first start of the day problems

[C5Alan]

ok quick recap on what has been happening to my car recently

I drove through a big puddle loads of white smoke and no power car wouldnt accelerate not good eventually the smoke went aqnd she would drive like normal got to where I was going and al ok. Came out to go home and antipollution fault warning flashed up after a couple of mins of driving ahhhh. Changed the air filter as it was soaked through and air box was full of water soaked up and probs went away. Came back checked air filter the sponge bit on the bottom was wet dried and refitted prob away did this a few times finally refited the arch liner, removed and cleaned the dirt out of the bottom of the air box and sprayed wd40 down the hose leading to the box, cleaned the maf with loads of brake cleaner as that was all I had to hand. Now the anti pollution fault has gone but first start up of the day morn or afternoon still results in no power for the first few miles foot to the floor and nothing above 1200 rpm ahhh but after I have to peel myself off the back seat then it runs fine no problems for the rest of the day. This has been like this for about a week now I have got this far with other threads but now am stuck.

The car is running on commercial bio diesel but has been for a while and only having probs since going through the puddle

[oneday]

throttle position sensor is quiet low down could that have got wet

[C5Alan]

throttle position sensor is quiet low down could that have got wet

What does it look like and where would I find it is it a replacement or can it be fixed?

I havent had an engine tray since the middle of the summer when going up a farm track and the suspension decided to go back down and crack but have my eye on an old road sign that might fit to make a new one out of whoudl this help in the future???

[C5Alan]

forget everything I said about the antipollution fault going away just took her for a quick spin and the fault is back but the air filter is now staying bone dry so thinking maf £80. She will rev up to 3-4k prob more but always feel I the need to change up if I am reving that much just not going fast enough she jsut feels so under powered

[RichardW]

Loads of white smoke, and wet air filter.... I rather suspect the car has injested some water and you've bent something - like a con rod Might be worth a compression check if you can find the right adaptor....

[Bick]

Loads of white smoke, and wet air filter.... I rather suspect the car has injested some water and you've bent something - like a con rod Might be worth a compression check if you can find the right adaptor....

+1

sounds like a bent rod

[Northern_Mike]

ok quick recap on what has been happening to my car recently

I drove through a big puddle loads of white smoke and no power car wouldnt accelerate not good eventually the smoke went aqnd she would drive like normal got to where I was going and al ok. Came out to go home and antipollution fault warning flashed up after a couple of mins of driving ahhhh. Changed the air filter as it was soaked through and air box was full of water soaked up and probs went away. Came back checked air filter the sponge bit on the bottom was wet dried and refitted prob away did this a few times finally refited the arch liner, removed and cleaned the dirt out of the bottom of the air box and sprayed wd40 down the hose leading to the box, cleaned the maf with loads of brake cleaner as that was all I had to hand. Now the anti pollution fault has gone but first start up of the day morn or afternoon still results in no power for the first few miles foot to the floor and nothing above 1200 rpm ahhh but after I have to peel myself off the back seat then it runs fine no problems for the rest of the day. This has been like this for about a week now I have got this far with other threads but now am stuck.

The car is running on commercial bio diesel but has been for a while and only having probs since going through the puddle

Many years ago I hit a large unseen puddle at around 60mph in a diesel Berlingo. Hard enough to rip the front bumper off and bend bodywork it was that deep. The engine also did exactly as you describe afterwards. It had a bent rod. I hope you've been luckier than that, but it sounds oh so similar.

[C5Alan]

Would a bent rod not casue more problems than just a slow start to the day she was running fine all night pulling like a train no smoke nothing she feels a little down on power at times but I am putting that down to freezing temps and bio rather than engine damage. I have done at least a couple hundred miles since hitting the puddle.

Is there a quick and easy way to check on a con rod and by that I mean not taking the engine apart?

Anything else it might be as a con rod sonuds like an engine killer especially at the mileage she is at

[Bick]

a bent rod in a diesel will make it difficult to start when cold, you may also notice it down on power but only slightly, the other thing is smoke when pulling hard e.g. up hill. With the soaked air filter suggesting water ingress I would be very surprised if you have not bent a rod!

However this may not only be the problem you have e.g. maf sensor fault - you need to diag it for other faults to make sure there are no other problems but if you have not bent a rod I would go and buy a lottery ticket.

[C5Alan]

ok if it is a bent rod how hard would it be to fix am I looking at a new engine (or new car) or can it be be repaired?

[Xantidote]

As Richard suggests, a compression test would be very useful. There must be a diesel specialist somewhere in Glasgow - might be worth ringing them to see if they'd do a test, and would it cost. I've used diesel specialist to test injectors, but that's with passing them over the counter, so relatively straightforward, whereas in your case, the injectors would need removing to check the compression, which involves a fitter's time.

Good luck, whatever route you follow

[Bick]

ok if it is a bent rod how hard would it be to fix am I looking at a new engine (or new car) or can it be be repaired?

Looking at the age and mileage of your car Alan I would say, sorry not worth the expense. But that’s not the end of the world you should find apart from the starting, down on power and smoke it should run and run with a bent rod. I’ve done one or two engine strips for misfire and smoke and found rods like a banana – ok slight exaggeration – but trust me when I say visibly bent there was no measuring required. But apart from the misfire on one cylinder making it down on power and a bit of extra smoke they ran fine!

[C5Alan]

how hard would it be to remove the injectors? I have done it on an old merc petrol to replace them prob took about 1-2 hours from bonnet up till bonnet down. I have a compresion tester kicking about from when I had some spare cash in paypal and a few of us on another forum where buying them as a good for the home mechanic set not actually used them yet though.

Bick you answered my next question but how long have I got till it becomes a major problem and the car wont run I know it isnt a great idea but if its not worth fixing I might as well run it till it dies completely. Are we talking hundreds or thousands of miles I am doing about 20k a year and have a wedding in 5 months to pay for so really dont want to have to find the cash for a new car just yet so hopefully can get another year out of her ideally, am I just dreaming?

Thanks for all the help guys I so hope your all wrong though lol

[citroenxm]

If shes an 8v 110 then VERY easy! the injectors do come out nicely...

Remove the fuel feeds to the injectors and the electric plugs and move that to one side... Undo the single 13mm nut holding the clamp down by each injector, and lever them upwards carefully... Be sure theres no Black Sludge or coal at the base of each injector, this indicates a worn fire seal, and could cause a problem removing the injector.. But no where near as bad as an early 2.2 16v engine..

[Bick]

Hi Alan hard to say mate but if you havent got the cash just run the bugger. I know of a xantia with a bent rod that has done 40k like it and still going strong, just smokes a bit.