205 TD losing water & now non starter!

p63500sv8 · Post by **p63500sv8** » 06 Jan 2005, 02:50

<font size="2"></font id="size2"><font color="black"></font id="black">I've had a 205 turbo diesel for about 3 years now. 135k miles.
It has just started losing water, approx 2 litres in 35 miles.
I cannot trace where it is losing the water as no visible signs of leak and had new rad about 6 months ago.
I've not used the car for a couple of weeks, tried to start it earlier and it fired briefly and nearly started.
Left it for a while and now it turns over as if it is just the starter and there is no compression.
Could it be the headgasket was on its way out and now the cambelt has snapped?
Any help would be appreciated!
Cheers

beezer · Post by **beezer** » 06 Jan 2005, 03:09

It wouldn't turn over at all if the cambelt had snapped. The pistons would find the valves. Sounds like it has blown a head gasket. It could be a number of things though. Crack in block or head comes to mind. The 205 turbo is a fine car. Worth fixing I would say.
Had a long day so not able to write at length but will try and help answer questions as you find out more symptoms later.

rossd · Post by **rossd** » 06 Jan 2005, 13:05

Sounds very much like cambelt or headgasket. Could it be that the cooling system was not bled properly when the rad was replaced and some air was left in the system? This causes a 'hot-spot' in the engine and failure will eventually occur. Just out of interest, try charging the battery up, if its been left standing the battery voltage can drop, causing the solenoid on the starter failing the engage with the flywheel. The starter motor might still spin, sounding as if the engine is turning very fast ie with no compression.

p63500sv8 · Post by **p63500sv8** » 07 Jan 2005, 05:17

Hi
Thanks for the responses.
Managed to get it running without too many problems today.
It took a bit of turning over but started after about 40 seconds of cranking (it had not been used since 20th Dec)
I took it for a short run to get it up to temperature and it was fine.
Will drive it home from work tomorrow and see if it is still losing water as it had not lost any standing around.
Had a quick look under the bonnet and there are a couple of hoses right at the back of the block that looked a bit iffy, does anyone know where these go and are they easy to replace? I have the Peugeot diesel Haynes manual bit it is not much help.
Cheers

beezer · Post by **beezer** » 07 Jan 2005, 16:32

If you mean low down on the block at the back of the engine it is the water pump inlet. Bottom hose, Expansion tank, heater and thermostat housing hoses attach there. Quite a job to replace sometimes. Is it an XUD7T engine?

rossd · Post by **rossd** » 07 Jan 2005, 22:12

The fuel heater on the XUD7T is very prone to coolant leaks, some people just bypass it entirely. You may find this is your problem.
Also, have you checked your glowplugs? This would cause dodgy cold starting....

p63500sv8 · Post by **p63500sv8** » 09 Jan 2005, 04:21

Hi
Managed to get the car home from work yesterday, leaving trail of water. Big puddle under car this morning!
Had a good look and still no visible signs of leak. Jacked up car and removed offside front wheel and timing belt cover and plastic cover behind wheel.
It looks like the waterpump has failed and water is leaking through it into the timing cover.
Any tips on replacing waterpump?
I assume I will need new waterpump, cambelt and small hose into waterpump.
Hope to get it done next weekend if the weather holds out.
Will report back to confirm this was the problem.

beezer · Post by **beezer** » 09 Jan 2005, 04:46

There shouldn't be a hose into the pump. It comes off after removing the cambelt. You just unbolt it and remove it with gasket which should be replaced. It may just be the gasket. Should look like this:

p63500sv8 · Post by **p63500sv8** » 17 Jan 2005, 04:22

Hi
Thanks for the diagram.
Spent today getting things sorted.
Got the alt belt off and locked the cam and diesel pump pulleys, then marked the pulleys and belt to confirm position.
Thought I had locked the bottom pulley and then tried to release the bolt.
After inital panic I then realised that the drill bit (as recommended by Haynes Manual) was not located in the flywheel properly.
Released the pulleys and turned the engine but could not get the flywheel locked at the same time as the pulleys were lined up with the bolt holes, I assume the belt jumped a tooth.
In tne end I locked the pulleys again and then removed cam belt and moved the flywheel a little bit until the allen key (much easier than drill bit!)located in the hole to lock it.
Fortunately the bolt undid with no real problems.
Go the pump out and replaced with no real problems other than removing old gasket.
Got everything back together and it started with the first turn.
Ran it up to temperature and no signs of leaks thankfully.
Will use it for work tomorrow so will keep my fingers crossed.
Thanks for your help with this.
Cheers
Michael