C5 2.2 Hdi Swirl Valve Actuator

[corsehf]

Your fuel consumption figures i assume are straight from the trip reading??
When i first got the car, i was getting figures of 28mpg which i was not happy about, i managed to get this up to 34mpg which is slightly better but i have done some manual workings and by working out fuel used to distance, i am getting 39mpg which is more like it but not as good as i was hoping.

Whilst i am on the subject of fuel, i believe that there is a 173BHP version of the 2.2HDi whereas mine is just the paltry!! 138BHP. Whats the difference as its just the same motor??
I was thinking along the lines of having more power so i would not need to use the throttle as much if you get my drift.

[cachaciero]

Your fuel consumption figures i assume are straight from the trip reading??
When i first got the car, i was getting figures of 28mpg which i was not happy about, i managed to get this up to 34mpg which is slightly better but i have done some manual workings and by working out fuel used to distance, i am getting 39mpg which is more like it but not as good as i was hoping.

Whilst i am on the subject of fuel, i believe that there is a 173BHP version of the 2.2HDi whereas mine is just the paltry!! 138BHP. Whats the difference as its just the same motor??
I was thinking along the lines of having more power so i would not need to use the throttle as much if you get my drift.

Hi Andy

Yes fuel consumption from trip, might not be 100% accurate but o.k for A/B comparisons, all I am saying is that swirl valves working properly is worth about 4 MPG improvement.
Having said that it seems to compare well when tracking fuel on board as calculated from pumps against mileage done. Mines an automatic and it will go to about 38 on a urban / 120m Motorway /urban trip which is pretty well identical to CItroens figures and I don't expect to get more and I don't think I would expect to get more than 40 out of a manual version for the same run, the autobox doesn't drink as much fuel as some people believe it does.

The 173BHP version? i thought it was 178, anyway twin turbo's and no swirl valves for starters, actually the head looks quite a lot different. I guess that and a few tweaks in the ECU would be enough to get to 178bhp, available on face lifted versions after 2006 I believe. I have no idea what the real fuel consumption is though. There was one on E-bay a while back the engine that is from a breaker had about 1K on the clock

Cachaciero

[bencowell]

I've done 5000 miles in my 2.2 HDI 173 twin turbo since Feb. Averaged 44mpg and I don't hang around.

[cachaciero]

Auto or manual ?????

Cachaciero

[bencowell]

Manual. You don't need an auto when the car will pull from 1000 revs in any gear.

[corsehf]

Cachaciero,
Back on topic, its been a while now since i last looked at the car for problems but the dreaded 'anti-pollution' fault has returned with the same problems as before. I have disconnected the EV from under the air box and the car runs ok again so i imagine the diaphragm has perished this time.
Would you agree??

[cachaciero]

Cachaciero,
Back on topic, its been a while now since i last looked at the car for problems but the dreaded 'anti-pollution' fault has returned with the same problems as before. I have disconnected the EV from under the air box and the car runs ok again so i imagine the diaphragm has perished this time.
Would you agree??

Well it's likely to be a leak in the swirl valve system somewhere .

The rubber pipe joiner to the swirl valve actuatuator is a strong possibility as well as the valve diaphragm.
In my case the diaphragm had no less than five holes in it on the "fold" line, there was no contamination internally so my conclusion was that it was likely normal wear and tear and as such any 2.2 with 80K ish on the clock was likely to suffer the same failure.

Cachaciero

[corsehf]

Right then, i have the swirl valve actuator off the car now - slightly easier than i thought, thanks to your (Cachaciero's) instructions.
The next step is to remove the diaphragm from inside, is this straight forward or will i end up gluing the parts back together as the plastic lugs break off!!??

[corsehf]

OK, it's come apart quite easy too - i used the ends of cable ties to release the 8 plastic tabs and then pulled apart.
I have one split in my diaphragm so i am pinning my hopes on that being the cause of my ESP / Anti-Pollution problems.

[cachaciero]

OK, it's come apart quite easy too - i used the ends of cable ties to release the 8 plastic tabs and then pulled apart.
I have one split in my diaphragm so i am pinning my hopes on that being the cause of my ESP / Anti-Pollution problems.

I would almost guarantee it, with a hole in the diaphragm there is not enough vacuum to control the turbo which overboosts as a result. The thing which makes this such a variable is that the amount of leakage depends on swirl valve position i.e split / hole bigger or smaller depending on amount of stretch this coupled with variations in turbo characteristics so sometimes you get the problem and other times you can go for quite a period with no problem. You may be surprised by the amount of extra low down performance when you finally get it back together again as with the swirl valve control disabled (no vac) the valves are actually in the wrong position for low revs i.e both inlet valves are open.

The diaphragm of the swirl actuator is not available as a separate item and as the whole assembly is only £15.00 it really isn't worth tarting around with it, suggest that you replace the rubber pipe joiner at the same time.

cachaciero

[corsehf]

Sorry for the delay in reporting back but I lost my Father and well, my mind has been elsewhere.
Re-fitting the Swirl Valve unit can be tricky and awkward especailly if you are on your own. There was no question of me re-fitting from underneath the car so i manipulated the unit past all the really unnecessary pipes and tubes we seem to have on diesels nowadays, past its mounting plate and pushed the rod back up through the hole. I then clipped the rod onto its mounting point to stop it from falling all the way down to the steering rack / floor (again ).
The 3 mounting bolts are a real pain to fit as they need to be square on to fit properly which is difficult to do - they really want to go in cross threaded! .
Anyway, all fitted, hoses and tubes checked and put back.
Car now runs like a dream and is now returning 42 mpg with good all round performance. Not bad for a car with 192,000 on the clock.
Thanks Cachaciero for helping out with the instructions and the push to get it done.

[cachaciero]

Hi Andy

Sorry to hear about your loss from my experience to say your mind was elsewhere is probably a bit of an understatement.

Fitting the swirl valve yes can be a bit fiddly I didn't mention the trick of clipping it on but you worked it out anyway The tree screws I really didn't have any problem I used a long extension about 250cm bit of heavy grease on the bit to hold the screw on while positioning it and they went in real easy, if I had had a problem holding the screws on with grease my next step would have been to superglue the screw to the bit a technique which I have used in the past for similar circumstances.

As you have discovered when it's all working properly it transforms the engine glad it all worked out for you, the fact that it has worked for one person makes all the writing worthwhile .

Now..! anybody know where I can get my hands on 2007 2.2 engine and box ?.

Rgds Tony

[tmead]

I had the 'ESP/ASR fault' flash up along with the 'Antipollution Fault' - exactly as described. Looking up from underneath with the undertray off I spied the actuator, and saw the small tube corner was split. I've replaced that for now, and not fitted the 20 quid actuator, as i can see that it is going to be a bit of a sod to get to. The ESP/ASR hasn't re-appeared today - meaning that I could complete a 10 minute run at 4K to clear out the FAP. MPG is already a good chunk better, but it is still asking to 'unblock diesel filter' so I'll have another go.

Many thanks for the guidance from everyone on here - the faults were exactly as described. I'll keep the actuator in the garage and fit it when the diaphragm fails and I get the esp/asr message again !

Tim

[cachaciero]

I had the 'ESP/ASR fault' flash up along with the 'Antipollution Fault' - exactly as described. Looking up from underneath with the undertray off I spied the actuator, and saw the small tube corner was split. I've replaced that for now, and not fitted the 20 quid actuator, as i can see that it is going to be a bit of a sod to get to. The ESP/ASR hasn't re-appeared today - meaning that I could complete a 10 minute run at 4K to clear out the FAP. MPG is already a good chunk better, but it is still asking to 'unblock diesel filter' so I'll have another go.

Many thanks for the guidance from everyone on here - the faults were exactly as described. I'll keep the actuator in the garage and fit it when the diaphragm fails and I get the esp/asr message again !

Tim

Changing the diaphragm / swirl actuator looks worse than it is, can be done in a couple of hours and IMHO anything over 70K and it will almost certainly have some splits in it. However if the swirl arm is fully forward at idle and there is no Turbo overboost then it's probably o.k for a while. It might be worth checking the Intercooler for leaks usually visible by the presence of oil at the base, as I have an unsubstantiated theory that turbo overboost can result in "blowing" the intercooler.

The diesel filter blocked message is from the FAP and it may go away with a blast down the motorway a forced regeneration might be better but that requires a Lexia. The bad news is that if the Filter has done more than 60K since last it was changed OR the system has been run without Eolys then it will likely need replacing.

cachaciero

[tmead]

Thanks for that, although a couple of hours is mighty frustrating for such a simple part ! Does the EGR pipe really need to come off ? Seems a shame to rip open the clamp holding it onto the water jacket thing. Also I'm going to need arms like Paul the Octopus to get to the clamps holding the air pipe onto the turbo to release it !
I was thinking about trying to wiggle a long driver down between the wires and pipes from the top whilst getting someone else to guide the T20 bit home into the screws from underneath ? See that - someone else is underneath with all the rubbish falling on them and i get the clean job !

I'll give the FAP another blast, and will need to pop over to see a friend locally who has a Lexia to clear the faults, and may complete a forced regen. Last time we tried it faulted part way through due to the collant cap seal failing and spewing coolant out of the expansion tank onto the road. Fingers crossed it will clear, as the records show it being changed reasonably recently, and it hasn't been run without Eolys.

Tim