be 1) the cause of high speed instability and 2) vibration.


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Hiya all

Here's the full spec: Peugeot 406 estate 2000 2.2 HDI 136HP unit. 29k miles. Should think you all know that by now!

And very nice it is too. But my head has been turned by claims of 'more power', like the TV programme. Actually what's really done it is the 110HP mondeo estate I drove felt like it had a better spread & this Pug doesn't feel like it's has an extra 25 odd horses pulling it. Bit more, but not so you'd hugely notice.

So what I'd like to know is can it really be achieved by such an apparent one fix process as re-chipping? Or is this playing with the power delivery curve & it's a trade off between a broad power delivery against a narrower band with a high power spike? In short is it a good idea?

If so, where would you go? I'm based in the south east, Camberley actually, but travel regularly to Newark/ Mansfield area & once a month to Newquay. Although to have the job done right 1st time I'd prob travel pretty much anywhere.

If not who would be good to make sure that the standard set up is maximised to its best. I've yet to meet a Pug main dealer (although isn't it a citroen engine?) who can do much above the ordinary. Come to think of it do pug/citroen have lots of tweekability or are they set up as standard pretty much at the top of their capabilities?

Final consideration is that I'll prob run this car as far as I can, so if it's a case of 'the light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long' then I'll abandon it.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Oh yes, at risk of invoking the great oil debate, anyone know the real reason why pug INSIST that this 2.2 diesil must have 5W 40 oil? Is there an implied issue?
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My car (94 fiesta 1.3 injection) has just failed it's MOT on CO emissions by quite a way, it's meant to have <0.3 CO and mine scores 2.7/2.8. Is there anything I can do before it goes back on Monday eg injection cleaner? and/or what are the most likely causes eg is it my cat has gone - thanks for any help - Paul
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When I started driving, in the ?60s, it was always reckoned that 3 years was the optimum time to keep a new car. Accountants had worked out that reducing annual depreciation was balanced by increasing repair costs after 3 years. This wasn?t surprising since most cars rusted freely and major rebuilds of engine, transmission and suspension were routine after only 30-50,000 miles.

What?s the optimum time to keep a new car now?

Rustproofing and mechanical component life has improved out of all recognition. Even cars from volume producers will go 150,000 miles with nothing more than servicing and replacement of wear-and-tear items.

Is 10 years / 100,000 miles, from new, a cost-effective change point with modern cars, rather than 3 years?

I?ve noticed that major manufacturers re-engineer their models on a cycle of about 12 years. They may well re-style the body shell halfway through, to change the mark number, but make few changes to the platform or mechanicals. They?ll also do a ?face-lift? after about 3 years as well as annual specification changes.

Would 12 years / 150,000 miles be more cost-effective?
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