On reaching 70,000 miles I decided to change the cambelt of my Xantia 2.0 16v VSX. All went to plan. Job completed, it started first time and ran smoothly on a short drive round the block. A few hours later when I tried to start it the engine fired, then quickly stopped accompanied by some very nasty mechanical noises!!! On inspection it was discovered that one of the cam pulley sprockets had disintegrated! (is this a known issue?) Further delving revealed two broken and six bent exhaust valves! One piston had a few dents but we thought it OK.
Having changed the valves the engine was started and runs fine except for a misfire at low revs. I have been told that this could be due to a cracked hydraulic lifter. Does anyone have any experience of this or any other ideas.[xx(]
cambelt disaster
Moderator: RichardW
[V] Such an unhappy event I've never heard of before [xx(]
That sprocket MUST have had some kind of a weakness ever since it was fitted.
You're talking filter for the hydraulic tappets ?
Donno about this - but knows that the BX 16V engines (& XM) have a tendency to get air trapped in the hydraulic tappets.
I'd first try trace down the cylinder causing the misfire. If this seems impossible - i.e. the misfiring seems to be general for all cylinders - then you may have a problem with false air - or a weakness in theignition.
That sprocket MUST have had some kind of a weakness ever since it was fitted.
You're talking filter for the hydraulic tappets ?
Donno about this - but knows that the BX 16V engines (& XM) have a tendency to get air trapped in the hydraulic tappets.
I'd first try trace down the cylinder causing the misfire. If this seems impossible - i.e. the misfiring seems to be general for all cylinders - then you may have a problem with false air - or a weakness in theignition.
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ericthebluet
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No exp myself on 16V engines - but there is a description on Gabors BX DIY site :
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/citroen/eng ... ngine.html
Uhh - Ohh - just came up in my mind :
AlanS (from Ozzie) has experienced that sparking from the HT plug caps exactly makes this sound & indication.
Very likely since you fitted these bits with greasy hands by the work - and the HT has the most power at low rev's.
It's very easy to check :
Tonight in complete darkness - have a look on your idling engine to recognise any sparking down there in the engine bay. Bring a battery torch to briefly locate the components.
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/citroen/eng ... ngine.html
Uhh - Ohh - just came up in my mind :
AlanS (from Ozzie) has experienced that sparking from the HT plug caps exactly makes this sound & indication.
Very likely since you fitted these bits with greasy hands by the work - and the HT has the most power at low rev's.
It's very easy to check :
Tonight in complete darkness - have a look on your idling engine to recognise any sparking down there in the engine bay. Bring a battery torch to briefly locate the components.
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Richard Gallagher
- Posts: 803
- Joined: 31 Oct 2001, 02:36
- Location: South Bucks
- My Cars:
I have heard before about the tensioners on these being modified due to their tendency to unexpectedly 'fail.' So that is possibly easily explained.
The miss, I wouldn't take as necessarily being a stuck tappet as they will more "klack, klack, klack"....very harsh sound and a constant rather than an intermediate miss (ie) running entirely on 3 cylinders not intermittently and not necessarily revs dependent.
I'd suggest with the miss to try removing the plug leads one by one in paricular the short ones nearest the distributor and refitting plug end first as there's a tendency on the BX 16V for them to disconnect at the plug end inside the plug cover & arc against the head or track down the plug. Everything about the leads & coil including the LT plug & terminals must be spotless to avoid arcing.
Short of the tappets freeing up by themselves due to a bit of constant running, it is a "head off" job I think you'll find, so do that course of action is a last resort.
Alan S
The miss, I wouldn't take as necessarily being a stuck tappet as they will more "klack, klack, klack"....very harsh sound and a constant rather than an intermediate miss (ie) running entirely on 3 cylinders not intermittently and not necessarily revs dependent.
I'd suggest with the miss to try removing the plug leads one by one in paricular the short ones nearest the distributor and refitting plug end first as there's a tendency on the BX 16V for them to disconnect at the plug end inside the plug cover & arc against the head or track down the plug. Everything about the leads & coil including the LT plug & terminals must be spotless to avoid arcing.
Short of the tappets freeing up by themselves due to a bit of constant running, it is a "head off" job I think you'll find, so do that course of action is a last resort.
Alan S
it was only the 1.8 16v engines that were affected by the recall,2.0 16v's were not included.
Are you positive that only 8 valves were damaged ? strange that they were all exhaust valves. maybe even a slight hit to a valve causing a very small gap on a valve seat ? it could be worthwhile doing a compression check on the cylinders
did you squeeze the oil out of the tappets before re fitting them ?
Are you positive that only 8 valves were damaged ? strange that they were all exhaust valves. maybe even a slight hit to a valve causing a very small gap on a valve seat ? it could be worthwhile doing a compression check on the cylinders
did you squeeze the oil out of the tappets before re fitting them ?