If anyone read my desperate Tigra threads, the pain is now over. All seems well with the car, just need by back to heal now and I will be laughing. Took me nearly the whole weekend to put it back together though, cost - just less than £200 including fluids/gaskets/head bolts/head welding/seat cutting & a bit of labour because I was too lazy to strip the head of valves & manifolds.

About time for something else to go wrong then. My 406 is losing water from the bottom hose/rad connection as you will see from the photo I cant attach.

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=P9180050.jpg

There is a circlip keeping the whole lot together it seems. I think the push fit hose has a metal end which has corroded but I wont know this until I get it out.

I am thinking I need a new hose, and disconnecting at the rad looks easy enough but I cant see how the other end connects to the very rusty metal coolant rail. Again you cant see this from the photo I cant attach (circled in red).

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=P9180051.jpg

Questions: any ideas how I disconnect at the car end, will the hose be a dealer part and is it likely I will need a new rad?

Oh yeah, and our £140 microwave has just packed up.

And I still cant attach photos.

Thanks, David.

Cant help with the rail end but I had similar problems with a 306 . Ended up cutting the hose and removing the rad, then VERY carefully removed the metal sleeve from the rad. Dremmel type tool may help ? Problem was caused by Peugeot using a mild steel sleeve . IIRC the replacement hose had a stainless sleeve Best of luck

Pictures are a bit big for attaching, but when writing the message click the yellow postcard button (7th one along just above the box you type in) that brings up a little box where you can type/paste in the url (ie. the http:// link you've got).

Sorry no idea about the hose problem, but well done overcoming the cylinder head

The cylinder head nearly overcame me!

Posting pictures now as recommended.


Bottom hose rad end


Bottom hose rail end


Not only can I post pictures again - I can now post multiples, thanks Ian.

Edit to say mtliple failing images, but still trying.

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

Finally edited to show pictures at last!

[Edited on 19/9/07 by Mansfield]

As suggested above you can carefully remove the corroded end from within the rad and fit a new genuine hose. I don't think anyone else stocks them, might be worth trying eurocar parts though.

If it's a diesel you will have some more fun diconnecting the hose at the water outlet at the rear of the block.

Petrol with aircon, I just knew this would be bad news, is the petrol easier than the diesel?

As I remember the petrol ones are not as bad. The factory clips are of the sprung type which you can manage to remove with long nose or small water pump pliers. Might be an idea to replace them with jubilee type on reassembly. be careful with the rad as older ones are fragile.
To make job easier remove the wheel arch liner too, it will give you more room.

IIRC that hose comes with the metal rail which connects at the back of the engine.

The pipes can be a right basteward to get out of the rad. Give it a dam good soak in wd40. U can knock it and tease it out with a big screwdriver. I did quite a few on the td's a while ago they are quite common.

Is that bottom corner of your rad wet because of the pipe leak or the cores leaking? It looks a bit manky. Try German swedish and french for the hose. As said i think the new ones are stainless ends. When u fit the new one lube the fitting and itl make fitting it hell of a lot easier. Take the wheel off and the arch liner out and you will have loads more room. Dont quote me on this but i dont think the pipes and rad are that expensive.

After reading your replies I got a bottom hose from the main dealer, GSF dont do them sadly. £42 for this and a couple of similarly sized seals. No clip though, I will have to be careful with the existing one.


New bottom hose

Not too bad for £42 from a main dealer, I didn't realise how far around the engine it went.

You are right the rad does look manky, I think I should replace this too (£90-GSF).

This job is going to cost me 1/3 the value of the car! Has been a good workhorse though and it owes me nothing so I dont mind 'spoiling' it.

Thanks for your help.

[Edited on 20/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 20/9/07 by Mansfield]

[Edited on 20/9/07 by Mansfield]