Xantia TD - where do I start?!

FDV · Unread post by **FDV** » 27 Feb 2005, 01:12

Hi, new to the forum. Looks full of useful information.
I've recently purchased a 1995N Xantia 1.9 TD SX for trouble free motoring, only it hasn't been so far! There are a whole list of problems which occured at different stages, so to try and explain them without confusing myself I'll list them in order of occuring:
Picking the car up, I noticed a tapping sound on the way home, like a knackered hydraulic tappet. Car still drove ok, slightly sluggish but fine. No other problems.
Next day notice that it is hard to start cold. Assume glow plugs are shot. Car ran fine after a blip of throttle after firing up. Bit of blue smoke!
Heater is weak. Initially blasts some hot air for a few seconds, then becomes mildly warm. Also noticed water temperature is flying high one day on motorway. Both cooling fans work. Water level appears to be very low, so is topped up. On trip to Yeovil that night, temperture is fine, low even.
Continue for another week or so. Yesterday after a short motorway run, return home with car running very lumpy. Not missfiring or running on 3 etc. Still idling but very lumpy. Today car ran lumpy, and smoked very badly, bluey whitey smoke. Tested the rev limiter briefly, and the smoke stopped as did the lumpy idling. Water was near empty. Car was reluctant to start a couple of hours later but did. The original tapping has become very very loud and there are metal scraping noises. There is more smoke again and lots of steam coming from the oil filler cap/dipstick. There is a thick greyish slime in there too. Having filled water up and started again, when idling the water is bubbling. When revving, it stops completely. At this point the car cannot idling, and when you try to start it, the engine turns very very slowly like its being strained before it fires up.
Apologies for the big first post, I don't know much about these engines. I've had someone give me some helpful advice today, but he suggested these forums, so here I am!
Many thanks,

tomsheppard · Unread post by **tomsheppard** » 27 Feb 2005, 01:38

Welcome to the forum FDV!
The strain in the starter motor- Stuck brush. 4 brush starter running on 2. Seen it before.
Water may well bubble a bit at idle. If it doesn't when revved, then probably not HG.
I'd guess that the stat is not as it should be because the heater won't work well and that'd be the cause of the mayo in the breather. The 1.9 can eat camshafts and I'd pull the cam cover and have a good look before becoming too woeful. Cams are quite plentiful and cheap. A loss of water on these motors can often be due to poor bleeding practice and if you do a search on the site for Bleeding Xantia Cooling Systems, you'll have enough advice to keep you awake half the night. Have a poke about in the handy hints forum.

RichG · Unread post by **RichG** » 27 Feb 2005, 01:40

Welcolme to the forum. You will find it a mine of information, I know that I have.
From your description it would appear that you are suffering from the dreaded Xantia TD head gasket (HG) problem. If you search the forum, using the link at the top of the page, with the words "Xantia head gasket" or "Xantia HG" you will disciver that you are not alone!
Richard

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 27 Feb 2005, 14:44

I agree with Rich - if you read all the posts on head gaskets on this site it will probably take you the rest of the day.
What is important when doing the gasket is to try and work out why it failed in the first place. For example if the engine was overheating due to a blocked radiator its daft to simply plumb it back up to the same radiator without getting to be bottom of the problem.
While the engine is apart its a good time to do the cambelt, check the waterpump etc.
Jeremy

DLM · Unread post by **DLM** » 27 Feb 2005, 18:09

FDV - I'd check out the cooling system components (thermostat in particular) before succumbing to HG paranoia. The state of the old thermostat (if there is one!) and its housing, will give you a good indication of the state of the cooling system and the coolant as a whole.
Just a couple of questions, at the risk of sounding a bit pedantic.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Having filled water up and started again, when idling the water is bubbling. When revving, it stops completely. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
When revving, is it the air bubbles that stop completely, or the engine?
Was that thick greyish slime on the dipstick, under the oil filler cover, or in the coolant at the expansion tank?
I'd also take Tom's suggestion and have the cam cover off to investigate those clicking/scraping noises, before going for a full head-off job.
Good luck.

FDV · Unread post by **FDV** » 27 Feb 2005, 23:04

Hi. Many thanks for all the helpful replies so far.
DLM - When revved, the bubbles stop completely. The car is reluctant to rev, but does at the moment.
The grey slime is in the oil filler neck, and in some of the breathers too. I'll be taking the cam cover off tomorrow night to inspect, I have to say I'm a bit anxious as even if something were wrong, I probably wouldn't be able to tell!

FDV · Unread post by **FDV** » 07 Mar 2005, 01:03

Right, bit of progression since the last post. Now the car will not run full stop. It almost feels like the engine is semi-seized up when trying to turn it over! It refuses to fire up now, and just by turning over the breathers are pouring with smoke! I've removed the cam cover, cam is fine. Hard to see the buckets, but nothing looks out of the ordinary.
Help!

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 07 Mar 2005, 01:48

Unless you have the flue (a solid winter-cold [:(]) try use your nose [:)]
That white smoke from breathers smells like diesel - or nothing (coolant) ?

FDV · Unread post by **FDV** » 07 Mar 2005, 01:57

As it happens I do have the flu! I'll check tomorrow. I'm guessing coolant=H/G or thermostat related, but what would the diesel smell mean?
Thanks