Project Cars: 1994 Peugeot 405 Mi16 Phase II

The CarAdvice/Drive team reveal what is hidden away in their sheds and backyards awaiting some TLC…

Update 5: Hot croissant

Sitting on the side of the Hume Freeway, waiting for a tow truck, I couldn’t help thinking “I’m impressed it lasted this long.”

The 1994 Peugeot 405 Mi16 Phase II had discovered its nemesis, by way of the baking heat of the Australian summer, and was no longer ‘one’ with its coolant.

A 40-degree day filming Episode 9 of Drive TV near Seymour was enough to push the boundaries of cheap ‘moon-mile’ motoring to the limit and despite performing brilliantly for the camera, the car’s temperature spiked and everything ground to a halt a mere ten-minutes into our journey home.

How did we get here? Let’s wind the clock back a bit…

Fresh from its makeover, I took the 405 for a preventative oil and filter change at the local MyCar service centre around the corner from the Drive office.

With the promise of more viscous lubricant and a cap at 87 issues thanks to an 87-point check, the car was offered a gallic shrug when asked whether it would survive another 30-odd years without an engine rebuild, so I left with roughly the same level of confidence as when I had dropped it off.

It looked good, at least.

For the shoot, we upgraded the fog-lamps to yellow ones, and paired with the Peugeot 508 GT, the Mi16 was sent to Highlands for its broadcast cameo.

The drive out was free of incident, and the little Pug proved once again to be a joy on the open road.

Filming went well, and the car performed particularly brilliantly on the winding section of the road between Ruffy and Longwood. The ‘best handling sports sedan in the world’ still had it where it counted, and all signs pointed to another successful adventure… until the low fluid light flashed up.

The day had been as hot as 40-degrees, and although it was now a little cooler (34-ish) we stopped to top up the Peugeot’s radiator just to be sure.

Warning lights off and car rested over dinner, all that was left for the day was a 90-minute trip home in the balmy evening air.

Unfortunately though, as noted before, not ten-minutes into the trip there was more steam, more lights and the Peugeot was, for want of a better word, cooked.

Hot tip. Breaking down in regional Victoria, outside of work hours, isn’t ideal. Add a further degree of difficulty for an uncommon, old, French car.

To spare you the journey, it took about an hour of ringing around unsuccessfully to any and every garage within a 50km radius to realise that my only option was to join the RACV and have the car towed to Seymour for further inspection.

It took about another hour for all of that to happen.

Everyone was friendly enough, however, and taking all the ‘why drive a French car’ jokes in my stride, the 405 was loaded onto a flatbed and whisked away into the setting sun while we soldiered on back to Melbourne in videographer Mitch’s Ford Everest without it.

So, what now?

Over about a week of back and forth with the workshop in Seymour, who simultaneously said the car couldn’t be fixed and to come and get it, and that they had also managed to order (unrequested) parts and that it was in a mid-state of repair, we decided to regain control and rescue it with a rented trailer on the back of the Everest.

Worth noting the big Ford is an excellent tow truck.

Also worth noting that the garage did manage to repair a hose at the back of the engine block, but hadn’t given it a thorough test.

Home safe, we gave it a brief tinker, refilled the radiator, and let it idle for a while. No leaks, no steam, expensive repair bullet dodged?

I set off to get the car cleaned for a final photo shoot, but alas, not 4km down the road the red lights and spiking temperature gauge returned. More needed to be done.

We limped the car to a friendly workshop and replaced the thermostat. Again, a run to warm it up yielded no immediate issues and all seemed well…

Until the car was driven home once more and promptly dumped all its coolant again.

Now, I’m no fancy big city mechanic, but this isn’t good.

It’s either horizontally opposed, French plumbing, hard-to-get-to water pump ‘not good’, or hard-to-find components, fiddly, time-consuming, expensive head-gasket ‘not good’.

Either way, it’s not ideal.

I’m very much hoping this isn’t the end of the 405’s story, as it really is a delightful car to drive. And I’ve even found some more ‘new’ bits for it.

I’ve also sourced a new water pump and timing belt, in the hope that I can both repair and prolong the engine’s life in the process. To be honest, though, I’m more worried the overheating near Seymour caused more critical damage to the motor, as if you think a head gasket sounds bad, don’t talk to me about bent valves.

At least the Mi16 had its day in the sun (literally) and is now a bonafide TV-star. If we leave with nothing else, that’s a pretty cool legacy.

I should find out the diagnosis this week. Wish me luck!