Xantia HDi Alternator

[Chlorate]

Hi all,
Not having so much fun with my car, it's giving me a good kicking when I least need one...

Alternator went pop the other day, ideally have to do something about it by the end of the week so I can stand some chance of getting it into an MOT test.

Tried to get the sod out yesterday - what a needlessly complicated job it turned out to be too!
Gave up after a while...

Few questions:

1. Does the hydraulic pump need to come out? It looks like there may be enough room to squeeze it out, but I doubt it'll be that simple. Will I need to get some special o-rings if I have to disturb the hydraulic unions?

2. Are there 3 bolts holding the alternator to the engine or 4? I found 3 - 2 at the top and one at the bottom right (belt side)...is there another hiding next to the oil filter, and if so how on earth are you meant to undo it? The other bolts were awkward enough to get on!

3. How do you get the spring loaded tensioner out of the way? In its current location it's obstructing one of the top mounting bolts. I tried getting on the centre bolt with a spanner as per BoL's recommendations but all that happened was the corners of the bolt started coming off. I tried levering it out of the way with a bit of tube, but couldn't really find a suitable fulcrum and it didn't seem to want to budge anyway.

4. Are alternators generally repairable? I know you can buy replacement brushes and slip rings in some cases, is it easy to check whether the windings are in good condition or is it a better idea to try and find a replacement alternator and be done with it?

I will learn not to fall in love with cars of a certain age eventually...

All the best

Alex

[RichardW]

Info on doing it in a couple of posts in this thread by me.

Your questions:

Hyd pump - No, but there is not a lot of room to get it out!
bolts - 4 - yes, hiding behind the oil filter - filter off (no need to drain the oil, just catch what runs out), then ease up the cable tray and you can get on with it wobble bar extension.
Tensioner - if you remove the ECU and box, then it's relatively easy to get on the tensioner with a 15mm thin spanner (brake pedal spanner is ideal!) - turn it towards the back of the car, then you use a 4mm bar to pin it back through the hole in the top behind the roller (awkward to see!).
Depending on what's gone, it should be repairable - new regulators / brush packs are avaialable, but by the time you've gone to hassle of replacing that, you might as well go re-con - I got one for £100 at the local factors.

[citroenxm]

TO ADD, Neither Hydraulic pump output pipe has a seal, they are just a flater head Flare which crimps against the pump and union to make a seal...

[CitroJim]

Richard, somewhere on here you wrote an excellent guide to replacing a 110HDi Alternator which went into a bit more detail than you did above but I can no longer find it...

I recall it as I used it with great success when I did the same job. It turned what looked a really awkward job into something really quite straightforward..

[gadgetgricey]

Alex

If you are after an Hdi 110 Alternator, I have one in the shed (I think) if its any help.
Actually its still on the entire engine and gearbox that I removed from the car, so hopefully should not be that much of an issue to remove.



Get back to me, if I can help.

- Dave -

[RichardW]

I linked it in the first line of the response, Jim.....

[CitroJim]

I linked it in the first line of the response, Jim.....

Ohh, so you did Richard Sorry. Not firing on all cylinders tonight

[den169]

I replaced a brand new one on mine last thursday c5 hdi,It was faulty at least i hope it was its been ok since,What a pig of a job 4 bolts all hard to get to,I took the bracket off holding the hydraulic pipe on not the pipe, It just gives enough to get the alternator out.As for the bolt behind the tensioner you need a ring spanner 16mm i think i stuck a piece of tubing over the end of the spanner to give some leverage ( found out i could pin the tensioner back later),Then i stuck a piece of wood between the bottom of the suspension and the tubing to hold the tensioner out of the way.By the way there are 4 different types of alternator for the c5 hdi how stupid is that mine was the more expensive one as usuall.

[Chlorate]

Hello all,

Thanks for the replies.

Richard, that's more than helpful, hopefully I should get it done over the weekend.

Dave, PM sent.

What numptie designed it like that anyway...
I guess they assume the alternator isn't something that'll often need replacing within the lifetime of the vehicle.

Alex

[RichardW]

I've had mine out 3 times now...

Original bearing went at about 100k, change the alt at about 107k.
Re-con went in, but was no good, so it had to come out again
Replacement for that only lasted 2 years and 30k, so had to do it again

[Chlorate]

Are 90 and 110 HDi alternators equivalent?
They look the same on the outside, but are the guts the same?

Alex

[CitroJim]

Alex, yes they're basically the same but the 110 one is higher output in some applications to be able to run the electric auxiliary water heaters...

If you don't have the auxiliary electric heaters or have the Eberspacher then the lower output one will be OK although the price difference is marginal so if you can stretch to a big one then do so..

[Chlorate]

I was mainly going on delivery dates, it was the cheapest one that would arrive by Monday....and it was about £30 cheaper than most.
It didn't specifically say whether it was from a 110 or 90.
I have a feeling mine may have the Eberspacher heater. Although I've never managed to locate it, the cabin seems to warm up faster than the coolant (and considerably quicker than in my old ZX) but I've never heard the telltale whizzing noise they're supposed to make.

If it fits and charges I guess it should be ok for now. Shouldn't be needing heated seats and auxiliary heaters soon anyway....fingers crossed...

Alex

[myglaren]

If it fits and charges I guess it should be ok for now. Shouldn't be needing heated seats and auxiliary heaters soon anyway....fingers crossed...

Alex

There's a thought - higher spec models have more electrical equipment and would presumably require an alternator with a higher output than base models.
Electric and electrically heated seats, as fitted to higher models, would be just such an item.

If you have an Ebespächer auxiliary heater then there will be a tell-tale exhaust in one of the front wheel arches.

[charentejohn]

Hope I'm not too late on this but you may be able to repair without replacing, a bit fiddly but I did it. http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 0&start=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Still working and didn't need to remove all the bits.