ZX TD won't start when hot - baffled

[endorfin]

I have a Citroen ZX turbo diesel.

It will fire up no problem in the mornings, or when cold and run fine. However once it's warmed up and you turn it off and try to start it again it just turns over.

I've tried everything. Thought it was a dodgy stop solenoid, so had to cut off the armour off the Lucas pump with a dremel cutter and I removed the plunger. Made no difference, will still only start when cold. I've run it on diesel direct from a can, bypassing the filter, with a brand new hose to eliminate air leaks in the hoses and it is still the same.

All 4 glows are good. Glow plug relay works (interior light dims for 12 secs) and it does fire up right away when cold.

Any ideas?

[lexi]

An outside chance is the valve clearances.

[endorfin]

Can you give some more detail as to what you mean please.

[BX]

Valve clearances on these engines usually only cause problems cold. Did you crack an injector pipe to see if it is injecting. If it is, crazy as it may seem it might be a glow plug problem. Does the glow plug warning lamp light? Use a length of wire to power up the glow plugs. See if it will start when the plugs are connected directly to the battery. Make sure to disconnect them immediately after trying to start. This used to be a common problem with the old 1.6 diesel VWs. The problem was a coolant temperature sensor

[endorfin]

I don't think this applies to indirect injection engines like the XUD, where the glows always come on when starting regardless of temperature. Besides even if the glows didn't work at all it would eventually start. In this case, it does not start even cranking for several minutes, with jump leads running from another car.

[sparksie]

My money's on valve clearances being too tight.
They wiil be tighter when hot and may have closed up altogether.
Someone using imperial feeler blades by mistake could do this.
If the valves are not fully closed you won't have enough compression to ignite the diesel!
If you start from cold and drive straight away, how does it run when fully warmed up?
Though I don't recommend doing that, if the clearances are the problem.
Probably best to pop the rocker cover off and check the valves ALL have some clearance when hot, using "rule of 9". No need to be too precise. It'll be obvious if they don't.
Let us know how you get on