Bendix ABS:
===========
This is the most unreliable part in my car and costed me a lot of time and
money to take care of.
Firstly, one of the pump pressure sensor went dead which caused the pump to
overwork and went dead also. I spent a great deal for a new pump unit to
fix that.
Then the break cylinder block failed caused the ABS warning light lit
always and the car momentarily steered to the right on hard breakings.
Changing the break oil clear the problem but didn't last and I had to
change the oil every 2 or months to keep myself safe. At last on last
summer, I found a crashed Mi16 in a junk yard and quickly grab it's nearly
new cylinder unit for my car to cure the problem completely.
The break is running fine now for a year without any major problems.
However, with the new cylinder unit, it seems the break pedal gets stuck or
gets sucked hard in place if I stepped on it full down. I'm not sure if
this is caused by mis-alignment of the cylinder unit or it's just the
normal behaviour of the Bendix ABS system (any ideas?). Anyhow, the car
stops well but not sharp.
In conclusions, this Bendix ABS system needs extensive care; change the
break oil every year; use DOT 4 or better oil is a must; breed the system
every half year as a regular maintenance task just to be safe.
My garage is the only shop I found in HK specialise in Peugeot cars and my
mechanic drives a 205 Gti to prove that. He's planning to import a
complete set of the non-ABS breaking system used on a 405 SRi to replace
the Mi16 Bendix system for another Mi16 owner. So you can see how good the
Bendix ABS is!
Cooling System:
===============
A small rubber O-ring can cause the engine to burn down! While I was busy
changing the break oil in my car, I also encountered an engine over-heat
problem. The car just refused to start again shortly after switching off
and I had to leave the bonnet open for 15 minutes or so to cool down before
I could start the engine again.
We checked the whole cooling system for leaks or blockages but none was
found. It went many gallons of coolant. Then one day the car took a long
holiday as one of the main bearing stopped the main shaft from turning.
After taking the radiator apart and a careful inspection, we found the
rubber O-rings used on the radiator bleeding screws had actually became
square-rings! A few bucks to get some new rings and a few buckets of money
to re-build the engine!
Now:
====
Except the trim rattling noise, my Mi16 is running fine these days. My
current project is to improve my stereo. I'm planning to put in a pair of
12-in subwoofers in my trunk behind the back seat. But someone told me
that if the cushion is not sound transparent, it may block the subwoofers
from working effectively. Anyone got experience with this?
Other than driving pleasure, music is also my priority in the car. Other
than the subwoofers, I've been thinking very hard on how to stop the trim
from rattling. The main areas are the whole front console and C pillar
trim plate. For the C pillar trim plate, that small piece of plastic
screws just make me sick. I couldn't find new ones and the old ones just
can't hold the trim in place, any suggestions?
Also, spark plug noise and alternator noise are coming into my radio
suddenly this Winter. I'm also scratching my head thinking why they
suddenly crop up and how to cure them!?
Have a nice day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LEWIS L. C. TO FUJITSU HONG KONG LIMITED
ATM Project Consultant 25/F., Sun Hung Kai Centre
PRC Systems Operation 30 Harbour Road, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2828-2771 Tel: (852) 2828-5780
Fax: (852) 2827-9726 Fax: (852) 2827-4724
Email: lewisto@fujitsu.com.hk Telex: 62667 FJTHK HX