Peugeot 206

Sunday, 5 February 2012

Archive for the ‘Peugeot 206’ Category

February 04, 2012

Peugeot 206 – Guide to topping up your engine oil

Filed Under (Peugeot 206) by James on 04-02-2012

Engine oil is an amazingly under-appreciated element of a car. Many believe you can wait until this gets low to top it up, or wait for your next service. This simply isn’t the case. Once your engine oil gets low the top of the engine WILL be incurring higher wear and tear, with higher friction. I recommend never letting your oil get to the half full point, keep it topped up to minimise the wear on your motor!

This guide aims to give you a simple step by step guide to topping up your engine oil, and is based on the Peugeot 206.

Source your Engine Oil

I’ve bought mine from EuroCarParts in the past, but you can get engine oil in petrol stations, or any car parts store (e.g. Halfords). Car parts stores will be able to tell you the right oil for your vehicle, your car manual will also show this. The key details you need is the viscosity (e.g. “10W40″) and the type (e.g. “Synthetic”).

It is vital to get the correct oil for your engine. A shop may recommend a slightly different oil to the manual… this isn’t an issue, the point is that it will be similar to that recommended. I use a 10W40 Synthetic oil for my Peugeot 206. For awareness, the viscosity is the thickness of the oil, the two numbers represent the thickness of the oil at low and high temperatures.

Topping up your engine oil on a Peugeot 206

It is generally recommended to topup oil on a warm engine (having used the car, but having left it for 10 mins to cool a little). This said, I topup on a cold engine sometimes, but I don’t go for a complete fill if the engine is cool, as I believe the oil may expand in a warm engine).

: When you turn the ignition on (turn key one click) you should see a rough oil level guide. This shot shows this car is definitely in need of a topup (2/6 blips down).

: The oil cap is pretty much right in the middle of the engine.

: Twist the cap anti-clockwise by a quarter of a turn to open.

: Lift the cap completely away. Note there are two tabs in the cap. You’ll need to align the cap tabs to the gaps in hole to replace the cap at the end.

: The dipstick is just to the right of the cap… you can’t miss mine, it’s bright yellow!

: Just pull the dipstick vertically upwards… once out, you may need to “wiggle” it a bit to make it easy to pull the long metal stick out.

: On the end of the dipstick, you’ll find a small plastic section. This is the measuring stick which usually sits at the bottom of the engine.

: To read the dipstick, it is usually best to use a cloth or tissue to wipe off the excess oil from the plastic section, and re-dip for a clear reading. When dipping be sure the dipstick is FULLY back in the tube it came from before pulling back out and reading the level.

: That’s clean enough to re-dip for a reading. But do ensure no fragments of tissue etc.. are on the dipstick, you don’t want to introduce any debris into the engine obviously! You read the the level based on where the oil comes upto on the scale shown. Note thinner oils maybe more difficult to see against the plastic.

: Pour a small amount of oil into the openning, and remeasure the oil level. You’ll need to pour slowly, and may find a jam jar easier to pour from rather than the bottle your oil comes in. To be clear, you NOT be able to see when you have put in the right amount, you need to keep re-measuring regularly with the dipstick. You’ll need about a jam jar full of oil per blip shown missing on the dashboard rough level checker in my experience.

: Leave the oil to settle for a few minutes before measuring your oil level with the dipstick again. Be careful NOT to overfill the engine (picture shows overfilled engine). Don’t worry about being 100% full, 80% is fine, as the oil will continue to settle into the engine, so check again another day to see how close you got. Overfilling can damage the engine, so be careful not to get overenthusiastic!

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April 09, 2011

Are high performance car light bulbs worth it? – the experiment

Filed Under (Peugeot 206, Technology) by James on 09-04-2011

This post came from an assumption that the standard “generic” bulbs I was buying meant I was possibly sacrificing visibility, and therefore safety in my bulb choice. Particularly having seen the claims of market leader Osram with their “up to 90% more light” “up to 10% whiter light”, and up to 35 metres more visibility, for the Night Breaker Plus bulb. I thought I had to give these a go, particularly as they are a direct replacement for standard bulbs i.e. they require NO modificaton to your headlamps to install.

Pricing for high performance bulbs

I bought mine from EuroCarParts initially, and then took then straight back, when I got home and found them for half that price online! Current Amazon pricing is below.

Note: When buying, be sure to check what fitting you need (H1, H4, H7…). My Peugeot 206 needed the H7 version. The fitting type is generic across bulb manufacturers, so find out what fitting type your car takes at this Phillips website, then search Amazon for suitable bulbs:http://www.pal-guide.com

(See below Amazon info for my experience of using Osram Nightbreaker Plus Bulbs)

My experience

Pros:

From the drivers seat, the whiter light is more obvious – looks nicer!

If your lights look yellow to an observer, they will look much whiter – looks nicer!

Bulb looks a vastly improved quality to that which I usually buy by getting a standard generic bulb

Required no modification to the headlamps – straight replacement

Price was excellent – £8 per bulb when I purchase mine

Cons:

No noticable increase in visibility when used in dipped beam position

Increased heat means these will *possibly* have a shorter life (will update when bulbs blow – installed March 2011. Update 3rd November 2011: 1 bulb just blew (lasted approx 8 months). Other still working for now.Update 20th November 2011: 2nd bulb just blew (lasted approx 9 months).)

So theorically more pros than cons, but the cons are major, i.e. I bought these for increased visibility, and I don’t appear to have gained that at all! I’ve sent an email to Osram to ask them to backup their claim. I assume they will state that the increase is most noticeable in full beam… but frankly, so 35 metres extra on full beam I would expect to notice *something* on dipped beam!

This all said, I probably will buy again if price remains good, and lifetime is at least 1 year. As this will make them comparable life to cheap bulbs, but with a smarter look!

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November 07, 2010

Peugeot 206 – Changing the pollen filter (aka cabin filter)

Filed Under (Peugeot 206) by James on 07-11-2010

Having changed my pollen filter again, it reminds me how hard it seemed to be to find a guide for doing this, so I’ve disappeared out in the rain to take some photos to create a quick guide to replacing the cabin pollen filter on a Peugeot 206.

Be aware: The cabin pollen filter is in a tight space, so don’t be surprised if you get your hands on it, but seem to be struggling to work out how to get it out! It is literally sitting in the top of a metal duct, so you “just” need to lift it up and out. I find I have to loosen the edges, and then lift the front, and pull the right hand side out first (basically lift and pull the pointed right end side out). Hopefully the photos below will help. It’s well worth doing yourself rather than paying an expensive garage fee.

Pricing for pollen filters

I’ve bought mine from GSF and EuroCarParts in the past, but actually Amazon now looks to have the best price, at about £2 less than EuroCarParts and GSF at the time of writing (EuroCarParts: £7.29 versus Amazon: £5.42 with free delivery).

Replacing the cabin pollen filter on a Peugeot 206

: Approaching the car from the front, with the bonnet open, the cabin filter is up underneath the windscreen, and accessible from the top left as you look at the space under the bonnet.

: Tucked in the under the dashboard, you can see the top of the cabin filter.

: Lift the filter from each edge, inc the back, to loosen the filter. It is a very tight space. Lift the front and bring out the front right corner first.

: I find the front right corner needs to come out first, with the filter being twisted slowly 90 degrees to remove through the gap available.

: As it comes out of the gap under the bonnet, you have turned it 90 degrees, so the right hand side comes out first.

: There you go, that’s the filter removed. I change mine every 6 months.

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February 14, 2010

Peugeot 206 – Change front bulbs (Dipped/Full beam/Side)

Filed Under (Peugeot 206) by James on 14-02-2010

Having needed to change the side light and d,ipped beam light on my Peugeot 206 today, I looked on the Internet and couldn’t find any simple diagram on how to change the side light (having only changed full and dipped beam bulbs before)… so I thought it would be good to create a simple guide on changing bulbs on a Peugeot 206… though I suspect this maybe pretty similar for other Peugeot’s.

This guide is based on the change I’ve just done, which was on the front right bulbs. I’ll try and add fog lights or rear lights as and when I next replace them.

Pricing for Peugeot 206 bulbs

I’ve bought mine from GSF and EuroCarParts in the past, but recently started buying mine online, as the price, particularly for higher intensity ones (for better visibility) seems to be better. Current Amazon pricing is below:

Generic steps required for Full beam / Dipped deam and Side lights

: Starting position – I’m replacing the front right bulbs.

: Depress the top, or lift the bottom section of the tab partway down the screenwash filler, pull the filler towards you at the same time.

: Lift the filler out of the way

: Consider placing a clean cloth in screenwash opening to prevent debris falling in. Now lift the tab up and rock the bulb cover backwards towards the drivers cabin.

: Cover is difficult to manoeuvre out, I find it comes out best twisting 90 degrees towards the engine.

: You’re there! Now you can see the rear of all 3 bulb units (marked in picture).

Full beam / Dipped beam

: Pull power cable straight back towards drivers cabin (may need a little wiggle!)

: Unhook wire bulb support from hook at top of bulb holder… it’s hinged at the bottom

: The hinged support should hinge downwards to allow access to the bulb pins.

: Lift bulb out straight towards drivers cabin (rocked in picture to show bulb). Note the way up of the bulb, a tab on the bulb forces it to only fit one way up (tab upwards). You’ll need to fit the new one this way up for it to fit the bulb support!

Side light

: Grab the bulb bracket and twist it 90 degress (45 degress turned in photo). Fitting should come straight backwards out of the light unit.

: The bulb sits on the front the removed bracket. Grab hold of the bulb and pull it out.

: Bulb literally pulls straight out. Push replacement back in.

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