It seems I've bought myself a Partner (so to speak)

[madwelshman]

Hi folks,

After a 110 mile round trip yesterday, I got back home with this:

[attachment=20136]

[attachment=20137]

[attachment=20138]

It's a 2001 (as you can see) n/a diesel with 170k, a few faults, but nothing too serious, MOT until August 15 and, I didn't pay very much for it

There are a few bits that need doing, abs light comes on after a few mins, a metal brake pipe, gearbox oil leak, give it a service and change cambelt etc.

Other than that, I dunno what my plans are for it yet. Tidy it up first, set of alloys maybe, nothing too blingy.

Will

[Grant]

I used to run one of these (well it was a company vehicle) and it now belongs to a member on here.

Whilst not the speediest of things on the road, the aren't half bullet proof!


It looks really tidy too, nice one

[madwelshman]

Cheers Grant.
For just over £200, I'm well happy.
Like you say, not the quickest thing on the road, but being a mpv type, it's not a bad place to be, even at motorway speeds.
I have decided, that if the engine goes pop (which it shouldn't @ 170k, only just run in), the I'll drop a Dt into it.
Any idea how much of a job that is? I've head there's a difference in drive shaft diameters between the van and 306.

Will

[Grant]

Cheers Grant.
For just over £200, I'm well happy.
Like you say, not the quickest thing on the road, but being a mpv type, it's not a bad place to be, even at motorway speeds.
I have decided, that if the engine goes pop (which it shouldn't @ 170k, only just run in), the I'll drop a Dt into it.
Any idea how much of a job that is? I've head there's a difference in drive shaft diameters between the van and 306.

Will

I can't recall the mileage on the one I used to have. Im sure somebody will be along to clarify. But those engines just keep going, as you say. It does depend on how they have been looked after however, obviously.


As to the engine change, how long is a piece of string

Are you planning on doing the work yourself, or paying and indie to do it?

[madwelshman]

I'll do it myself mate.
The wiring isn't a problem and apparently they both sit on the same mounts as well.
It's just the driveshaft bit I need to clarify beforehand.

Oh yeh, the speedo doesn't work either, so gotta look at that as well.
The speedo on these is electric isn't it?
If so, any suggestions what to check first?

Will

[Grant]

If you're doing it yourself, then it shouldn't be a bad little project TBH.

The mounts will be the same yes, and I'm 99% sure your wiring will be fine, as CANBUS was introduced on the later models of the Partner.
The speedo is electric yes, not a cable driven type. Check the sensor on the back of the gearbox, this is a common part to fail, leaving no (or an intermittent) speedo reading.

[madwelshman]

Ok, cool.
Where about is the sensor? (I haven't got a manual, yet)
I think I read something about it being near the o/s driveshaft inner end, is that right?

Sorry for all the questions.

[Grant]

Ok, cool.
Where about is the sensor? (I haven't got a manual, yet)
I think I read something about it being near the o/s driveshaft inner end, is that right?

Sorry for all the questions.

No need to apologise. Forums are for talking!

The speedo sensor is located on the back of the gearbox on the diff housing.If you look down the back of the engine you should see a brown or cream plastic sensor. Ill find a picture hang on

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Shamelessly stolen from .net

[madwelshman]

Excellent, many thanks, that makes life soooo much easier. I'll see if I can find it this afternoon.

Will

[Grant]

No worries.


You know where the rep button is

[JamesPT]

Having a Van like this in the family is really handy, I have a Kangoo (Long Vers.) from the same year, 2001.
It gets about 1000-2000 miles are year usage, its cheap on insurance and passes Mot without issue.

Back in 2005-6 It was my DD, at that time, I thought to start some project work on it, but didn't get passed a Radio/Speaker upgrade.

Sits in the garage all days, with a "battery tender", waiting for its day to Shine!

[madwelshman]

I can well believe it's gonna be a handy vehicle James.
I'm running a Daihatsu Fourtrak at the moment and that only does about 25-27mpg locally and about 30-32mpg on a run.
I'm hoping the Partner will do close to 40 once it's had a good service and is being used again (it's been unused for over a month apparently). There's not much difference in insurance though. Should be able to cut my running a costs a fair bit though.

Will

[madwelshman]

Scrap yard hunting tomorrow (depending on weather!)
There's a Blingo van in the local yard, so hoping to purchase/acquire some of the following:
Speedo sender, tow bar, coil spring for o/s/f, drivers side door mirror, cambelt covers (none on the engine at all), some alloys maybe :-)

[Jenkosowls]

http://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-14516.html

The berlingo partner from the bulkhead forward is basically a 306. Only difference I found was the suspension turrets are a inch further in at the top. It shares the following

All suspension
All steering
All coolant system
Same wiring
Same subframe
Same engine mountings.
Same gearbox

Shafts wise never had an issue even used 306 shafts to replace worn ones on mine. When I did mine I used a 306dt gearbox and Berlingo shafts. Youl want DT gearbox minimum ratios on the Nad box are to close.

Things to scavenge
Xud dt gear box
Xud dt down pipe
Xud dt pull clutch
Xud dt clutch cable

Check your inner front wings serious issue with rust in those areas

[madwelshman]

Cheers Jenkosowls,

So much excellent info, thank you.

The inner wings are pretty good at present, but there is some surface (at the moment) rust under the abs unit and just behind the battery tray, so they are both gonna have to be lifted/removed to clean it all up and treat it before it really takes hold.

So if I got a complete 306 td, I could transfer the complete engine/box into the Partner and use either pair of shafts is that right? Sorry if I misread/misunderstood what you meant.

The wiring doesn't worry me, neither does the exhaust system.
What about speedo, does the 306 have an electric sender or cable? I'm guessing it depends on the age of the car.

Again, sorry for so many questions.

Will

[Jenkosowls]

Shafts are the same basically use your exsisting wiring loom to run the dt engine any sensor that are different on the dt engine swop from your dw8 my speedo was electronic driven as was the dt engine it's all interchangeable so not a custom parts job are needed

[madwelshman]

Excellent, thank you very much, very useful info and VERY much appreciated.

[madwelshman]

Started getting it sorted today, ready to be pressed into daily service.
Drivers side drive shaft removed to investigate a noisy bearing.
The centre bearing on the shaft seems fine, so I pretty sure I'm right in thinking it was just wheel bearing whilst on test drive. Will find out tomorrow.
New track rod ends and bottom joint as well as they're a bit loose and the rod end rubber is damaged.

Ordered a timing belt kit as the one on it doesn't look like it's been changed for a while, then I've gotta find a full set of cambelt covers as the previous owner has been running it without any on there. They were very lucky that they didn't end up with a wrecked engine.

[blaze_the_6]

Will be interested in hearing what sort of MPG you get out of this beast. I have an 07 Fiat Scudo with the PSA 1.6 HDi engine and it only returns 33mpg max!

Your Partner with that motor will be far more reliable than my piece of sh**. Dont buy one, unless you love electrical problems and expensive dual mass flywheels.

[madwelshman]

Will be interested in hearing what sort of MPG you get out of this beast. I have an 07 Fiat Scudo with the PSA 1.6 HDi engine and it only returns 33mpg max!

Your Partner with that motor will be far more reliable than my piece of sh**. Dont buy one, unless you love electrical problems and expensive dual mass flywheels.

Well, a neighbour has a Berlingo van with the same DW8 engine as mine and travels up to 200 miles a day, 5 days a week in it. He sticks to about 70 on the motorway and says he's getting about 50mpg out of it. But if he pushes it a bit and sits at 80ish, it drops to early 40's mpg.

I did quite a lot of research before getting one and was told that if I went HDi, go for the 2.0 90hp engine rather than the 110hp and basically avoid the 1.6 like the plague!!!! lol

The one I've bought was the right price and pretty close at just over 50 miles away. Plus, not too many electrics which is a bonus.

[blaze_the_6]

Stick to the classics mate, easier to work on too. Your friend is right, from dpf issues,injector seal problems, turbo issues and the main three for me as stated, electrical, gearbox and dual mass lol (the gear box literally dropped fifth gear) while im at it, the dpf rarely puts the motor in to limp mode. The electrical issues are the most frustrating though with garages scratching their heads at it too.

Had all these issues at 80k with full service history (never abused or overloaded)

Only plus side to it is for a van, its a lovely drive.

To some, 80k is a lot but I have had 300k+ out of mechanical pump turbo diesels without touching the engine or gearbox (minus clutch).

That wee motor you got there is a bargain at that price and she looks good too from the pics.

[madwelshman]

Yeh, it's pretty good. A few bumps and scrapes/scratches, but what do you expect with a 13yr old vehicle.
The last MOT was definitely done over the fone though!!
Snapped front spring, ABS light staying on, quite badly corroded metal brake pipe on the rear, wiper blade with no rubber on it, a fairly decent stone chip/crack directly in line of sight to name a few.
The guy I bought it off had it less than 2 months and did about 50 miles in it. 30 of those were when he collected it and 20 when he took it to Swansea for a DVSA vehicle inspection as he spotted the broken spring which being badly rusted had clearly gone before the MOT.
He took it back home parked it up and it stayed there until I bought it.
My mate drove it home for me as he's got Motor traders insurance and it buzzed along quite happily at up to 80 on times. (Not that he knew as the speedo doesn't work.)
It doesn't smoke, the rear beam is good with no creaks or negative camber, so all in all, I'm quite chuffed with it.
It's gonna do AT LEAST 18mpg more than my Daihatsu Fourtrak and even up to 28mpg more and if it decides to give up the ghost, then I'll drop an 1.9 TD into it :-)

[madwelshman]

Not much of an update, but got a little bit done today.

o/s/f wheel bearing replaced, bearing on the top spring seat replaced, just waiting for another front spring, then the leg can be built up and be put back on.
New bottom ball joint and track rod end on the o/s done as well.
Gotta replace the outer cv boot clip as the one on it isn't tight enough and is allowing grease to seep out covering the abs reluctor ring and covering the abs sensor as well.
I'm hoping that once this is all cleaned up again and the boot is tight that my abs light won't come on anymore after a few mins driving.
Got my cambelt kit and a new water pump ready to be fitted, then I've gotta find a set of timing belt covers as mine are missing. Hopefully some on the van in the local scrappy I can get.

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[blaze_the_6]

Yeh, it's pretty good. A few bumps and scrapes/scratches, but what do you expect with a 13yr old vehicle.
The last MOT was definitely done over the fone though!!
Snapped front spring, ABS light staying on, quite badly corroded metal brake pipe on the rear, wiper blade with no rubber on it, a fairly decent stone chip/crack directly in line of sight to name a few.
The guy I bought it off had it less than 2 months and did about 50 miles in it. 30 of those were when he collected it and 20 when he took it to Swansea for a DVSA vehicle inspection as he spotted the broken spring which being badly rusted had clearly gone before the MOT.
He took it back home parked it up and it stayed there until I bought it.
My mate drove it home for me as he's got Motor traders insurance and it buzzed along quite happily at up to 80 on times. (Not that he knew as the speedo doesn't work.)
It doesn't smoke, the rear beam is good with no creaks or negative camber, so all in all, I'm quite chuffed with it.
It's gonna do AT LEAST 18mpg more than my Daihatsu Fourtrak and even up to 28mpg more and if it decides to give up the ghost, then I'll drop an 1.9 TD into it :-)

Great to hear about the rear beam bud, its what seems to have always written PSA cars off.

I need a ramp like that and the balls to use it!

[madwelshman]

Yeh, rear beam is good, which is great news.

lol @ the ramp. It's my mates, he's got two of them. They're great for working under cars as you can get them nice and high. could only use one though as needed the front wheel off to sort the broken spring and wheel bearing. There is a jack and stand there as well, don't worry. It's not just balancing on the back wheel up the ramp. lol

[blaze_the_6]

Yeh, rear beam is good, which is great news.

lol @ the ramp. It's my mates, he's got two of them. They're great for working under cars as you can get them nice and high. could only use one though as needed the front wheel off to sort the broken spring and wheel bearing. There is a jack and stand there as well, don't worry. It's not just balancing on the back wheel up the ramp. lol

Your lucky you got the contacts mate. I might get a partner/berlingo as my next daily, as I would love something to chuck tools in the back.

My old (dare I say it on here) clio DTi will not die lol. Cracking MECHANICAL pump diesel engine lol.

[madwelshman]

That's why I was after one, so I could make a wooden box in the back to put my tools in.
I was after a van, but this one came up so close and at such an attractive price, it was too good (so far) to miss out on.

[madwelshman]

Can you guess what the latest problem is?!?!

[attachment=20304]


We started off as fitting a replacement throttle cable, but ended up pulling the dash out.



Managed to get the old cable out ok, but when trying to fit the new one, managed to push the rubber grommet through the hole into the cabin side.

Decided after finding a wet floor this morning that the heater matrix has gone as it smells of coolant and on further investigation, can see a stain on the carpet below the heater.

So, in order to gain easy access for throttle cable fitting, decided to bite the bullet and pull/replace the heater matrix at the same time.

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On the plus side, I can give the car a damn good clean and remove all the hay/straw that seems to be EVERYWHERE!!
This thing has obviously been well looked after in the past, NOT!!

Still, we're making progress, slowly!

[blaze_the_6]

HAHAHA, its amazing how a small problem can open a can of worms. Im sure your more than capable enough to deal with it though. Leaky heater matrix's seem to be a common problem on 306's, so the same probably applies to the Partner due to the similarities between the two platforms.

I still recon its a great buy for the price you paid. I would have snapped it up too

[madwelshman]

This is what the interior of my Pug looked like when it got too dark to carry on.
Not a job I wanna do again soon, that's for sure.
I hate working on new(er) cars

[attachment=20317]

Heater matrix badly corroded on the bottom end, so happy that's where the leak was as the O rings were fine.