Sonias' Peugeot Diaries: About the current Peugeot

Okay, I am just a woman but I do love my cars.

Currently I own a Peugeot 406 (2001) Y plate, 2.0 16v LX Family Estate. (It's a 7 seater version).
It's what the Peugeot Forums would refer to as a D9 - the later version of the 406. The tell tale sign being the grill at the front, is ''chicken wire'' type instead of the painted slats in the D8. There maybe other differences too but for me this is the most obvious.

The car is painted in the Peugeot ''china blue''.
When I got the car, I looked on the V5 at the paint code and thought to myself 'Why is China blue?' it was only when a friend pointed out it wasn't China as in the Country but China as in the china ware that I realized.. (Yes, I am naturally that dopey lol).

Ok, the car itself came with a few niggly problem, but these are problems I could sort myself.
* The front O/S fog light was smashed BUT still working.
* The central control panel had no lighting behind it
* There was no rear wiper on the car (though there should of been)

A few niggling issues but issues I could sort and would be happy sorting.

Within a few days of getting the car I had replaced the 3 mini bulbs behind the central control display.

The next thing I did was a cheeky little sticker I added, to show my disapproval at my then Husband having a Ford (transit)

The next thing I did was sourcing and fitting a rear wiper. With it fitted, it still wouldn't work. Maybe this is why they removed the wiper blade itself, because the motor was kaput? I checked the fuse box and then took the wiper motor out. A friend took it away, stripped it, cleaned it down, and greased it back up and got it working again) I then re-fitted it and hey presto, it worked!

Having a high grade DSLR I like to take pictures of my car. Having a smashed O/S fog light spoilt the pictures, so I set about replacing it.

BEFORE: Cracked O/S Fog Light (It had and will pass MOT's in this condition as it is working).


Car up on newly purchased axle stands to improve access into the fog light via the 'peep hole'

Fog Light fitted, with a little help from my friend.

Unfortunately last year I had to SORN and un-tax the vehicle as the MOT expired. I have been starting the car often but being on the drive it can't be driven on the public roads, therefore slowly and gradually the battery faded away. During November I had forgotten about her and the battery definitely started showing signs of deterioration. The first sign was that the Central Locking wasn't working properly, it would unlock and straight away lock again. When finances were in order I then purchased a RAC HP026 battery charger early January 2013. Unfortunately, this appears to be faulty and I have already got a full refund for it (thank goodness).
When connected to the car / battery it said the battery was 100% (Which was utter trash as the car wouldn't even attempt at starting). Having suffered sub zero temperatures for a few weeks I was cautious of the instructions for said battery charger warning to not charge a frozen battery. With this in mind I was cautious but received some advice from a mechanic friend of mine who advised me with the key in the ignition the alarm wouldn't sound when you disconnected the battery, some excellent advice there, I still didn't want to disconnect the battery but had no other choice but to remove the battery and take into the house to 'warm up' to charge.
After I had a little falling out with the battery retaining clip bolts I managed to remove the battery (Thanks to my friend, WD40).
The battery was on charge for 5 days before I pulled the plug on it's life support. I bought myself a multi meter to check the voltage in the battery. Once off the car the battery read a very kaput reading of 8.03volts. After 5 days of trickle charging it read 9.08volts. I then decided to speed things up and put it on fast charge for 6 hours, during which time it lept from 9.08volts to a massive 9.09 volts. Needless to say with such a small charge going in at 'fast charge' rate I pulled the plug on Day 5. However, the charge rate has still gone up, even though it's life support was turned off days ago. It registered 9.08 volts at the turning off. A whole 4 days later it's shot from 9.08volts to 9.50 volts. First few days I could perhaps understand the battery still thawing but seriously?

Anyway, New battery arrived - jolly good. Within minutes of it arriving I had fitted it to the car and fired her up. Again, while connecting the new battery I kept the key in the ignition to save said security systems sounding and me not having the proper tools and codes to turn it off. I must say if you have to take your battery OFF the car you HAVE to wait 10 seconds on the ignition before starting, this is to stabilize the ECU / BSI units. Failure to do so may mean you damage the BSI and have to purchase a new one (a lot of extra work there).
However I done it correctly and she came back to life displaying the correct number of mileage - another hurrah!
Anyway, connected the + first (last to come off, first to go on) and then the -. I heard a tick tick tick sound and then realized the ignition was on. I had done it, with more help from my mechanic friend but nonetheless, all by myself.