20K Service

Mileage: 19,371KM

Since I've no morning meeting or appointment today. I've decided to do 20K service on my pug.

Short of 400KM to 20K

My last service was done at KL Volcare, Ampang. Today, I would like to try another service centre which is nearer to my office, preferably in Petaling Jaya or Shah Alam area. Apart from BB in Glenmarie, another well known service centre (which also carry Total lubricants (a must for me)) is GeotAuto at Jalan 227, Petaling Jaya (if you can find Jalan 222 then you can find this place).

This service centre is more popular amongst Peugeot old timers. Anyone who like to pay them a visit here is the Long/Lat of the location...

N03 6.001' E101 37.890' (Garmin), or for MalFreeMaps users with custom POI, just key in "GEOT" keyword in the POI search menu.

GeotAuto main entrance

Reached GeotAuto at 10:30AM, not many cars today. Straight away met Mr. Sultan, Service Manager and prepare the work order.

Draining the engine oil

The first part of the bill, notice the mileage written in the bill. Maybe a miss communication at the counter

The second part of the bill

Job finished at 11:30AM.

As a conclusion, I'm satisfied with their workmanship and most importantly attitude. They are very friendly and willing to chat with me during the whole service period. If you need to rest, there is a customer waiting lounge, not so grand compare with BB but sufficient to have a short nap and coffee break, a few places for nicotine break and if you feel curious about the car, you can wander around the service bays and chat with the mechanics. All of them, I believe is more than 30 years old and quite competent in Peugeot cars.

Dismantling The Front Door Panel

Mileage: 15,998KM
Do It Yourself: Yes
Difficulty: Easy

It is time for me to open up the front door panel on my car. I noticed something missing when assembling the front door panel when my car was sent to do bodywork last month.

Well, we need these tools to do this task....

• Torx T20 driver
• Flat screwdriver
• A piece of cloth

Start off by removing the tweeter cover.

Carefully pull the top and bottom part of the cover. Watch out for the cables

Using Torx T20 driver, unscrew two screws behind the tweeter cover and on the door panel near the middle of the A pillar. Refer to this link for the rest of the process.

There are three screws and one inner handle cover that need to be removed from the panel

This is the missing part

Another missing clip, I've total of two missing clips on each of the front door panel

These are the clips, cost me RM0.60 each

The view after the door panel removed

To remove the speaker, use T20 driver. No need to remove the sponge unless you wanted to change the speaker. The speaker is secured by four screws

The speaker mounting view

Speaker label

Inner view of the door, nothing much to shout about

Refitting is the reverse of the removal.

Accident Free... Naaaah!!!

Mileage: 15,315KM
Do It Yourself: Nope
Difficulty: N/A

"Accident Free", we always heard this term when dealing with used car. Actually, the full terms on the paper would be "Low Mileage, Service By Authorized Service Centre, Accident Free, Original Paint, Lady Owner etc.". I always encountered these words in all used car dealers, seem they have the same template for the windscreen notice.

Well, my car won't have the "Accident Free" term anymore. The term only lasted for about 7 months before been ripped off by a 2 and the half feet parking pole. Duhhhh, why the security guard erected the pole after I parked my car. After my brother Raya open house, I just drove off from the lot and the pole hit the pillar area between the front fender and the door. The side sill was pretty bad though.

The damage side. The yellow and red colors are from the pole

View from rear

View from front

Top view

The next morning, I sent my car to the workshop. The boss said one week and will cost me three quarter from a thousand. Well, slightly higher than my next year NCD but I trust him more than the insurance workshop panel; and minus all the documentations and the leg work to do the claim.

Today, exactly one week. I rang the Boss and asked him about my car. He said it will be ready at noon and "you punya kereta serupa original". Well, how original it would be?

What do you guys think? If you look closely, you can see my reflected image

A close-up view

View from rear

Top view

Complimentary work given by the Boss, repaint the rear black plastic moulding

The warranty sticker. I've been given 8 years warranty for the paint, workmanship and anti-rust. A little short than 15 years warranty for my another car (he also done my other car)

Overall, I'm satisfied with the workmanship. Although there is a slight flaw but it is unnoticeable. The paint color is 99% match. I you look at it on bright light and less than 10 inches, you can see the darker shade of the new paint. Anyway, I won't bother about it much because sooner or later (maybe another 4 - 5 years), I will respray the car anyway. The new paint warranty is more than Naza warranty hahahaha and the quality of the original paint is... doubtful.

Wet Tail

Mileage: 14,915KM
Do It Yourself: Yes
Difficulty: Easy

Good day, a nice weather today for a DIY (I'm living in apartment, rain is the worst enemy when I need to do something with my cars).

Early this week, it was rainy and windy here in my area. I've been driving my other car for a quite sometime and when I had a chance to check my Pug, here is what I found...

Water ingress into my tail light (can you spot my ghost image?)

I rushed to the nearest hardware store to buy a silicon adhesive to remedy the problem. If I'm going to lodge a warranty claim straight away, afraid that I might have a mini aquarium at my Pug tail when the claim approve. Maybe, if my first repair attempt prove unsuccessful, then I will visit BlueBox for a claim.

Another view of the ill fated tail light

Ok guys, here are the steps to dismantle the tail light. You have to follow the same ordeal even if you just need to change one light bulb.

Undo both plugs and pull the side trim downward. You can use the floor mat to hold the side trim

Pull the wiring from the socket (it is a bit hard since you can't see the locking ping, just keep pressing it). Then unscrew the black wing nut

A full view of the inner side of the tail light

The black colored material surrounding the bulb cover is the waterproof seal which is made from styrofoam. That is the only thing to prevent water from entering the boot, just imagine!

A close-up view of the tail light wordings

Rear end view of the car, you can see clearly here which area the black styrofoam suppose to cover

A view after the styrofoam removed from the light

If you wanted to change the light bulb only, just release two locking pins on both side of the centre black cover, then pull outward and you can see three bulbs. After that, just reverse the process for the installation.

On my left hand, there is a locating peg / pin. Make sure you did not break this as this will be the only thing to hold the light onto the side of the car.

I would say that the build quality of the light is somewhat not up to "conti" par. Looks more equivalent of those "Made in ROC" kinda plastic. I'm not sure how durable are the pins, locating peg etc. on the light, it might break off after a few years down the road. If I'm not mistaken, the MK1 has a better tail light material quality.

Start from the top middle of the tail light, work slowly along the edge

I'm suspecting that I've a gap somewhere at the top right corner of the tail light because of a few drops of water came out when I shake it.

There are at least three type of silicone easily available in the market. The black silicone which is more popular for repairing housing roof, automotive windscreen etc. The white silicone which is more popular for repairing wall tiles, wall gaps etc; and the one that I'm using is the clear silicone. It is more suitable for glass or clear plastic. Make sure you have a good adhesive type of silicone which will stick on to the gaps easily.

I just leave about half of inch at the bottom of the tail light as the breather hole

Overall view of the tail light after the sealing operation

I need a few bright days to remove the water from the tail light so that I can test the solution. Hopefully it will cure the problem else I've to meet the SA to get it replace.

Bladder Transplant (Part Two)

Part two of the DIY project. Actually, it was done yesterday. Took a day leave as waiting for next weekend is a bit too long. I can't afford to have my car dismantled for a long period of time, afraid that I might forget which screws or bolts go to which nuts.

Here is a video of me checking (aka QA) the system. It was done today morning after I spent some time to bleed the air from the radiator system yesterday evening.

Here are a few photos snapped during the installation process.

Air distribution unit with new sponge linings

Rerouted wiring and make good

Dashboard installed

Additional equipments in place including the centre running console

That is all for this DIY. Now I can have sauna in my car.

Bladder Transplant (Part One)

Mileage: 96,000KM
Do It Yourself: Yes
Difficulty: Average and time consuming

Salam Ramadhan. Well it almost a month and two weeks without any entry. Kinda busy a bit with daily tasks. My Pug still roar with RON95, but since first Ramadhan, it becomes official car for my wifey as the main transport to work daily.

Although I'm stuck with daily tasks but my weekend still free from anything apart from household chores. Moreover, the Pug has no problems so far (touchwood), and it also has another 6K KM to go before my next service. Emmm... why not doing another DIY project...

Today, the patient is my other car, my "First French Mistress"; well the Pug is the second and it kinda petite. Remind me of "Gabrielle Solis"; the first is like "Bree Van de Kamp" classy, perfectionist, cold but full of hidden agendas.

My first french car is Renault Laguna, Quasar (the first distributor was Federal Auto, then Quasar and currently TC Euro) imported around 200 units. Out of these only 20 units are V6 and I'm owning one of them (used unit, registered in 1996. I can't afford to buy this car "new" anyway, the price tag was around RM200K that time). So far I've only saw three units of the same model running around Klang Valley.

Enough for the introduction, lets start with the project. The Laguna has digital auto climate aircond. A year ago, I had coolant leaking somewhere in the engine bay. Sent to workshop and they told me it was the connector for the heater matrix. They said they could not get the part and bypass was the only solution.

"Kawan.... U bukan duduk Genting atau Cameron... kasi buang laa itu heater. Nanti aircond lagi sejuk wooo tarak heater..."

Decision made and I need to use the car at the moment (mind you, I did not have Pug at that time :)).

Well, what they said is true. The aircond is much colder than before but too cold that make my climate controller haywire. Too cold that I seldom use the aircond at night especially in heavy rain else mist will appear at windscreen. After much of study of the system, now I knew that auto climate AC need heater to regulate the temperature according to the setting.

Arrghhhh, need to get the replacement. So... the journey begins. Sorry guys, no step by step instructions because if I'm doing that, it will be another Haynes manual for you guys hahahaha.

Got the original replacement unit from France (bought it thru my agent) for RM1,600 (The original quoted price from "ehemmmm" was around RM3+++. Waited for almost 4 weeks to arrive. Amongst all the French cars in Malaysia, Renault hold the record for the most expensive parts price. You need to do some legwork to find a good bargain.

Another tip, French cars are the worst car when it comes to aircond design. Too many hidden screws and to access it, you must be flexible enough. Being a left hand drive car originally, the right hand drive suffers a lot of weird under dash design. A simple heater change, for example my car, requires a dash out job. It will cost me another at least RM500 in labor. Might as well do it myself.

Enough talks.... where are the pictures?.... Ok... here are they.....

This is driver side, the protruding bar is the steering shaft. Everything else, I threw in the bonnet

This is passenger side, messy wires need to rearrange after this. On the left most of the black plastic casing is the blower area. The middle boxy is the aircond evaporator sometimes called cooling coil

This is the centre console (used to be), the missing part will be the air distribution unit that comes together with the heater unit

This is the air distribution unit, the heater matrix is at the bottom (slightly ajar from it position)

So... I've spent almost the half day just to get this damn unit out of the dashboard. The heater matrix can't be removed because it was blocked by the aircond evaporator unit (it was my earlier attempt to get it out without the dash out job). A dash out job is necessary to get this thing out. I've to remove everything start from the centre running console, audio equipments, steering wheel and airbag etc.

My lovely dashboard, resting on the rear seat, bonnet filled with other things

This is the the heater matrix

Another view of the heater matrix

The heater comes together in one set of three pieces.

1. the matrix
2. the aluminum pipes
3. the heater connector

My problem was the hairline cracks found at the engine side of the connector (marked by red box), but I have to buy everything as they did not sell that part only. Bugger!!

This is how my car looks like (sorry for the quality, zoomed from second floor apartment). The white Kancil is now retired from daily tasks and it role was taken over by my Pug

That is all from now, to be continued insyallah next weekend for the fixing... Now I'm cleaning out the air distribution unit, it so dirty and need new sponge linings to fill up the joint gaps.

1st Service @ 10K

Mileage: 9297KM

Late blog posting... almost forgot about this. Been busy for the whole week.

Anyway, the service was carried out on Saturday, 4th July, 2009. It was divided into two parts (I mean the service visit)...



First visit... I went to Peugeot Authorized Service Centre in Ampang since they are the only SC has Total lubrication.

The service went smooth except on the last part. The engine oil and filter exercise was good and quick but suddenly, I saw one of the mechanic face showed something unsatisfactory. The expression led me to investigate to find out the problem. I can't go to the car since I'm baby sitting my son but from what I heard there was a problem with the engine oil gauge (the one in the instrument meter).

Although they filled up the engine oil, the gauge still showed zero and flashing. After a couple of engine starts and so on... they decided to do some checking on the ECU. 20 minutes later they met me and informed the situation. They can't get the gauge to work.

They suggesting me to have another visit on Monday to do software download (they need the spare key also for the programming) and further check on the sensor. It might be the software glitch or the sensor is faulty. They also mentioned that I'm not the first case. In meantime, they will reset the ECU.... Oh No!... there goes my gearbox setting.

Paid the bill, damage to the wallet was RM149.00. Grab they keys and start the car. Surprisingly, the gauge works! It showed the engine oil level correctly. Emmm... strange.

Second visit.... On Monday, I drove back to the SC. Informed them that the gauge is working fine. Since it works, no need for them to download the software but I ask them to reprogram the gearbox cause I've been driving with a tall 2nd gear for the past two days... Cannot tahan maaa...

Took 10 minutes to calibrate and off to my office after that.

My verdict after 1st service.... No performance gain, same as before. The only gains (car performance) was after the gearbox reset, that was... only for two days.... After that, back to square one.

Wardrobe...

A bit out of DIY topic...

I've one question. How to transport a 180cm tall and 48kg in weight wardrobe using Peugeot 206?

Two rules...

1. Ample space for the driver to drive the car.
2. None of the wardrobe parts or pieces are fix outside of the car, all of the pieces must be in the car for the whole journey.

Today, I went to Ikea to get a new wardrobe for my son. Anyway, after paid the item. I quickly walked to "Home Delivery" counter for delivery arrangement. Sadly, they will only deliver it the next day, I'll be out of town.

Then, my wife teased me. If you believe in European car that can squeeze everything although the size is micro, this is the time to test it. OK, I took the challenge just to prove the fact.

Below are the images on how we moved our wardrobe.

Full label view

Rear view, after removing bottom passenger seat (which is on right hand side) and rear top shelf (which on the left hand side)

Rear left view, removing of bottom passenger seat is necessary to fulfill the first rule, no need to remove the rear headrests and to have the rear bench folded flat on the car floor. Both front seats act as side padding

Front passenger view. The wardrobe sits nicely on the rear bench although in the picture it looks like resting on the centre console

By doing this, I managed to save RM65.00 of delivery cost. The goods is Ikea brand so the packaging is flat and nicely fit inside the car. I'm not sure of the packaging method if you buy from other furniture stores.

Suddenly, we have a two cockpit car. A bit awkward for the first few minutes as we are separated by the box.

I managed to have a fuel stop at the nearby gas station. There was a group of Perodua sales persons. At first they did not notify us but as I'm about to finish the fill up. They stopped and stared at us, only two things I can think on what was lingering in their mind.

• My pug was filled up to the brim which is about RM76.00, which is more than the "Myvi"
• I can stuffed a 5.9 feet wardrobe in the car and able to close all the doors and carrying 2 persons with an ample space to enjoy the new cockpit than the "Myvi"

Why I mentioned "Myvi" twice here.... because they are selling "Myvi SE" at that time. Hahahah