Xantia Mk.2 1.9 TD, oiled underside of the A/C compressor.

[Deacon]

Hello everyone once again!

The car hasn't been moved for maybe five days and since it's getting cold here (today was 9/10C), today I decided to look under the car for leakage spots, possibly prompted by shrinking of the seals, caused by the low temperatures. I saw some round oil (maybe) spot under the a/c compressor, around 10 cm in diameter. The a/c compressor's underside is "oiled up" and greenish, even two light green drops with yellowish "ambient" were hanging. Immediately I checked the hydraulic pump to see for LHM leaks, and the pump (I checked all sides) and its lines are bone dry. This summer I recharged and used the a/c, and I had no problems whatsoever... Didn't do any strange sound, cooled the air very quickly, did not load the engine, it is working like it should. So then, where is this greenish stuff coming from? It looks like it magically appears somewhere under the alternator and drips on the a/c compressor, and the drops are going under it.
I have the car since almost three years and always kept an eye on the greenish oiled up side of the a/c compressor, but it is now that it is starting to worry me, because this thing might actually be hint that a sealing is failing and that the a/c compressor is loosing freon/refrigerant+oil, and that the light green/yellow residue under the a/c compressor is actually the colorant that they put into the freon for warning... And I don't want to ruin a perfectly good a/c compressor, but I also do not want to get it opened just like that, without proof.

So I will be very happy if you guys can help me to determine where this green/yellow residue is coming from.

Here are some pictures that I took today. I know that they aren't perfect, but tomorrow I'll try to make better ones.




Thanks in advance!

[Mandrake]

Hard to tell with the blurry pictures but its almost certainly LHM leaking from the bottom of the hydraulic pump and dripping through the alternator.

I know you say you've checked all sides of the pump, but when my pump started leaking it was impossible to see any signs of leakage from above or around the sides with the pump still in place. In my case the leak was from failing o-rings for the two suspension pistons. One is behind the left hand steel pipe however there is a second one at 120 degrees from this (pointing nearly straight down) which was leaking the most.

The alternator was dripping with oil from the bottom and it was pooling on the bottom of the A/C compressor just like your photos.

In the following diagram the top item 1 is one the two o-rings, the one behind the pipe, the second one is not shown but is at the same horizontal location and 120 degrees rotated around the axis of the pump:

[VertVega]

Although the pictures are not sharp I can say that the green stuff is LHM.
Air condition system color additive is more dryish and more green than the oily leak in the pics.
Compressor leak is usually around compressor clutch area.

Take a clean white tissue and wipe under the hydraulic pump. Check if you get green color spots.
It can leak more under load when the pump is working.

[Deacon]

Thank you for your answers! I'll take a better look under the bonnet, this weekend, and I'll report back here with some better pictures.

[Deacon]

Hello again. Today I managed to find a garage trench, so I've made some better pictures of the a/c compressor. Plus I saw some other things for which I have questions.
So here are the new questions that I have, and I will be very happy if you can help me about them as well:

I - My auxiliary belt, poulies and "shock absorber" are at 8500 miles, so today I just noticed this:




Question - Should I change the belt, or should I not?

II - The back side of the engine is covered with oil residue.


Question - The head gasket is good, the rocket cover gasket is new... I guess it is coming from the manifold, but is it normal so much oil vapor to be in there? The car isn't touching the oil at all.
And should I change the manifold gasket? It's the original one and I was told that the replacements do the job for like 2/3 years and then the situation becomes the same, even worse.

Now about the a/c compressor. I went below and took these photos:
1. The a/c compressor. After I took the pictures, I cleaned it with just a towel and a little bit of water. The thing got very clean, like the residue is actually oil indeed. With these materials I just couldn't clean the dirty parts that were not covered with oil.

2. I forgot to say that I don't have engine bay under tray. But there are some parts of the under tray system still in place. Notice the moistured/oiled place on the plastic cover below the aux. belt:

3. Upper side. Looks like it's "wet". With a towel I tested to see if there's a leak around the a/c compressor's poulie/seal/bearing, it is dry and so is the belt itself. I have no idea where this thing came from.

4. Then I checked the space between the alternator and the a/c compressor. There was dryish residue on top of the compressor and on the bottom of the alternator, no sign of a really wet leak though. May this leak be the cause?


5. So then I looked behind the hydraulic pump. There's this dry residue again, on the hydraulic pump and below it. I tried with a towel below the hydr. pump, got a little bit of old LHM residue.



So I'm starting to think that actually the residue is not caused by a leak, but by LHM vapors and condensation forming on the hydraulic pump, then they go through the alternator, drip on the a/c compressor and end up bellow it. Plus maybe some condensation from the a/c compressor itself. I've cleaned the compressor's underside and will keep an eye on it to see if, or how long it takes, for a residue to collect bellow the compressor. That's the only explanation I can come up with.
What do you guys think? I will be very happy to hear your opinion.

Big thanks in advance!

[Stewart(oily)]

A failed serpentine belt cost me an engine earlier this year, replace it please
general oiliness at the back seems pretty normal for my cars, oil traces and even LHM traces were around, but never needed topping up.

[Stickyfinger]

The leak I could live with....But that belt frightens the beegeebers out of me

[Mandrake]

Get that serpentine belt replaced ASAP! I would be afraid to even drive the car like that.

If it splits or jumps, some of the belt can get under the cam belt cover and cause the cam belt to jump, causing disastrous damage to the engine.

As for the pump, nothing in your pictures makes me think I'm wrong about your hydraulic pump leaking. It's clearly LHM so it can only come from the pump or one of the hoses/pipes connected to it. It looks a little bit like the rubber feed pipe might be leaking slightly, however if you're going to be replacing the belt it would make sense to take the pump out at the same time and fit new seals.

A full set of seals for the pump can be obtained from Citroen for around £15, if you do a search on the forum you'll find several threads that include the part numbers and description of how to do the job. As long as you have a large vice to hold the pump in its not a difficult job.

[Deacon]

Thank you for your replies, guys! Really, really much appreciated!

I just can't believe that the serpentine belt looks like that after just 8500 miles... :/ Currently I do not have engine bay undertray, so I think that some stone went in there and did that mess, or maybe it was just low quality belt (I did not buy it, the service did, so I don't even know its make) or service sabotage. In the end of this month I'll send the car to be serviced and checked for the winter, and after all is done, I'll slap an undertray below the engine compartment. I learned my lesson. Thank God that I was able to see that thing on time. When everything is done, I'll report back on you about the belt, the LHM leak and the leak from the manifold on the back of the engine.

[Stewart(oily)]

Please dont drive with that belt.

[Deacon]

I'm currently looking at service.citroen to match the a/c compressor with the serpentine belt for it, since I know that there were two types of compressors used on the Xantias. So far in service.citroen it says that my a/c compressor is "Deplhi-France 1135290" (God, even saw it called "Deplhi-Harrison" ). I checked the part number in google and found this for visual reference (click). But still, can you guys confirm that my a/c compressor is indeed Delhpi?

Thanks!

Edit: So, this is my VIN number - VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]. I'll be happy if anyone has the free time to re-check my "discovery".
According to what I understood, my a/c compressor is 6453 AQ Deplhi-Harrison 1135290, so the correct serpentine belt for it must be - 5750 YF; K6 - LE 1736 "With Compressor HARRISSON". Am I right?

[VertVega]

The information you found is correct.
Compressor type:
6453 AQ --- NFP --- NEW COMPRESSOR --- DELPHI FRANCE - 1135290

Alternator belt:
5750 YF --- K6 - LE 1736 --- "WITH HARRISSOW COMPRESSOR"

Compressor also has the type code sticker but you must clean it first and take a pic.
In mine compressor was SANDEN type and it definitely looked different than the one in your pics.

Before removing the belt make a mark showing the direction that if in case you have to re-install
the old belt you know the direction of turn. When you remove the old belt make a size comparison
with the new belt by stretching them together. Length should be 1736 mm as given in type code.

[Xantidote]

I wonder why the belt's in that condition. Could have been damaged during original fitting maybe?

[Old-Guy]

I agree with Simon. Moreover, the alternator shows signs of LHM contamination - a dirty paste of carbon (from the brushes) and LHM around the cooling vents. A slight dribble of LHM into the alternator will cause it to fail because the slip rings get contaminated. Remove the alternator for thorough cleaning (gunk and wash out with detergent and water, then air dry) and replace the leaking hydraulic pump seals. It's perfectly normal for Xantias (and almost any other older car) to be a bit oily down the back of the engine - both the XUD9 (1.9) and XUD11 (2.1) diesel engines are notorious for oil leaks - cam cover on the 1.9 and inlet manifold on the 2.1.

As for that auxiliary belt - replace it NOW!

[Deacon]

Thank you for your advices and help! I'll most definitely be looking at cleaning the alternator and changing the seals of the hydraulic pump. As for the belt's condition I'm thinking that it's: A - sabotage (you know what will happen if it fails) and B - inadequate montage, and C - wrong belt for that compressor. But still I need to verify that with the service guys. When I get some answers I'll report back on you.