Driving the "new" 505

[JunktionFET]

I acquired a 1985 505 STI turbodiesel recently. The body is in absolutely deplorable condition; Rust has eaten through parts of the FR fender, leading edge of the hood, and into pretty much every single door window frame. Amazingly the rockers, radiator bulkhead, and indeed the underside (including the semitrailing arms) is just lightly sprinkled with surface rust, or none at all.

The car has low mileage (36k indicated... indicated, yeah), and to be honest I believe the engine is pretty young. It is bone dry underneath--no leaks whatsoever. It also has the sound proofing "diaper" thing still attached underneath, though it's kind of falling apart. I've only seen one other 505 in the wild that still had one. Being a 1985 federal model, it has the electronic EGR system with the AFM, throttle plate, etc, and astonishingly it has its original injector #2 (the one with the injector pulse sensor) and it doesn't appear to be leaking! By this time it seems most everyone has replaced their leaky injector #2 with a standard one.

There was still a layer of grime on the engine, but my pressure washer made quick work of that and the engine looks pretty spiffy now. I had to repair a few things before driving the car. Every single warning light on the dash was burned out. The vacuum line from the reservoir to the climate controls was broken, and I discovered the original alternator was out of commission. The alternator R&R turned out to be a bit of hassle. I received a Paris-Rhone but the car had a Bosch unit. The mounting bracket is slightly different between the two, so I had to make a few rough modifications to mine so the new alternator would fit.

I drove the car to work today and man, what a peach! I think the wastegate hose is broken or missing. There is the distinct sound of pressurized air while on boost. Doesn't really matter with the diesel because the injection pump only supplies additional fuel up to 800mBar, and the missing hose allows a lot of boost pressure to escape anyway. Still, it's probably peaking over a bar of pressure.

Other than that, mechanically the car ran perfectly. It cruised effortlessly at post-rush-hour freeway speeds (80mph or so). I had forgotten what OE Peugeot struts were like. No other car rides quite like the 505. And you know, for having 3.7 million tons of weight in the nose and the "normal" (read: non-Turbo) 505 front end configuration, the handling is balanced and the steering is what I'd call "precise", though not as responsive as the hyperactive steering rack on my Prelude.

Ahh, it's like meeting an old friend for the first time in years. I'm not sure what I'll do with the car. If the body weren't so hateful I'd be inclined to invest a couple thou and make it really nice inside and out. But to start with I'd need to replace a fender, the hood, and probably all four doors. Throw in additional minor rust repair, paint, not to mention the interior, and I really don't think it's worth it. That makes me sad.

[Bean]

Awesome to hear that it's running nice.

As for your rust complaints: DUDE! You spoiled Southerners and your RUST FREE cars - if it unbolts and is easily replaced it's damn near rust free. The front fender isn't fun - but it's totally doable. Doors - easy afternoon. Just need to find a good donor for cheap and voila.

I'm stoked that I should *only* have to do complete rockers on my 504. Doors and rear quarters are fine - but I'd trade doors and a fender for rockers in a heartbeat!

Seems like an easy fix with the right donor - so hopefully you either find a donor for the parts - or complete car for powertrain swap.

Rabin

[JunktionFET]

I found the wastegate hose was indeed busted and dangling, so I replaced it. I also also disassembled the intake system pre-Turbo, cleaned the piss out of it, and replaced the terminally clogged air filter. I think we violated several inter-state agricultural laws considering the amount of tree nuts and leaves in the air filter box.

I also adjusted the throttle cable and attempted to adjust the transmission kick down cable. With barely any force at all, the threaded bit on the cable snapped in half due to corrosion. So I rigged it with some rubber hose and zip ties. It works but I eventually want to replace the kick down cable, that is if I can actually find one.

With the wastegate working as it should and the big intake leak sealed up, boost comes on more rapidly and overall the engine feels stronger. While it doesn't have much power and is undoubtedly the slowest vehicle I've piloted since, well, my last 505, it makes up for that in gentle but usable torque all over the tachometer... as long as the turbocharger is spooled up anyway. And somehow the thing has used only ounces of diesel fuel. I love diesels!

[pushgo]

Just curious, when u accerated before fixing the vac hose from the wastegate did the car have a winning sound and some hesistation? I have been experiencing the power lag and hear a winning sound and have not checked any vac hoses from

Waste gate. Although I don't my power train is the gas turbo but just reading you discoveries leads me to believe that could the matter with my car. Still has good pick up.

[JunktionFET]

It was more of an air rushing noise, like pressurized air escaping.

If you have a broken or missing wastegate hose, you'd be experiencing potentially devastating overboost. Does your boost gauge read abnormally high?

A common failure I've seen with the gas Turbos is the silicone o-rings scattered about the intake tract, from the turbocharger's outlet to the throttle body. They either break or get damaged upon reassembly, and this causes a leak, really odd noises, and sometimes a lumpy engine.

Another semi-common thing on the gas Turbo to go wrong is the intake manifold gasket, and usually around cylinder 1 (near flywheel). The gasket splits or breaks from age and you end up with a tiny leak. This manifests itself with a pronounced whistle noise at idle and while under boost, and of course leads to a poor running engine. You can test this with some carefully targeted Carb Cleaner or something sprayed around the gasket while the engine is idling. If the idle shoots up, you've found a leak.

That also points out another flaw in that gasket: It shrinks over time. I always found it amazing how you could assemble it with everything lined up perfectly, port shape matched and all, but after a few years the gasket material shrinks and ends up partially in the intake ports--definitely not good for maximum performance. A trick we used to do was to make the holes in the intake gasket a few millimeters larger so that over time it wouldn't obstruct the ports as it shrunk.

[pushgo]

You know something my turbo gauge seems to be frozen on the second mark from the start position. And I a whining sort of a wistleing noise when I accelerate. And lately if I accelerate hard I hear clanking sound. not sure if it's my turbo going out or the result of vacuum hose leak or a gasket issue you described.

[pushgo]

I have also sprung an oil leak it looks as though it's coming from the oil pan. I believe the seal has perished. Have u ever changed the oil pan and seal on a N9TE?

[JunktionFET]

The second mark from the start position (the first "white" tick mark) is typically atmospheric pressure. This usually means the vacuum line running from the top of the intake manifold down to the boost pressure sensor (under the air filter box) is broken or disconnected. Coincidentally that would also cause some lumpy engine operation as well as some whistling noises under boost.

There are two vacuum hoses connected on top of the intake manifold. One should go straight to the fuel pressure regulator (back of the fuel rail), the other should go to a "Tee" that subsequently feeds the boost pressure sensor and the vacuum reservoir located down below the brake booster/coolant bottle area. That reservoir feeds the climate controls and the outlet on the cruise control vacuum pump. Make sure all of those hoses are good from end to end to ensure no leaks.

The oil pan gasket is a struggle to replace but it is possible in a driveway. You do have to drop the crossmember a bit for clearance as I recall. You have to support the engine somehow, either a jack under the bellhousing or a hoist up top. Then undo the steering column knuckle where it attaches to the rack's pinion. Undo the four big bolts holding the crossmember to the frame. A trick is to replace the crossmember bolts with head bolts. The thread pitch is the same but they are very long are perfect for temporarily dropping the crossmember while you work.

[JunktionFET]

The Peugeot has been sitting for a while--I've been driving either the Honda or riding one of the motorcycles. However a few days ago I figure I should at least drive it to work to give it some exercise. I ended up driving it to work a few days in a row.

I kind of like this car. I think I'm going to fix it up a bit. I visited Jonathan McCurry for the first time in a million years and he still has all of his cars, though they've been sitting for years and will be scrapped soon. One of them is an '88 Turbo with pretty decent fenders, doors, bootlid, and the interior is awesome. I'm thinking I'll swap over the body parts, carpet, seats, and perhaps door cards, and probably seek a paintjob.

I had considered taking the XD3T out of my car and dropping it in that '88 Turbo, but I don't have the space to do an engine swap. I also don't know if the XD3T's oil pan will clear the ABS crossmember. Then there's all the rewiring and plumbing to screw with... Bah, I think I'm better off just taking the body and interior bits I need.

Considering how well my car runs, and how solid it is underneath, I think the car is worth saving. I love my Hondas, but driving that 505 makes me feel happy somehow. I don't know. Maybe it's nastalgia, I don't know.

Aside from the things I mentioned in the first post, I've done nothing to this car, but fill the tank with fresh diesel and a dose of PowerService Diesel Treatment twice. Even after sitting for a while, the starter merely had to burp and the engine springs to life with no misfire or smoke. Fuel economy isn't quite as good as my '82, but this is a bigger engine and the car itself is a bit heavier.

[Bean]

Body / interior swap is totally the way to do it with a repaint. Way less work and a much better result with less effort I think. The only mechanical swap I can thing of would be to 5-sp if you found a good one. I toyed with the idea of doing a 5-sp on my wagon - but the 4-sp auto is pretty darn sweet combo already and the 4HP22 issues are easy fixes - so it'll just stay a "cruiser".

Awesome to hear other people afflicted with the same bizarre affinity to these cars. I've got three Peugeot's on the go as active project cars with not a lot of time - but I'm still acquiring parts like crazy - but I have a plan and direction for each one and they will be restored. (Just real slow until my kids a little older)

Makes no sense until I drive them - it's that damn smirk I get while driving and no other car does it for me. (Especially bad in my 504 for some reason too) Might be nostalgia - but I drive them after all these years and they still impress the hell out of me.

Rabin