Hi y`all

[tredz]

Hi i am Jamie and i have just bought a 1989 Pug 205 GTi (1.6) i got her for £200 and she is FANTASTIC
she has full peugeot service history and i have receipts since the car was new for EVERY work done to her, i also have all of her MOT certificates and every service reciept. i even have the original handbooks you get with the cars new and she has had 2 owners (one a lady for 11 months and the other a gentleman since i bought her 3 days ago)

Heres the bad points :
she moves like a rocket and is in great shape in the engine.... alas £200 doesnt get you much and i have descovered a "water" leak, now, i have topped up all of the water tanks and the oils and yet my engine stays dry, the car heats up normally and stays at a normal temperature while i drive it. i took it a spin down the M40 for an hour yesterday and she showed no signs of smoking or overheating, her bonnet is a little faded and needs a respray (touch up wont work i`ll attach pictures as soon as i can take them) and the passenger door is one big dent (paint is still there and in good condition!!!) i wanna put this back in good condition can any one recomment what i can do she is 100% clean and original and is a gorgeous car and nice to drive too i wont be doing more than 5000 miles a year on her but will be using her to her full potential ;D

[205tref]

Hi Jamie, enjoy the gti!

You say the bonnet is a little faded - is the car red? If so it's a common problem. There are various conditioning waxes out there that 'feed' the paint and may improve it a bit.

Your water leak worries me a bit more though... was it really empty? Is the car still apparently losing water into thin air or is it leaving a puddle? If it was really empty did you bleed the system? It's always possible to get a bubble of air (an 'airlock' or 'airblock') in the system, which will stop water getting all the way round properly. They can stay there for ages or just suddenly 'go' which lets teh water that is there all suddenly drain down, making it look like you suddenly lost loads without any sign of a leak. If the engine fan cuts in and out properly and the heater gives hot air when you ask it to it's a good sign!

If you are putting quite a bit of fluid in, bear in mind that your engine really wants 50/50 decent Bluecol type antifreeze and water, and this is just the time of year to find the first surprise freezing night. The antifreeze doesn't just stop your engine wrecking itself overnight in the cold, it also stops the alloy and iron bits of your engine reacting with each other and starting the rust. 2.5-3 litres of antifreeze in the mix isn't cheap but if you have a good engine it's worth looking after. ;D Find the leak before putting the good stuff in though!

£200 for a decent gti is still a steal though. ;D ;D ;D

Welcome to the boards!

[tredz]

thank you, the bonnet is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY past ANY treatment it needs a respray, white is beginning to show dissapointing to say how gorgeous this car truely was in its day. i will try and take pictures, like i said i cannot see ANY sign of cracks or broken things there is no sign of a puddle now and the heater comes on when i select it to and stays warm, i`ll take a picture of the dash after a drive and show you what instruments say what. i was told its best just to part her out or sell her but i have fallen in love with her and wont sell unless some one gives me a little well extra she has only done 91,428 miles and has FULL pug history i still have all the stamps and books! the guy who i bought it from was in his 50's or 60's and i dont think he realised what he had in his garage! she needs some TLC and needs a bit of paint but other than that shes a gem. i just love when she is in 5th gear and she pulls like im stood still and in 1st gear! i`ve been doing a bit of reading of her history and her performance is still fantastic, i am doing 60 mph before i know it and then im touching 100 mph!!! the only thing i need now is a radio that works, she crackles like its finding a station but doesnt pick up signals but its the original Tape/radio that came with the car in 1989. if iany one can give me advice on where to get parts and stuff from or if any one fancies a few beers and earning a few ££ themselfs and helping me fix her up i would be VERY grateful
Kind regards
Tredz

[205tastic]

hiya
sounds like you've got a good one there!

on the water front, (having had a 1.1 205 with various cooling system faults although it was the best car ever!! 110mph ) i would suggest you get plenty of antifreeze + water, and after flushing out the system (just with water) so you know there isnt a blockage of some sort... fill it up and bleed it well - at first this took like an hour to get right, then i got better (15mins was a record -- the car had a habit of dying on the A19, up north they don't believe in hard shoulders!!! )

with your radio - is it the peugeot original? - push buttony thing, anyway, they are quite rare (and not all that good!) if you replace it keep the old one! - might be worth a bob if you try and sell the car in a few years! - replacements are easy to fit!

have fun
marie

[tredz]

me (rochelle) and jamie are doing everything we can we had it checked out and the garage said its fine for its age the outside is a bit tatty but other than that its gorgeous! i got 120 out of it the other day and its fine ... the oil temp is slighty worrying now as when we put out foot down the oil temp follows it haha but were taking it on a run so it should be fine

[205tref]

... um... i'm pretty sure that's an oil pressure gauge not oil temp.

you should expect to build up a decent oil pressure very quickly and keep it, with the exception that it is normal for the pressure to fall a bit after hard use, leaving the motorway after a razz would be a prime example of such a situation. It might start low then build rapidly on your way off the drive, for instance, but if the gauge is true then you shouldn't be putting your foot down too hard until you have a decent pressure! It really shouldn't go up and down like a rev counter though.

it's highly possible that the gauge and/or sensor are fubar'd, but it's also possible that the oil hasn't been changed recently enough - about every 6000 miles is good for a pug that age. Any half decent 10/40 is useful for this; GSF do a Total oil (quartz 8000 i think?) for about a tenner for a 5l can, enough for a change.

It shouldn't cost very much more than twenty quid to change the oil and filter, in fact you should be able to do better than this. It's very easy if a little potentially messy (although it needn't be). Mr haynes can give you all the advice you need for this.

Don't use a flushing oil unless you really need to.

If you're in doubt about the oil gauge i'd strongly suggest having an independant specialist check it out and give you the thumbs up before ignoring it if you really want to keep the car!

tref