My206Club: Bestari 206

Showing posts with label Bestari 206. Show all posts

Monday, April 4, 2011

Peugeot 206: Air Conditioning Leak

Last year, my BB Lion’s air-conditioning failed… Well, sort of, or more accurately, the cooling efficiency drop and I thought it was due to the climate change, hahaha… Top up the gas and at first it was OK, but the cooling efficiency drops again in about probably 2-3 month or so. Went back to the Service Centre and ask if they can check, but they said it would take a lot of time to find any leaks, so they suggest to top up first and if still out of gas, they will check on it. True enough, in about 1 month++, the cooling efficiency drops again and it’s getting worst, and it happen when I’m going out with my friends, so stop by an air-cond repair shop to top up the gas. The air-cond man wanted to open up to check on the condition or possible leak but he’s not familiar with Peugeot and don’t know where it’s located, so he just top up and told me it’s better to go back to Peugeot Service Centre.

BB Lion all ready for operation...

In about less than a month, it got worst, like totally out of gas, no sign of cold air, it’s like driving in sauna room under the hot sun,… Well, serves me right for delaying so long… Since it’s sort of emergency and a week day where I need to work on the next day, I went to another air-cond repair shop for top up before I planned the day to send to the Service Centre. This shop, my friend used to go there and said it was good and honest shop (it’s hard to find one in Malaysia , really). The boss is a very nice chap, he check with me on the situation and advice me, if there is a suspected leak, it’s better not to continue to top up as later it will damage the compressor when the compressor oil runs out. Since I’ve done some research and found information that usually the leak is at the evaporator coil or cooling coil (thanks to Tysontalenta), I took this opportunity and ask him about the leak and if whether he can fix it.

It was a joy to know that he can do it, not only that, he have done it before and it was also leak on the evaporator. Knowing he’s able to fix it, I check with him the “damage” on my wallet if I were to repair this, and as usual, he asked if I wanted original parts or third-party, and for third party, there is Taiwan brand/made and China brand/made. The China brand/made (Dowson) is the one similar with the one replaced by Tysontalenta.

The price gap between the 3 is huge. Original parts cost over RM2000! The Taiwan brand/made is around RM700++ while the China brand/made is around RM300++. He recommended not to get the China brand as they deal with those parts before, whereby when it leaks, it leaks badly. As the original parts is too expensive, he recommended me to go for the Taiwan brand. Since my original parts can’t even last me 3 years, I decided what’s the point of getting original? I also check with some other members who face similar issue with the evaporator. The main problem is,… for this car, it’s hard to service the evaporator as the entire dashboard needs to be dismanteled which will take a lot of time and you’ll also be charged for the workmanship.

Anyway, after checking out the shop, saw many pictures of the cars they have work on, many of it are continental cars which also requires dismantling the entire dashboard. Knowing this, I’m more relieve and decided to let him fix up BB Lion’s air-conditioning system.

BB Lion's Dashboard removed...

The total time required for the entire repair process will took about a day, from morning to evening. So, I send in my BB Lion on Saturday morning around 9AM when they start work. To cut things short, they started working on my BB Lion about almost 10AM and they finish around almost 7PM. When they dismantle the dashboard, it’s really heartache to see but at the same time, it’s interesting and amazed to see all the details in the car itself. The dashboard looks really cool, futuristic and complicated with all the curves and details, unlike some of those plain straight dull looking dashboard. It looks like a sophisticated cockpit from some cool ship, and it’s big.

The cool and sophisticated looking "cockpit" or dashboard with curves and detail...
Unlike our typical B-Segment cheap and simple looking dashboard...

After dismantling the dashboard, you will be able to see the “pollen/cabin filter” compartment and the pollen filter itself, and also some “holes” at the middle of the body which can be accessed from the front engine compartment. Here, you can see how important is the pollen filter as it’s required to filter out dust, contaminants, etc from outside. I took out the pollen filter and gosh it was dirty! This is also important to prevent dust from entering and clogged up your evaporator which eventually causes it to fail. Similarly, it’s important to keep your cabin always clean or you might risk polluting the evaporator (I was inform about this long ago when I was driving another car, but back then the car I was driving, the evaporator can be removed easily and be cleaned).

The pollen/Cabin filter.

The pollen/Cabin filter (Closer Inspection).

View from the inside of the car...

After some long hours of work, they managed to take out the evaporator and check for leaks. Found out there is leaks and it’s quite obvious as well, the boss also checks on the pipes and everything else. He mentioned one of the part, "Expansion Block Valve", is “still” working but not in good condition, though, he let me decide if I want to re-use it back. He also mentioned that in case it fails it, it can be replace “quite” easily (at least not needing to remove the entire dashboard). After some short consideration and checking the price of a new unit (3rd party - made in France, also used by Merz), I decided to change it to prevent the “hassle” of coming back again and probably paying for additional workmanship. I also decided to replace the "Receiver Drier" since it’s old; Well, better to get it all done at once than doing it one by one, unless I’m very free or I’m working as Sales with lots of time to spare, or I have more than 1 car…

The leaking evaporator oil or cooling coil...
(Can't see here, taken using phone camera)

Finally, it’s done. Everything is assembled back, now the biggest fear I have, can the car start “normally”?..... Hearts pumping and the worker switch on the ignition and… cranks…… Thankfully, it started normally. It was a great relief =)
The air-conditioning gas as well as the compressor oil was also topped up, and final inspection is done to make sure everything is OK and the air-cond is cold again.

While on my way back, I notice something wrong… the lighting is very dim… Oh gosh… At first I thought they damaged something… but luckily one long lost memory somehow find its way back to me before I embarrass myself; The “brightness” can be adjusted from the controls, but since I’ve only adjusted it once long long ago, this “memory” was lost somewhere in the memory bank. Luckily it’s smart enough to come back to me before I embarrass myself =P

Anyway, overall everything was all good, only have 2 main complaints:
It seems the cover of the middle steering is now unable to close “properly”, this is due to the way they open it when they want to take out the steering. To fix it, I suppose I’ll need to remove the cover and try “bend” it inwards to make it “bend” slightly inwards.

The 2bd issue is more problematic, my gear-knob is damaged… It seems they thought the gear-knob is removed by twisting it at first (the right way is to pull upwards)… Now my gear-knob is loose, it can turn around… and I also found some pieces of the plastics “peeled off”. Recently, while trying to fix this using glue, twisting it caused the entire gear-knob detached as the plastics already broken. Having no choice, I glued everything with ‘Super Glue’, but not sure if it can last… or how long can it last…
But guess what? It didn't last long, the whole thing broke BUT luckily it happen when I've reach the destination... What I did then was... bandage it up like an injured gear-knob, haha...
Luckily and many thanks to Intermilan (Zaid), he have a spare GTI gear-knob, and he was very kind enough to sell it to me and also help me to fix it up. BIG THANKS to Intermilan!!!

Lastly, here's the breakdown of the repair cost:
1 X Evaporator/Cooling Coil (1 Year Warranty): RM783.00
1 X Expansion Block Valve (1 Year Warranty; Made in France): RM363.00
1 X Receiver Drier (6 Months Warranty): RM178.00

Vacuum Top Up Gas R134a: RM55.00
Compressor Oil (Denso) Top Up: RM40.00

Labour Charge: RM280.00

Total Damage: RM1, 699.00

Here's more photos:

Dials by Jaeger

The Single Climate Digital Air-Cond Control Unit

The Multi-Function Display (MFD)

Infamous Com2000

The evaporator unit...

Ew.....

Putting all back together...

Awaiting for "key" (steering cover) insertion....

Ready to form Voltron...
Activate interlocks!
Dynotherms connected!
Infracells up!
Megathrusters are GO!
=p

BB Lion all set and ready to go~

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

DKTuning - Remap for your 206!

A very good news to all 206 owners. DKTuning contacted me and offered his service for 206 remap together with all informations and special price for 206. DKTuning is well known for its skills in remap, where the owner/tuner, Mr. Dylan has done a great remap job for a Peugeot 407 owner, alfa2 from Autoworld forum. For those who have followed the forum, alfa2's 407 has been remap by several tuners and turn out to be a disappointment until he met Dylan, which not only done a great job, he also shares many technical information and continuously improves the map.

Not long ago, DKTuning worked on the 308 THP and because it's a turbo-charged engine, thus there's more gain from remapping. For N/A engine, not to worry as Dylan has shared some information on how he will be tuning for the 206 to take advantage of the fuel used, as well as, tuning based on customer's requirement. Plus, the 407's engine is also a N/A engine and due to the normal 206 engine capacity is only 1.6L and below, the price will be budgeted for 1.6L and below category, but the amount of work, time required, etc is still the same regardless.

Now, let's get to the main point:
For the 206, Dylan will be optimizing the car to the best possible and localise it for our Malaysian Fuel (RON95/RON97) and also the weather. Dyno will also be carried out and on road time testing to see how much improvements can be done for the particular car to give others the confidence.
Unlike those standard remap, this remap will be unique for each car as Dylan will be adjusting the map for each car and driver; He will also gather feedback from the driver and check with the driver on the car's behavior to improve the map as well as for the particular car/driver.

Peugeot 206 1.4L/1.6L (A/T or M/T) Remap price (estimated):
1 car: RM2,000
2 cars: RM1,800
5 cars: RM1,700

DKTUNING.com
(ECU Remapping | Chiptuning | Diagnostic)
Tel: +6012 4111899
Fax: +604 6562899
Email: info@dktuning.com

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/dktuning

As above, the price is depended on the volume; If there is more volume, the price can be negotiated. So, my advice would be to gather as many 206 as possible first, as what is done by the 308 owners previously.
UPDATE (17th February 2011): For group remap, Dylan would prefer a single location for all cars, saving time and more fun.

NOTE:
Dylan would preferably hope to have one car from Penang/Northern region so it's convenient for him to try out new maps as he continuously improves the map. For those in other locations, not to worry as from my information, he can travel to your location.

The sweet-sweet DEAL:
1st remap car will get VERY SPECIAL PRICE and Dylan will also be covering the cost of the dyno. He would also appreciate the 1st car to be convenient for him for extended testing to develop the optimum map.
So, if you're from Penang, quickly contact Dylan for this VERY SPECIAL PRICE.
We would hope you would share your stories with us as well!

Some additional information shared by Dylan from DKTuning:
Modern cars have multiple mappings in the ECU. It will autoswitch depending on what type of fuel you use on your car. We have a unique tuning pattern for remapping N/A cars. If you use higher RON fuel, your power will increase by a few hp, be it stock or remapped car. After our remap, the drop of power between RON97 and 95 will be quite insignificant, making the usage of RON95 (cheaper cost) possible even for those who does not want a sacrifice of power. For example, in original mapping, the drop of HP between RON97 is 10hp. After our remap, the difference probably is 2hp.

GOOD NEWS for KL/Klang Valley 206 owners:
DKTuning will be in KL/PJ from 17th-22nd February 2011. For those interested or want to get more information or maybe have a look at Dylan at work, do contact him!

UPDATE (17th February 2011):
Some additional information from Dylan; Result of the remap, the gain would range between 5 - 12%, depending on car and at what RPM we are looking at. The era of those piggyback tuners kept emphasizing on peak HP and torque is not going to be popular anymore, as Dylan is working really hard educating people those figures are NOT important at all. We don't drive above 5000rpm most of the time, the remap will optimize mostly on the low and mid end with huge gain, improving DRIVABILITY.

For some figures, you can check out the RESULT page for Dyno charts on some cars available:
http://www.dktuning.com/results.htm
NOTE: The 407 with EW10A N/A Engine seems to have impressive gain, plus you can see K&N Filter with proven Dyno results. While some engine(s) may not have impressive figure, such as the BMW 318i and the Mitsubishi Lancer GT whereby the dynocharts for these cars aren't that impressive; the gain on top end is nothing to shout about, but take a look at the low to mid rpm range, especially the Lancer GT; This improves the overall DRIVABILITY, which can be felt and experienced by the driver. This is what really important and utilize by most drivers (if not all).

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Battery Replacement

In preparation for my upcoming event on 25th July 2010 (Sunday), I decided to change away my "still working" battery on my BB Lion. The event which will be held in the morning and I will need to leave around 7am. In case somehow the battery decided to fail on me on that day, I'll have no where to get a replacement at that particular time of the day.

Since my "still working" battery is already over a year, I decided to take prevention steps and change it. Besides, in recent months, I've been doing a lot of short distance driving with frequent start and stop. It ain't good for the battery.

The battery I'm changing to is of Varta brand (Europe), which is one of the original brand for Peugeot cars. Basically there're variants of each size:
Black Dynamic
Blue Dynamic
Silver Dynamic

If you check out Varta official website, you can find more types. I would say the 3 different variant/types is similar to of Bosch S3, S4 and S5. My current battery is Bosch S3 of size DIN55L. I found this Varta seller from mudah.com.my; Actually, I found him last year when my battery failed on me early in the morning before leaving to work, due to time constraint, I bought the Bosch S3 from nearby tyre shop. Wanted Bosch S4, but they only have Bosch S3. This time, I have more time and choices.

The Varta battery seller is actually a battery supplier, and they also supply Bosch batteries in case anyone is interested. They also accept trade in of your old battery for a small fee. Finally, they do delivery service around Klang Valley. How good is that deal? In my opinion, superb~

I bought Varta Blue Dynamic DIN55L for RM350 and traded in my old Bosch S3 DIN55L for RM20. The boss himself came over and do the installation as his staff was not able to make it. Very nice guy, after he installed the battery, he also test and checked the battery and also my alternator to confirm everything is OK. I don't get such service when I change battery outside before, have you?

He also tested my old battery and notice my cold cranking amp (CCA) was around 280++ only, while the new one is around 600++. So, guess my old battery was also retiring soon. Oh yes, he also check my old battery manufactured date, it was somewhere in 2008, so it was also in storage for sometime before I actually bought it.

Finally, I was also given a receipt for the battery. Overall, the price is reasonable or great and the service was great~ definitely recommended! Hopefully, through this, he can give special price for all 206 owners and hope we can all help to support him for providing such good service and product.

INFORMATION OF THE SELLER:
Website: http://batteryworld.webs.com

HEADQUARTER:
NO.25, JALAN PENDAMAR 27/90,
TMN P'IND ALAM MEGAH, SEKSYEN 27,
40400 SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA.
TEL: +603-5191 6113
FAX: +603-5192 6113
MOBILE: ~~+6012-225 5152~~ +6016-769 8811 (Sirlim)

They are Automotive Battery Supplier and they supplies many ranges of battery brands. So, if you're interested to get other brand, you can consider their service too.

Lastly, actually there's some important information on disconnecting and reconnecting the battery which you can find from the Internet. This applies for most modern cars with BSI, this is to prevent problems like corrupting/damage to the BSI (something like when you remove your memory card while it's being access which could lead to corrupted data or worst, your memory card). This is actually very important as there're owners with failed BSI and have to replace the entire BSI, although I'm not sure the actual caused. But why take the risk when the below simple step isn't hard to follow?

Method for unplugging/disconnecting the battery:
1. Before unplugging the battery, turn off all gadgets and lights, closing all the doors and unplugging any kind of diagnostic tool. The drivers side window has to be kept open for any kind of requirement.
2. Turn off the ignition and take out the key following which unplug the battery after an interval of
3 minutes.
3. The BSI needs to be taken to sleep mode or Active Economy mode, during which nothing in the vehicle should be operating. Even the bonnet should not be opened that time as it can 'wake up' the BSI if the vehicle has got an alarm installed.
For batteries under the bonnet, the bonnet should be opened and left up before allowing the BSI to go to Sleep Mode. During this 3 minute interval, use of any remote control central locking gadgets for other vehicles should be avoided in the vicinity of the concerned vehicle.

Method for connecting the battery:
The following procedure is for reinstalling the battery connection unless told otherwise by Peugeot or Product service. Failure to follow this procedure may result in damage to the BSI's embedded software during reconnection.
1. All the doors have to be closed with the ignition key turned off and the key taken out.
2. Now without opening the doors, replug the battery and wait for 10 seconds.
3. Turn on the headlights, turn on the engine and inspect the system's functioning.

Some good source of information about Battery:
http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa101604d.htm

Some information taken from the above site:

Batteries are perishable, so buy fresh.
Unless a battery has periodically been recharged, never buy a non-sealed wet Low Maintenance battery that is more than three months old or a sealed wet Maintenance Free battery that is more than six months old because they have started to sulfate.

"Dry charged" batteries are shipped without electrolyte, but usually have "sell by" dates of one to three years. Battery dealers will often place their fresher batteries in the rear of the rack or in a storage room. The date of manufacture is often stamped on the case or printed on a sticker. If you cannot determine the date code, ask the dealer or contact the manufacturer.

A battery will lose its charge sitting in storage.
Depending on the type of battery and temperature, batteries have a natural self-discharge or internal electro chemical "leakage" at a 1% to 25% rate per month. Over time the battery will become sulfated and fully discharged. Higher temperatures accelerate this process. A battery stored at 95° F (35° C) will self-discharge twice as fast than one stored at 75° F (23.9° C).

More RC (Reserve Capacity) or Amp Hours is a good thing.
Larger RC or Amp Hours is better because of the effects of increased parasitic (ignition key off) loads, normal battery self discharge while in long term parking or storage, and the demands of stop-and-go driving.

Amp Hours (AH) is normally used to describe the capacity of deep cycle and international car batteries. When comparing Amp Hour specifications, use the same discharge rates, expressed in hours. There is a relationship between the weight of the battery and the amount of RC or Amp Hours. A heavier battery has more lead and is normally better choice.

Size matters!
Purchasing a battery has become much easier because most of the battery and vehicle manufacturers have adopted the BCI Group Number as a standard for the battery's voltage, physical size, terminal type and terminal location. It contains the vehicle's minimum cold cranking amps (CCA) requirement and Battery Council International (BCI) Group Number replacement recommendations by make, model and year of manufacturer.

Select the battery with CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) that will meet or exceed the vehicle manufacturer's recommendation.
Do not substitute CA (Cranking Performance Amps), MCA (Marine Cranking Amps), or HCA (Hot Cranking Amps) for CCA. In hot climates, buying batteries with double or triple the cranking amps that exceeds your starting requirement is not recommended. However, in cold climates, a higher CCA rating is better, due to increased power required to crank a sluggish engine and the inefficiency of a cold battery.

A larger capacity battery will damage my car.
A starter motor will only draw a fixed amount of current from the battery, based on the resistance of its load. A larger current capacity battery supplies only what is required. It will not damage your vehicle. Using batteries with higher or lower voltage or physically too tall could potentially damage your vehicle.

Care & Maintenance:

Bad batteries may harm the charging system or starter.
A bad or weak battery causes more stress on a charging system or starter and can cause premature failures due having to compensate the voltage or current. If you replace a battery, alternator, voltage regulator or starter, you should test the other components for latent or permanent damage.

"Maintenance free" batteries VS hot climates.
In hot climates, the water in the electrolyte is lost due to the high under hood temperatures. Water can also be lost due to excessive charging voltage or charging currents. Non-sealed batteries are recommended in hot climates so distilled water can be added when this occurs.

Car batteries in hot climates & cold climates.
Car batteries last an average of two thirds as long in hot climates as cold ones. Heat kills car batteries, especially sealed wet Maintenance Free batteries and cold reduces the battery's starting capacity.

DO NOT test the alternator by disconnecting the battery with the engine running.
A battery acts as a voltage stabilizer or filter to the pulsating DC produced by the alternator. Disconnecting a battery while the engine is running can destroy the sensitive electronic components connected to the electrical system such as the emission computer, audio system, cell phone, alarm system, etc., or the charging system because the peak voltage can rise to 40 volts or more. In the 1970s, removing a battery terminal was an accepted practice to test charging systems of that era. That is not the case today.

Pulse chargers, aspirins or additives will revive sulfated batteries? Myth Or Fact?
Using pulse chargers or additives is a very controversial subject. Most battery experts agree that there is no conclusive proof that pulse chargers work any better than constant voltage chargers to remove sulfation. They also agree that there is no evidence that additives or aspirins provide any long-term benefits. Short term gains are achieved by increasing the acidity of the battery, but this will damage the battery plates.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Connects2 USB Interface & Aux Interface

My Connects2 USB Interface and Aux Interface ordered from ebay arrives on May 31st 2010. Initially wanted to wait for the weekend for the installation but my itchy heart and fingers can't wait until weekend and so I've installed it that night itself with the aid of torch lights. No chance to take the picture of the process and before installation already =P

When I first take out the Head Unit, I have no idea which connection to replace. The one provided by Connects2 was blue, but there was already blue connection? Thanks to intermilan for helping me out through "Call For Help", hehe. The blue connection is the wiring/connection for CD Changer, although there was no CD Changer, the wiring/connection is already there ready.

For the USB Interface, it was mentioned that if originally there was no CD Changer, you will need the Aux Interface to program the Head Unit. I don't get the real meaning at first and thought that the USB Interface will need to connect to the Head Unit through the Aux Interface, but after unpacking, the USB Interface and the Aux Interface have exactly the same connection, so the USB Interface will not be connecting to the Aux Interface.

So, firstly, I tried connecting the USB Interface directly to the Head Unit replacing the CD Changer connection, but to no avail. It didn't work.
Then I connect the Aux Interface and it works like a charm, that was really a happy moment =)

Next, I replace the Aux Interface with USB Interface... during connection, I heard a loud "dub", then I saw the MFD showing the CD Changer, but... there was no sound after I connect the LINE IN for AUX. I got worried, maybe the USB Interface is faultyt... I change to Radio, OMG, there's no sound either??? Then I remember the "dub" sound, possibly the speaker is damaged? Oh No....
Staying calm, I removed the USB Interface, and re-try the radio. Still no sound...
Thinking starting the car might be able to reset it. True enough, it works! Oh, that was a real relief.
Then I started thinking, possibly I should connect the USB Interface and start the car to reset the settings.
True enough, it works~ YAY~ =)
So, basically the Aux Interface is just to re-program the Head Unit if we don't have CD Changer.

Next problem is,... where to place this USB Interface. Thinking for quite some time, I decided to double tape it to my Glovebox. The idea isn't very good as the USB Interface device now have "sticky sticky" feels and substance if I remove it... but, after thinking and trying few ways, decided to follow the Nike slogan "JUST DO IT".

My USB Interface, comes with SD Card slot: