Xantia 1.9TD....wake up and back on the road after 10 Years

[MattBLancs]

Make it really special by painting it the same colour as the car

Nah, that's a candidate of the "red but definitely the wrong red" stuff, surely!

[Stickyfinger]

Good to see someone thinking about them parts we dont see to much but are so useful in there purpose, these slide out dont they ?

Nope, they drop down via a screw in the boot.

It is the part you cannot see that will let you down, the mechanicals and the undersides are what matters with this car....the body work is beyond help in the "looks" department.....but solid

[Stickyfinger]

Make it really special by painting it the same colour as the car

Nah, that's a candidate of the "red but definitely the wrong red" stuff, surely!

Not wrong there

[Stickyfinger]

Looks like it is due a good back-flushing.....the result of draining the coolant in preparation for its cam-belt/water pump being changed on Thursday....the day before the MoT ....ohhh what could possibly go wrong !

[MattBLancs]

AHH, just the sort of job that rears it's ugly head in the middle of a cold snap, typical!!! Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrr

[mickthemaverick]

I fear the pair of you will need many layers and maybe a fan heater on Thursday!!

[Stickyfinger]

5-foot tall wood burner and a stock of logs Mick....

[CitroJim]

After my epic run yesterday I was up at 3 and soon on my way down to Alasdair's to do the cambelt and water pump...

With the garage wood-burner lit, I was on it..

I was delighted to see the cam covers were the old-style clipped ones... They came off in no time at all

The crank bolt and pulley came off ever so easily with just a bit of rattle-gunning

Then it all got a bit 'fun'. In starting to remove the old cambelt, after pinning up the cam and pump and marking the crank, I found the belt tensioner would not retract due to the spring-loaded piston being seized solid in its bore!

I removed the engine mount and then we could set about both freeing it and releasing the tensioner..

Then I noticed someone else had been here before, they had hammered the tensioner jockey wheel to give a bit of clearance to free the belt when it was changed previously... Terrible stuff

Here's the marks on the jockey wheel, happily not bad enough to render it unserviceable...

To free off the piston we had to drill a hole in the back of its bore so it could be punched out...

The extent of the corrosion!

With a bit of cleaning, it freed up fine

Speaking of corrosion, this was the water pump

And the engine block behind it... No wonder the old coolant looked a bit rusty!

The old pump appears to have been leaking too...

The old water pump gasket was well stuck and took ages to cleanly remove...

With the new water pump fitted and the tensioner reassembled, which was a bit of 'fun' without the special piston retractor tool, the new cambelt went on no problem at all...

Then we found the new water pump was the later type with the side-skirt on it. A bit of subtle modification was needed to the pump with a small grinder to make the cam covers fit!

Yet another difference in the very early Xantias, there really is quite a few, mostly found out the hard way

All came good and after refitting and tensioning the auxiliary belt, we called it a day..

Tomorrow, fill with coolant, make sure all is happy and then..... MoT

It's been a good day and hugely enjoyed

[mickthemaverick]

Haven't you two been having fun? Great work and boy was it worth it!! Another step in getting the car back to tip top condition!!

[Stickyfinger]

COLD !!!!!!....some tit decided to let the log burner run out and leave the big door open all afternoon.....but hey ho, he was the one working

Massive thanks Jim

[MattBLancs]

Interesting write up and fair to say that cambelt swap was DEFINITELY money well spent!

It's interesting about the water pump "skirt" I remember changing (belt and) pump on my previous 1995 XUD9TE 306. I had opposite problem: old pump with skirt, new pump without, hence a gap! (Later covers, not clips like those pictured)

I think I made a little sheet metal flap, pinned by a pump bolt for m memory, but must be about 15 years ago!

[CitroJim]

That's interesting you had the opposite problem Matt! I must admit, after 20 years around XUDs it was a bit of a first for me and so was the seized tensioner piston. I can see what those did previously although the best could not have been properly tensioned...

ES9J4 and some TU water pumps can have a similar issue too..

I let the log burner go out as i was so engrossed in the job and so warm I didn't even think or realise - nothing new there!

Despite a day of XUD wresting and running an ultra the previous day I've woken today feeling remarkably good Both activities must be good therapy for me!

[Skull]

Blimey Good effort Jim and good luck with today's MoT stickyfinger

[Stickyfinger]

Morning Jim.....have you got your coffee yet.....

[Skull]

Then I noticed someone else had been here before, they had hammered the tensioner jockey wheel to give a bit of clearance to free the belt when it was changed previously... Terrible stuff

Here's the marks on the jockey wheel, happily not bad enough to render it unserviceable...



It's been a good day and hugely enjoyed

Presumably that was already seized prior to the previous belt change then Jim

Did the 1.9TD need your SEEMS meter for cambelt tension setting or just a little strum