2001 Berlingo top-end rebuild DW8

tino · Post by **tino** » 06 Mar 2010, 17:29

Hi there, was wondering if anyone had any information on rebuilding the top end of the DW8 engine in a 2001 Citroen Berlingo.

The engine had a snapped cambelt. I've got a new head which has been fully restored / prepared. I have a cambelt kit, head gasket, head gasket kit and new head bolts. So basically, I'm all set to complete the job.

All I'm missing is information on setting up the timing for the cam belt, component locations and torque settings for the head bolts.

Can anyone help with this information? Halfords don't seem to stock a Haynes manual for this car.

tino · Post by **tino** » 08 Mar 2010, 09:30

nobody?

Post by **CitroJim** » 08 Mar 2010, 09:43

Hi Tino,

The DW8 is essentially the same as the XUD engine. Haynes do a good (by their current standards

) manual for this engine called either Peugeot Diesel Engines with a red cover or Citroen Diesel Engines with a blue cover. This will give you a good guide to stripping the engine and don't worry these manuals say they only cover engines up to "N" registration. The info holds good to the end of production of those engines..

Look on here for references to XUD cambelt failures; many of us have been there and resolved the issues.

Luckily, the DW8 (and XUD) rarely bends valves but can snap the camshaft and break the cam bearing caps in the process if you are very unlucky. Do you know yet the extent of damage?

If cam caps are broken, you should really replace the head as these are line-bored and unique to each head. they can also crack and not be obviously broken so need careful checking.

So, forget DW8 for this exercise and think of XUD when searching this forum and you'll find some rich seams of information. Have a look for posts by "evilally" in the Peugeot section where he replaces his head gasket on his Peugeot 405. This one thread alone tells you most of what you'll need to know about removing a head...

Hope that helps...

tino · Post by **tino** » 08 Mar 2010, 09:54

I spose it helps a fair ammount to know the XUD and DW8 are similar for forum searching purposes.

Here's the head I have to slot back in.

Post by **CitroJim** » 08 Mar 2010, 09:56

That looks lovely and makes the job very easy...

tino · Post by **tino** » 08 Mar 2010, 09:56

Original camshaft was snapped into 4 pieces. Two of the valves were bent. Two of the bearing caps were cracked.

I dissassembled another head on a spare engine and found another cracked camshaft and another smashed bearing cap. Bit of a nightmare to find these heads in good condition. My new one, pictured above, is the result of the combination of three heads.

tino · Post by **tino** » 08 Mar 2010, 10:26

Ok - found the long thread on the glow plug disaster but can't see torque setting for head bolts. All he says is that he follwed the haynes manual for setting the torque correctly. I'd like to save myself £25-squids and avoid buying the manual just for a single torque setting.

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... g&start=75

Post by **CitroJim** » 08 Mar 2010, 10:46

That's easy tino.

Use new bolts.

Clean out the threads in the block using an old head bolt with cuts in the threads to make it look like a tap. Blow any debris out of the threaded holes.

Oil the threads of the new bolts.

Stage one tightening 20Nm

Stage two tightening 60Nm

Stage three angle tighten a further 180 degrees. The angle tightening is critical as the bolts are stretch types and the angle ensures they are sufficiently stretched to really pull the head down tight.

Don't do the full 180 degree tighten in one bite. Take three bites and thus making five tightening stages in all...

The order of tightening is standard for a 10 bolt, 4 cylinder head. Start in the middle and work outwards.

I can scan you a diagram of the tightening sequence if that would help...

Post by **CitroJim** » 08 Mar 2010, 10:57

Here's the head tightening sequence using your picture tino....

Don't forget to replace the spacers on the head bolts...

TopDonkey · Post by **TopDonkey** » 08 Mar 2010, 11:33

If you havent done heads before, make sure you have a decent socket that fits on the cylinder head bolts and a 2 foot + breaker bar for tightening, the 180 degree angle tightening bit is a huge amount of force and you wont do it with a ratchet socket bar

When i do the 180 degree bit, i put a mark on the edge of the cylinder head bolt head (NOT the washer!) and a mark 60 degrees clockwise on the cylinder head beside the bolt, that way when the 2 marks line up, you are at the 60 degree stage, then use some solvent to clean the mark off and do it again (if you leave the marks on, you can easily get confused as to which mark is the old and new one), 3 times round doing 60 degrees and you are all done !

tino · Post by **tino** » 08 Mar 2010, 12:33

don't worry - you're talking to an old hand here. Just needed the figures really! Thanks chaps!

Post by **CitroJim** » 08 Mar 2010, 14:13

tino wrote:don't worry - you're talking to an old hand here.

That's good tino.

Sorry if you had a few eggs to suck there but not knowing your skill level, it's always best policy on forums to explain fully. It's also very useful for others reading this thread who may not have your same level of competence to understand what is being said...

tino · Post by **tino** » 09 Mar 2010, 10:23

Couple of things I've discovered for anyone reading this at a later date.

The perfect tool for stopping the flywheel from rotating for aligning the cambelt is actually one of those long allen-keys. I've used a 6mm one. But you could try and squeeze in something bigger if you were worried about the odd .5mm movement in either direction. Obviously a short handle allen-key wouldn't be as good because you wouldn't be able to reach down and slot it into the hole behind the starter motor - if that's all you have then you may as well use something else instead.

The other tip I have is that instructions on the head gasket packet explain that the angle-tightening should be done in two 90-degree stages rather than one single 180-degree stroke.

When I find out more things I'll report back!

tino · Post by **tino** » 16 Mar 2010, 16:05

does anyone know why one of these won't start?

I'm not a diesel mechanic so I don't really know where to start. But I've checked inside the fuel filter housing and there is fuel in there. Obviously since the head has been off the whole fuel system has been drained at the engine end so I can imagine it will need some priming before it will start. But still, I've been cranking it over and not had much joy as of yet. Sounds like it's ready to start, but that's not the same as starting.

The glow plug light comes on and goes off as it should, but as I understand it, a diesel will start even if the glow plugs are completely knackard - they are just an aid to help faster easier starting.

tino · Post by **tino** » 16 Mar 2010, 16:23

False alarm. Got it started after a bit more cranking.

Last problem now...

The dash lamp says STOP - flashing red and dash beeping. Sign of an oil can is shown on the dash. Basically it's trying to tell me there's a problem with oil pressure but I think it is more likely the oil pressure switch and oil pressure circuit. If there was an oil pressure problem it would sound awful and self destruct into a pile of broken metal on the floor... but it actually sounds lovely! Tried removing the oil pressure switch lead and plugging it back in again. The oil pressure switch lead was removed during the work.