Stuttering startup on Xantia

3ps · Post by **3ps** » 21 May 2008, 10:24

Hi,

I have a 1995 Xantia 1.9TD.

Then car runs very well, no smoke (well not much) while driving, great power and good economy.

When I start it in the morning, there is quite alot of blue smoke. I know that this means there is wear in either the rings or the valves and oil is seeping in. It has 145k miles on it so considering it's performing OK I'm OK with this.

On startup it is a but "stuttery". I turn the key and it catches after a few seconds but it stutters alot until all the smoke is gone. I find it catches better if I depress the accelerator slightly.

Recently, it has been taking longer to catch, and today while I was depressing the accelerator to keep the revs up and clear out the oil/smoke... it stuttered too much and cut out.

I tried to start it again but it wouldn't catch. Left it 10 seconds and it caught OK.

I'm wondering if anybody can point to any other issues apart from seeping oil that might be causing this?

Thanks.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 21 May 2008, 11:23

First thing to check would be the glow plugs, especially if its misfiring on one cyliner when it starts.

3ps · Post by **3ps** » 22 May 2008, 10:49

Will do Thanks.

This morning I squeezed the hand pump/primer thing and I was able to do it 7-8 times before it became hard.

Would this be related to air leaks etc?

Post by **CitroJim** » 22 May 2008, 11:28

3ps wrote: Would this be related to air leaks etc?

Very possibly and more than likely. In the case of ANY starting issues on a 1.9TD, it is always a good idea to check the entire fuel system carefully for air leaks. Air leaks really do upset the function of the Bosch pump.

There are loads of posts on here about air leaks but briefly, the favourite suspects are the leakoff pipes, the primer bulb and the fuel filter housing. Replace the pipe from the pump to the top of the filter housing with a lenmgth of transparant pipe so you can see what is going on.

Pumping the bulb can be a bit misleading with a Bosch Pump as it's an "open" design where the stop solenoid does not prevent fuel from flowing from the inlet to the return when the stop solenoid is de-energised, unlike the Lucas pump. In consequence, the bulb will never go really hard as it will on a Lucas pumped vehicle. I'd say it just gets a bit stiff after a few pumps...