Glow Plugs Annihilate 2.0HDi Xsara Picasso

[Gibbo2286]

Yep that sort of thing
I have at least 3! 2 have a torch in the end ..very handy.. one doesn't and that's the one I would grind down..

Or ask that magnet company if they have one thin enough to go where you want it.

[NewcastleFalcon]

...another bit of faffing about in the sunshine today...gave myself the short task of taking the starter motor off for the next stage of finding the timing hole behind it to lock the flywheel, that being the next job-checking the timing is spot on after the glow plug did its worst.

...and despite my rustiness, managed to do it with the usual little irritations sent to try you.

1. The amount of stuff you have to move out the way to get access to the bolts.
2. Having the good old 13mm and 10mm sockets to hand and finding 12mm and 11mm bolts to deal with.
3. Finding the starter motor bolts are not normal bolt heads, not torx, nor star but an allen-key esq female hex.
4. The bolts were a hex size which I haven't a "bit" or an allen key for-(used a bit of creativity here...got a couple of cross head bits with my impact driver many moons ago, turned them round and the hex end was a good enough fit on the starter motor bolt-suitable sized socket to turn the hex of the bit and away we go!)
5. Had to unbolt the clutch whatever it is (slave cylinder?) to get access to the bottom bolt, even then it was a bit in the way.
6. Had to unbolt the diesel filter to get access to the 8mm, and 12mm nuts securing the electrical connections to the starter motor probably less than 1/8th of a turn at a time with the spanner due to stuff in the way.

Still, warm feeling of satisfaction at the end with the motor off, and the various nuts and bolts removed placed in strategic and logical locations inside the car, which all made perfect sense this morning, but maybe not so when I come to put it back on again!

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

...minor bit of work completed.....the timing holes line up, so timing is still spot on.

Discovered on reading a bit more that the view you get when you remove the rocker cover tells you absolutely nothing.

To see the "rocker arms" you need to remove the camshaft, and its housing. So I could still have a broken rocker arm or 2 on cylinder number 4, don't think there is any remaining debris from the glow plug tip in cylinder no 4.

So according to Haynes next steps

Remove the camshaft sprocket (section 8) Mine is of the single centre-bolt variety
Remove the braking system Vacuum Pump (chapter 9)
and remove the housing retaining bolts ans so on and so forth remembering to keep the gubbins removed clearly identified to the position in question and bathed in oil...

Presumable new "rocker-arms" should they prove necessary will be freely available?

Regards Neil

[Hell Razor5543]

Yes;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-C5-C8 ... XQVERS9fa3
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-C5-C8 ... Swg3FUfcqV

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks James- in some ways it would be nice to discover some broken rocker arms!

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

....pre-requisite to removing the camshaft pulley....removing the timing belt.

...but I am conscious of trying to keep this investigation to simple stages, and don't fancy the potential pain of removing the crankshaft pulley bolt..would prefer to leave that for another day, so....

I presume if I can get at the tensioner to pin it out of the way, will the belt just pull off the camshaft sprocket without delving down below just yet?

...a supplementary also if you don't mind, is the best camshaft position for removing it not when 1 and 4 are at TDC, but when 1,2,3,and 4 are halfway up/down the bores?

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

....just had a peep, tensioner nicely exposed but the gap to get any tools down there is hopeless, and has two aircon pipes nicely in the way. Looks like the engine mount is going to have to come off for a little up/down movement to get at the necessary.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

...then again my trusty old 17mm head stubby bolt with ground-down square profile shank will come to the rescue for a bit of tight space working

Regards Neil

[Hell Razor5543]

Might this help?;

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-249 ... 34449&ar=2

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks for that James...I did come across an empty box for one of those in a local plumber's skip while walking the dog. That particular one had an 8mm end, and the injector orifice is smaller than that, so for now I'll not plump for the camera and other useful bits just yet, but it could be a handy tool to have.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

...more small steps, the tensioner is off and the belt released from the camshaft pulley.

Very fiddly getting the tensioner off in that 1mm over hand size gap made more awkward by the air con pipes being right opposite the tensioner.

Next steps..maybe make the camshaft pulley restraining tool to take the pulley wheel off, but there may be some other option rather than rely on my metalwork and black smithing skills

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

...bit more minor work done.....removed the brake vacuum pump from the right hand end of the camshaft as per page 9.13 of my Haynes.....yes a 3-spanner job done very straightforwardly. In reality its just unscrew 2 10mm bolts and a threaded stud with a 10mm hex on it at the bottom and off it comes, noting the 2 o-rings which will need replacing.



The whole purpose of this bit is to examine the rocker arms and associated components, to see if any have been damaged in the glow plug tip incident cylinder number 4. Camshaft and its "upper Housing" (no 8 on the left of the pic), have to come off, but I am wondering whether I really need to take the camshaft pulley wheel off to achieve this.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

You don't need the cam wheel off you can lift out the camshaft with it still fitted.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks Gibbo the next stage is to remove the 12 little bolts holding the housing on, ease it of its dowels at the front and lift it away with the camshaft.....and see what's revealed underneath. I am hoping in some way that the rockers are broken on cylinder no 4

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

....well down to page 4, and another month on, so very slow pace of progress here .

Just removed the camshaft, to reveal the little row of rocker arms, all intact, and looking brand new.

Also revealed the row of "inner" cylinder head bolts. Now if it wasnt for all the ironmongery at the back of the engine completely filling the space up to the bulkhead, it would be a reasonably straightforward job to get the head off in situ.

Its a very clean and new-looking engine bay, and gives me a little bit more motivation, to see if I can revive it. The head needs to come off though, and to do that the engine needs to come out. Still a daunting prospect....but if I put in the time and spend up to say £300 ish to repair/replace damaged bits, I could still have a car that could do upwards of another 100,000 miles and be a decent keeper. I would certainly have got to know all its more intimate parts in the course of the process

Regards Neil