Chump drove all way frae north scotland to south france with

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boristhespie
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Chump drove all way frae north scotland to south france with

Post by boristhespie »

Opened bonnet to find oil everywhere and miraculously the oil cap had lodged on the alternator all the 1000 miles.

It seems okay though. Still had plenty oil-ish.

Had vibration at 70 which was bummer. Had balance checked and our wheel has dent.
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Post by Peter.N. »

Shouldn't have any rust problems in the engine compartment :D
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Paul-R
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Post by Paul-R »

Surely more than 1000 miles?

It's 950 miles from Wirral to the Vaucluse so I would have thought that yours would be more like 1300 - 1400 depending on where in the south of France.

BTW, commiserations. I had managed to keep my engine compartment oil free until my oil cap did a similar escape job and lodged at the back of the engine. The really annoying thing is the bonnet sound damping which will now forever be tainted.
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Peter.N.
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Post by Peter.N. »

Strangely the dipstick on my 195,000 mile 406 Hdi keeps coming out of the tube, I think its something to do with the engine cover moving, there is not a spot of oil come out, in fact its bone dry :shock:

Peter
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Post by KennyW »

It will be 1350 miles at least for Boris as I travel to the Var and a beautiful village called Cotignac. I've been going to the Var for 16 years and this village for 6years.

It worth the trip for vino alone, sitting under the plan trees outside the cafe with blue skies above............... :cry:

I shouldn't have started since I can't go this year.

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Post by andmcit »

Watch the engine mounts as rubber melts when coated in oil.
It may start wandering around the engine bay under high torque...

may be worth getting a solvent spray/brush on cleaner like Gunk to stop the
rubber from perishing.
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Post by Paul-R »

Peter.N. wrote:Strangely the dipstick on my 195,000 mile 406 Hdi keeps coming out of the tube, I think its something to do with the engine cover moving,
The Xsara does this and it appears to be caused when one, or more, of the rubber mounting posts for the engine cover shears off. This allows the cover to move about and chivvy the dipstick out of its holder.

I managed to have a period of time when all of the posts were intact and the dipstick remained in position. Trouble is they seem to have a very short life...
As I get older I think a lot about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.

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Post by Citroenmad »

Peter.N. wrote:Strangely the dipstick on my 195,000 mile 406 Hdi keeps coming out of the tube, I think its something to do with the engine cover moving, there is not a spot of oil come out, in fact its bone dry :shock:

Peter
My 2.0HDi 206 did this, the engine cover blows back if the mounts have broken and pulls the dipstick up slightly. It doesn't help if the dipstick is not a snug fit either.

Not had this problem wih 8v HDi C5s though, even when the cover comes free the dipstick stays, must be different airflow under the bonnet.

Bit of lue on the mounting points will sort it for about a month or two :?
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Post by andy5 »

Sorry if it's too far off-topic, but my old Rover SD1 developed a big oil leak for a while, like it used about 3 or 4 gallons towing a large trailer to Germany and back, and I had to steam clean the trailer when I got back.

The tin gasket across the middle of the V8 had bulged up with crankcase pressure and kinked and split at the back, for about an inch long. I cleaned it then smeared acid-free silicone rubber across the crack, and pulled out the wire mesh in the breather flametrap and shook out all the coke blocking it, but even after that it was losing some oil (though much more moderately) from somewhere.

In the end I just left the filler cap off on purpose, so it just acted as a better breather, and then the car barely used any oil at all. The filler is a 3 inch or so vertical tube on top of one of the rocker covers, so no problem with spray or splashing like presumably the OP.

As I say, it's off-topic, but I just wonder slightly if the dipsticks mentioned above are being blown out by crankcase pressure rather than just some odd vibration pattern.
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Post by Paul-R »

andy5 wrote:but I just wonder slightly if the dipsticks mentioned above are being blown out by crankcase pressure rather than just some odd vibration pattern.
On our Xsara it's definitely the rubber mounting posts (or rather, lack of them) that causes the problem. On the odd occasion that I've had four fully functioning ones the dipstick remains in place.

That's not to say that for some people it won't be crankcase pressure that causes the problem.
As I get older I think a lot about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.

"Trying is the first step towards failure" ~ Homer J Simpson​
Peter.N.
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x 1199

Post by Peter.N. »

Can't be pressure in my case as there is no oil present - not a drop

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boristhespie
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Post by boristhespie »

In all this my main surprise is how the oil plug managed the entire journey sitting at the alternator and not having been lost. I've no undertray.

Car still vibrates badly at 70. Thing is if it was balance it's been sorted and if dent in wheel why have we not felt it the last 2 years?

Anyway re engine mounts. Need to clean them. Where are they. And what so the look like.
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Post by Bud »

Hi,,, just drove from Dundee to house in Deux Sevres 950miles door to door 2 large dogs, wife and myself in C5 2.2hdi only problem was M25 where a chap in bmw decided to break down in contraflow just before Queen's crossing,,,,,,2 hour delay yoicks,,,, averaged 48.5 mpg not as good as previous Xantia
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Post by boristhespie »

Whu not go via Portsmouth fast cat? Where in Deux Sevres?
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Post by Paul-R »

Bud wrote:just before Queen's crossing,,,,,,2 hour delay yoicks
I just won't go the easterly route around the M25 now - it's just not worth it. There's almost invariably a 30 minute (at least!) delay due to "exceptional" traffic and then they expect you to pay for the privilege!

So, instead of M6, M1, M25E and M2/M20 I now go M6, M5, M42, M40, M25W and then M26, M20. It may be 20 miles longer but it's worth it as there seem to be less delays that way.

The only downside is having to go into Gravelly Hill on the M6 to get to the M5 as there can be delays there as well so quite often I will eschew the M6 altogether and travel on the A41 to wolverhampton and then the A4123 to J2 on the M5. This takes about 20 minutes longer than M53, M56, M6 on a good day but how often does that happen?

It's absolutely ridiculous that we are now reduced to planning a route that AVOIDS motorways because they're so alow.
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