Old Peugeot Diesels - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

wilsonw116 · #1 03-22-2012, 11:38 PM

Does anybody have experience with these older Peugeot diesels or older Peugeots in general? I know they are no MB but I hear they are good cars.

I kinda like them and would consider buying one. I just love the styling.

Here is one on EBAY for sale...

Peugeot : 504 Peugeot : 504 | eBay

compu_85 · #2 03-22-2012, 11:50 PM

As I understand it there were mostly reliable, very softly sprung, and extremely slow.

-J

tbomachines · #3 03-22-2012, 11:55 PM

I am pretty sure a few forum members on here have had Peugeot diesels, but just who I am not sure off the top of my head. For the most part I think they were a bit later than the one pictured.

Fulcrum525 · #4 03-23-2012, 12:10 AM

I few members of my community have diesel 505 wagons. I've been seeing them for as long as I can remember.....

cmac2012 · #5 03-23-2012, 01:43 AM

My dad had an '85 Peugeot sedan that I think was a 505 turbo. It wasn't exactly a hot rod but it was not slow. We drove WA state to San Diego and back late 80s and it was a sweet ride. I just wiki-ed the car and it only weighed around 2800, to my surprise. With a 2.5L diesel - could easily be a zippy car.

One downside is there are approximately none at any bone yard I've been to in the last 15 or so years. I've heard that new parts are hard to come by also, not sure.

t walgamuth · #6 03-23-2012, 05:35 AM

I had a puegot wagon with a gasser for a short while. I think maybe it was an 85. It was a very nice car to drive but parts availability was abismal.

One day I opened up what I thought was a fuse box under the hood and found a rats nest of wires all clustered there in a big heap. I quickly shut the lid on that and decided on the spot to sell it.

I moved it along and got my money back. it was very hot weather and the ac worked so it sold. The wagon had a lot of room in the back end.

MS Fowler · #7 03-23-2012, 07:49 AM

I worked on a number of 504 diesels in addition to the several 504 gassers I owned.
Solid cars. Peugeot took pride in the solidity of their vehicles and didn't apologize for the weight that the strength required. Road Test Magazine did a 50,000 mile test and tear down, and reported that engine wear was not measurable. Their final word was "This would be the car that Mercedes would build, if they wanted to build a car in this price range" ( Quoted from memory, so it may not be a perfect quote, but its close.)

Diesel with a 4 speed can be OK, but with an automatic they are slow. As in make a 240D auto look quick ( 25 seconds 0-60!!)
The only real preventive maintenance required is to retorque the head bolts every year. Go by the head bolt order, remove each bolt, clean the threads, and reinstall and torque, then move to the next bolt. They don't crack heads, but the combination of an iron block, steel wet liners and aluminum head will blow head gaskets if not regularly retorqued.
Oil changes at 3000 mile intervals.
The wet liner engine means that you can totally rebuild an engine in even the most remote places on earth. Adjusting the liner protrusion is tedious, but not difficult. If you need to do it, just be patient and measure often.
a link:
Archive Viewer | Popular Science

Peugeot are "quirky". The headlight switch follows an odd pattern and is the stalk on the LEFT side of the steering wheel--where you expect the turn signals to be. The turn signals are on the RIGHT side. So if you aren't paying attention, and, while driving at night with the headlights on, you might intend to signal a right turn, and instead you'd turn off the head lights. A mistake you usually make only once..
Peugeot are softly spring, but with 9 stage shock valving--they ride very well. They also will "corner on their door handles"--not really that bad, but there is some roll in aggressive cornering. Seats are comfortable. First time drivers often seek out potholes---the experience is strange---you see the pothole, and brace for the jolt that years of driving have taught you to expect---but it never comes--just a slight "bump". So you look for another pothole to see if what you felt can be repeated, and it can. The large bumps just disappear.
If you can find a clean one, go for it.

MS Fowler · #8 03-23-2012, 07:50 AM

I worked on a number of 504 diesels in addition to the several 504 gassers I owned.
Solid cars. Peugeot took pride in the solidity of their vehicles and didn't apologize for the weight that the strength required. Road Test Magazine did a 50,000 mile test and tear down, and reported that engine wear was not measurable. Their final word was "This would be the car that Mercedes would build, if they wanted to build a car in this price range" ( Quoted from memory, so it may not be a perfect quote, but its close.)

Diesel with a 4 speed can be OK, but with an automatic they are slow. As in make a 240D auto look quick ( 25 seconds 0-60!!)
The only real preventive maintenance required is to retorque the head bolts every year. Go by the head bolt order, remove each bolt, clean the threads, and reinstall and torque, then move to the next bolt. They don't crack heads, but the combination of an iron block, steel wet liners and aluminum head will blow head gaskets if not regularly retorqued.
Oil changes at 3000 mile intervals.
The wet liner engine means that you can totally rebuild an engine in even the most remote places on earth. Adjusting the liner protrusion is tedious, but not difficult. If you need to do it, just be patient and measure often.
a link:
Archive Viewer | Popular Science

Peugeot are "quirky". The headlight switch follows an odd pattern and is the stalk on the LEFT side of the steering wheel--where you expect the turn signals to be. The turn signals are on the RIGHT side. So if you aren't paying attention, and, while driving at night with the headlights on, you might intend to signal a right turn, and instead you'd turn off the head lights. A mistake you usually make only once..
Peugeot are softly spring, but with 9 stage shock valving--they ride very well. They also will "corner on their door handles"--not really that bad, but there is some roll in aggressive cornering. Seats are comfortable. First time drivers often seek out potholes---the experience is strange---you see the pothole, and brace for the jolt that years of driving have taught you to expect---but it never comes--just a slight "bump". So you look for another pothole to see if what you felt can be repeated, and it can. The large bumps just disappear.
If you can find a clean one, go for it.

t walgamuth · #9 03-23-2012, 09:38 AM

A number of your comments explain their popularity in the most remote places in Africa.

MS Fowler · #10 03-23-2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

A number of your comments explain their popularity in the most remote places in Africa.

True. At the press conference when the 505 was unveiled, some of the press were asking about the weight, and why hadn't Peugeot followed Audi's example of weight reduction. The Peugeot scoffed ( as only the French can), and remarked that an Audi wouldn't last 5 minutes in Africa.

We had a French exchange student for a number of summers, his comment about Peugeot was , " Strong cars".

Speaking of French scoffing or arrogance reminds me when I asked a salesman about the odd turn signal switch location, and inquired whether that might get relocated like other cars. The salesman's response was typically French--something about how long Peugeot had been making and selling cars, ( 1898 or so) and who was to question them about where the turn signal should be.

JB3 · #11 03-23-2012, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

A number of your comments explain their popularity in the most remote places in Africa.

Yeah, thats what ive heard too. Popular for ride quality and suspension travel in rough road situations. Interesting car, I passed on one in a field once though for the exact same parts availability problem.

Thought it was a pretty unique car, but I was never finding parts for it unless I had a European hook up, and even then, would probably be difficult.

MS Fowler · #12 03-23-2012, 10:02 AM

This is bringing back a flood of memories......
I was superintending new house construction when I had my Peugeots. I had to see the survey crew who were about a mile out in a corn field. Corn had been removed, but the field was furrowed. The survey crew could only drive at about walking speed in their 4X4 Chevy pick up with HD (stiff) suspension or risk being thrown off the seats.. I blasted over that field at 30-40 with no discomfort. It was amazing.

One suggestion for anyone thinking about an old Peugeot gasser--or any gasser from the days before Electronic Ignition-----update the ignition to some form of electronics. The idle will smooth out, and you won't worry about replacing ignition points.

Pavka007 · #13 03-23-2012, 10:14 AM

I am not a French car fanboy, but credit is given when credit is due. North Africa all the countries around the Mediterranean sea are still running 30/35 years old Peugeot 404 as taxis...enough said.

tarnbarn · #14 03-23-2012, 12:13 PM

Yea... the 504 diesel, preferably estate: a total classic in terms of ride and longlastingness... can be quite fond of rusting tho!!
I learned to drive on a 504 (petrol) estate in London (city on a small island in north west Europe) in the v early 1980s - that's when I first learned to love that rear wheel slippy slidy sideways thing

Pavka007 · #15 03-23-2012, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarnbarn

Yea... the 504 diesel, preferably estate: a total classic in terms of ride and longlastingness... can be quite fond of rusting tho!!
I learned to drive on a 504 (petrol) estate in London (city on a small island in north west Europe) in the v early 1980s - that's when I first learned to love that rear wheel slippy slidy sideways thing

French...you just have to love them, still thinking that they are the smartest in EU

but they tend to forget that this small island and the US give them the freedom at the end of the second world war.