Gutless Xantia

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pete woods
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Gutless Xantia

Post by pete woods »

Here's a query that should be simple to solve!?
I have not been Driving the Xantia much as I have a new company car to play with. My wife uses it all the time though. She had been complaining that it seemed to be getting slower. So I took it out for a run to see what was up.
Jesus! talk about slow! I don't know whats wrong as it runs very well & it's not smoking but it has lost ALL it's urge. You have to really cane it to make any progress at all. This thing used to spin it's wheels in 2nd in the wet. I doubt it would spin them in 1st now!
What could it be & how do I check it out. The only odd thing is that it ticks over at 1100 rpm hot or cold (It may always have done so)
My Passat diesel ticks over at 900 so i noticed the difference.
I get the feeling it's a fueling issue. as you rev it through the gears under load it feels like it's hesitating everso slightly.
HELP!
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Pete -
Check the obvious - before stressing your nerves with all thoughts of costly repairs [:)]
Air filter -
Fuel filter -
Throttle linkage -
Engine oil & filter -
If all is by the book - then use injection cleaner in a couple of tankfulls. Diesels used for short city trips are prone to clogg the exhaust with carbon - can be cleaned out taking the car for long steady loaded trips.
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Post by algieuk »

What Xantia is this? Petrol? Diesel? Turbo? n/a?
Without knowing it is hard to give any help.
pete woods
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Post by pete woods »

Doh! Sorry The car is a 96 TD SX with 105000. The car is used for short trips but was fine about 3000 miles ago. Could the performance drop off so much in so short a time just through being used on the school run. A friends Golf had what sounds like a similar problem & it turned out to be an air mass meter fault. I'll check all the obvious things at the weekend as suggested. if that has no effect whats next?
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">as suggested. if that has no effect whats next? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
- depends 100% on your observations [;)]
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Post by RichardW »

Pete,
It's most likely that a turbo pipe has popped off somewhere - although this is usually greeted with quite a lot of noise (and not a little jump of the heart when it goes 'pop' and the power drops off 15 miles after you changed the cambelt[:0]!!).
I'd particularly check the small hose that runs from the plumbing to the injection pump.
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pete woods
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Post by pete woods »

Is there a sensor that tells the pump how much diesel to inject? if so anyone know where it is?
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Post by Dave Burns »

Same as Richard say's Pete, the small rubber pipe from the hard plastic turbo outlet pipe (above engine) to the top of the injection pump.
The pump itself aters the fueling dependant on the amount of manifold pressure thats present, thats what the small pipe is for, to transmit actual manifold pressure to the boost fueling diaphragm.
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Post by blueboy2001 »

Also check the pipe that drops down the back of the engine on the LHS - theres a jubilee clip down there that joins the hard plastic air pipe to a rubber hose. Mine came loose and left me with no boost, along with increased whine from the turbo.
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Post by pete woods »

Just had my head under th bonnet with the engine running All pipes look ok & no odd noise. I don't know but I imagine a broken pipe from the turbo would make a fair bit of noise when the engine is rev'ed.
I noticed two soleniod lookin things (Technical or what!)attached to the passengerside bulkhead. These have pipes going in at the top & electrical connections at the bottom.What do they do? Are they responsible? How do you test them?
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Post by Dave Burns »

The "two solenoid looking things" are eletrovalves, the (green) one nearest the LHM tank controls the EGR valve and the other (blue) one controls the fast idle speed for cold starts and aircon loading, both via ECU and vacuum pump.
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Post by sandancer »

I've had the pipe that goes from the left hand electrovalve (for fast idle speed etc) to behind the exhaust manifold split on me. Gave the engine extra performance, but drank fuel as if was going out of fashion, so I doubt it'll be that one.
Another point, have you had a new exhaust fitted? Last year had to replace the main part that included the Cat. Previously I had always complained about the sluggish performance of the car. Seems it was the cat strangling it and the new one did wonders.
pete woods
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Post by pete woods »

No I have not had a new exhaust. I didn't realise Diesels had cats.
What stops the particlates from clogging up the matrix? Also if it has a cat will it have an oxygen sensor.
I don't know about the management system on a 96 TD but would it be worth taking it to a main dealer to have the system read? would this point to a fault?
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Post by JohnD »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by pete woods</i>

No I have not had a new exhaust. I didn't realise Diesels had cats.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If it's a 1996 model you have, then it won't have a cat or EGR. They didn't come in for about another year.
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Post by puddle jumper »

If you have a noise ( like a roaring) from the engine compartment whilst trying to accerate have a look at the intercooler mounted in front of the radiator and its pipework . any leak in this system will kill the turbo boost and hence acceleration, also try cleaning out the turbo - get out on the road cane it in second or third gear(on a hill if possable), look in your rearview mirror and watch the soot fly ! The high engine idle speed could be caused by the cable that is linked to a tempiture waxstat sender in the bottom of the fuel filter housing it should tick over at 900 to 950 rpm.
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