Xantia exhaust sputtering

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 15:38

Hi all,
when I bought my Xantia over a year ago now, I noticed a bit of a putt putt coming from the exhaust, not too frequently mind. However, it seems to have got worse lately, every couple of seconds i think. What could be the cause? I had a notion to spray some wynn's fuel injection intake and carb cleaner into the air cleaner intake, would this be a wise move? It is a P reg 1.8 lx 16 valve petrol.
Thanks in advance.

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 05 Oct 2010, 16:41

So is the car misfiring, or do you have a bad blow from the exhaust?

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 16:48

Hi thanks for the response, I'm a bit rubbish with cars, I only started to take an interest in them since I bought my Xantia. So forgive me for being a numpty but what does mis firing sound like? In my case i can only describe it as a gentle putt putt over the sound of the normal engine noise at idle.

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 16:57

I'm begining to sense that I may need to visit the citroen dealer

Post by **CitroJim** » 05 Oct 2010, 17:17

xants in me pants wrote:I'm begining to sense that I may need to visit the Citroën dealer

No, never!

I say it was an exhaust blow at first thought. A misfire would make the engine chug and run decidedly roughly.

Is your "K" (engine management) light on and does it go off immediately the engine starts? If the K light takes a while to extinguish after a start then there will be a stored fault or two in the ECU that will give a clue. If the light extinguishes immediately then there are no stored faults preset.

Does the car start OK, rev cleanly and no use excessive petrol? When did it last pass an MOT?

Sorry for all the questions

They'll help us narrow it.

Oh, and welcome to the forum. Glad it's been a help to you since becoming a Xantia owner

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » 05 Oct 2010, 17:43

Well if its a 8v running rough Jim and I are THE experts!

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 18:03

Hello citrojim,
The engine management light goes out straight away. I used to drive a 1.2 renault 5 and 1l renault clio which would go for light years on a full tank so I would say that it is more thirsty, however, as soon as I refuel, eg half a tank, the level indicator drops to quarter tank mark within a mile or so, but then that quarter tank lasts long enough... I suppose it is a bit thirsty though, perhaps 30-40 miles per 10 litres/ 2 gallon's?
The revs build nicely no dirty smoke from exhaust, and it drops back to 850 rpm straight away.
The only starting issues I ever had where according to what I have read on this forum would be to do with the stepper motor needing to be cleaned i.e. it stalls at roundabouts or engine looses power on start up unless accelerator pedal is depressd to keep rev's up, this job is on the to do list as after servicing it has been ok.
The car has been maintained well (ex fleet car looked after properly regular service etc) so when I took it for its M.O.T at the citroen garage last year, they said for a car its age it was in immaculte condition and seemed to be quite impressed by it

It has done 20,000 miles since then..

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 18:10

Hi Tim,

Sorry been out the front revving up the xant, it is a 16 valve, will that make a difference?

Meant to say that it might chug a bit.. the exhaust pipe shakes when it does "chug"

Is it considered bad form to go to the garage and ask what it might be without parting with cash?

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 05 Oct 2010, 18:20

To echo CitroJim, steer clear of the main stealer, and stick with us as we try to narrow it down, and help you, also welcome to the forum.

Note the main stealer deceptionist will have to create a job card, book it into the system etc, and then maybe someone technical might look at it, but not FOC (free of charge) we are very helpful here, and are FOC.

By comparison to the main stealer when you visit a Cit specialist you will talk to the technician/boss etc, who will be more willing to help than the main stealer, who tends to favour the newer cars to book into to work on in the stealership, but if you look around the place those that do not have a company car entitlement are actually using Xantia's, and probably trade in cars at that.

Hopefully we can help you out, but if you wish to visit a garage, go for the independent Cit specialist they can be so much more experienced, and cheaper!

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 18:30

Main stealer! lol..

I will wait to hear from you all first, I will be able to go out tomorrow to put the car on stands if it isn't raining, I have a feeling that I might need to do some thing to do with the exhaust pipe being out of line at the join between the cat and muffler

thanks so far lads

Post by **CitroJim** » 05 Oct 2010, 18:51

Right,

If you have a blow on the joint between the back box (we don't call 'em mufflers here

), a good way to see is to start the car up from cold and watch the joint. If it starts to drip water then you hyave a fair leak there. The water is a product of the cat where CO and NOx is catalysed to CO2 and H2O) (water).

The back box joint is a shocker for leaking and will product a throaty sort of splutter...

If that is innocent, then give the car a service, (oil, filters, plugs) and if the problem remains then get hold of a local member who has a Lexia for a session of diagnostics or else pop over to your local, friendly MOT tester and ask for an MOT emissions test. Look closely at the figures for HC (Hydrocarbons) and CO. If the former is high then this indicates a misfire whereas if the latter is out of tolerance then this indicates the lambda sensor is potentially faulty. That, or the cat or for another reason the ECU is unable to maintain the correct mixture, often as a result of a duff MAP sensor. If the emissions are off, then a session with a Lexia along with a person who understands it is essential to pin down the exact cause.

There is a map on here of those of us with Lexia machines who are happy to run a diagnostic.

tim leech wrote:Well if its a 8v running rough Jim and I are THE experts!

Don't forget DickieG there Tim! He was the person who came up trumps on your car!!! All we did was get horribly confused

Tim, whilst I think of it... See you at Duxford and I'll be there armed with my Lexia

Looking forward to Duxford.

Sorry for a small off-topic excursion there Mr. Xants...

Sadly, in these sorts of cases, the Main Stealers are not always fully wise. To them, the 16v XU7 is a bit of an antique and not well understood these days and secondly, the diagnostics don't tell you in words of one syllable what's wrong. It takes a bit of interpretation.

Hope that gives something to go on... let us know how it goes...

JamesQB · Post by **JamesQB** » 05 Oct 2010, 20:37

Would I be right in thinking that you're not describing a blowing exhaust, but the normal sound of exhaust leaving tailpipe with the odd deeper 'putt, putt' sound, still emanating from the tailpipe itself?

I've heard what you mean on many cars, and can hear the sound you're describing. A blown exhaust is a constant throaty, growly noise, not the occasional 'phut, phut' sound which seems like a cylinder not firing properly inbetween the other cylinders firing with a characteristic noise. At idle, you can literally hear each combustion sound from each individual cylinder as they fire, coming from the tailpipe, and I do think you're describing the sound of a cylinder making a different noise here and there.

Unfortunately, I cannot help with the cause, because I never did understand what was going on... Just thought I'd try to help clear up any misunderstanding in case you spend ages looking for an exhaust blow which is usually clear to hear and obvious.

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 20:48

Thanks for the advice,

I expect a good service is well due by now, so this is the shove that I need to get it done.

I'l keep you posted on the progress. Thanks very much again, I am hoping that I can get this car to do another 70,000 miles before I think about moving on. They are really good cars for the money.

cheers lads.

btw what would the result have been if i did squirt the wynn's in its air pipe?

Post by **myglaren** » 05 Oct 2010, 21:03

Try and locate a Citroen specialist (not dealer) who has personal recommendations, If you don't feel confident tackling jobs yourself.

Any jobs you are considering, check them out in the threads here to see what you are likely to be faced with. Most things are not as difficult as you might imagine, just need time and patience. Any parts will cost you either way.

Should be safe enough to give it a blast of carb cleaner though.

xants in me pants · Post by **xants in me pants** » 05 Oct 2010, 21:10

Hey james,

Sorry I missed your reply there I was just putting nipper to bed.

That is quite a good description of what I am hearing, the engine idles as normal, then I hear the "phutt" or a "phutt phutt" every now and again, as you say from the exhaust pipe orifice. I don't hear any difference in sound from the engine compartment, or when I put my head/ear under the car.

As this sound is emitted from the exhaust the pipe shakes more than normal.

Are there any other usual indications that it might be what you are thinking? Any thing I could do to shed a bit more light on it?

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Xantia exhaust sputtering

Xantia exhaust sputtering

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