Noisey Auxillary Tensioner Pulley on Citroen Xantia?

[Stickyfinger]

Well yes, protection is a good thing, and I also am treating my Xantia as I go.....so you will get no argument from me about improving what Citroen gives us and my point is protection. However why bother if the bay never gets ?

Sure, cooling is important, but with the modern HDI the engine oil is really not stressed by heat as they run cool...

Now a V6 petrol may be different as it really is jammed in there and needs all the help it can get, speeding up the under body airflow is the key, under-body air flow speed is important as it removes more heat because there is a tray which keeps the engine bay air flow moving around the engine before being sucked out behind the engine.

Still happy to accept other can remove them without instant damage if they wish, also having easy to use ramps my very well influence my option on if they get in the way (as I am sure they do without)

[falling-out-with-my-car]

don't forget to treat the suspension strut tops to.

[Dommo]

Undertrays help ensure air goes through the radiator too IIRC, the low pressure generated in the engine bay helps draw air through the rads. (or so I have read)

[Dommo]

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_113176/article.html

Autospeed do some VERY interesting articles. They modified a prius with undertray style modifications and managed to improve the MPG significantly. And that's a car that is already designed to be economical!

Edit, parts 2 and 3 are here -

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=2160

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=2162

[lexi]

Undertray always kept on for me. To many sensors and leccy connections getting sprayed with salt etc. The pulleys are vulnerable too and the belts carry dirt everywhere.

[Zelandeth]

Just found the cover for the oil drain hole in my Xantia's one in the boot, wondered what that lump in the carpet was. Will refit that next oil change.

Unless you're fiddling with the underside of your engine every five seconds I can't see any reason why not to fit the tray.

Generally the design will be such that it helps draw air out of the rear of the engine bay when the car is in motion. Not necessarily having much impact on the radiator, but it can help the general ambient temperature and to help reduce hotspots.

I had the splash guards out of my Skoda for a few weeks last year when I was painting them and was astonished how much grime appeared in the engine bay seemingly over night. Granted that's a rear engined car so probably exaggerates that effect a bit. There was also noticeably more mechanical noise audible outside, imagine with an XUD clattering away in there that sound isolation is more important.

The one real downside and annoyance has already been noted though and that is that it can make finding an oil leak harder! Mine marks its territory a little, but left or right side varies depending on the slope as it's dripping off the under tray.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

well my Xud 1.9 TD diesel xantia estate is 16 this year, the under tray to replace would have cost over a hundred quid
its usefulness started to become a problem every time work on the engine was delayed by its removal, don't forget garages charge by the hour and if it takes an hour to get the under tray off because of seized bolts that's money wasted, this often lead to damage of the under tray and it was often put back with zip ties to hold it in place.
it is definitely something off personal choice, I can see the point made about more modern vehicles and sensitive electronics that might need protection from the environment, salt in the winter etc. but many don't ride on pressurized LHM hydraulic fluid.
As has been pointed out fuel savings are minimal and we don't know the specific test conditions how much weight was in the vechicle how many passengers it was carrying which fuel was used etc.

I started out talking about Serpentine belt tensioner pulley lubrication and somehow we got side-tracked by under trays the fact is that the engine bay of a 1.9TD Xud engine is pretty tight with not a lot of space for air circulation this also limits the spread of contaminants from the road, in a much later Hdi engine bay there seems to be more room between the radiator and the engine than that of an Xud engined car.

Zelandeth says his car marks it ground a little have you tried wrapping the oil bung in ptfe tape ten times before screwing it back in? The copper washers are prone to leakage. if not try replacing the cam cover gasket and using some very high temp engine silicone on the top and bottom of the new one.

I was only trying to help point out a way to lubricate a tensioner pulley in situ as for some reason they don't seem to last as long as they did without developing a rattle.

[Zelandeth]

Pretty sure my oil leak is indeed the cam cover...its just not got to the top of the to do list.

Will definitely be adding the belt tensioner to my regular lubrication/vehicle check schedule though. Only takes a few minutes to do afterall.

At least you don't need to manually grease the water pump and clutch release bearings on the Xantia...

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Sometimes the cam cover bolts can shake loose with vibration occasionally they benefit from a pinch up with a hand held spanner.