Another of my xantias quirks...

[KP]

Found another problem

On saturday as i just stopped off in the office quickly with the nippers in the car i came back to the car and saw that my xantia had left a blood trail in the car park, only speckles mind but enough to pick up on.

Looked under parked car and there was a green puddle.

After a bit of investigation there were some pinholes in the rubber return pipe from either the hydractive of the activa sphere block, the sphere that hangs upside down not out to the side if it helps, the one at the very bottom of this picture,
http://service.citroen.com/docpr/affich ... 3%20394423

Anyway someone in the past had used tie wraps to cover up the issue.

I think im going to have to cut a section of the pipe out and replace it with something of equal internal diameter to get the length back as looking at the picture on service net it connects to many different things along its length and doesn't look like it can easily be split apart elsewhere

[Ramocc]

I bought a front activa sphere from here: http://www.aepdirect.com/ recently. The part wasn't listed then (I emailed them and they had it), but now it appears to be here: http://www.aepdirect.com/index.php?opti ... ct_id=6115

I got the part numbers from this page: http://www.classicparts.org/, click on the sphere, select xantia and change the motor to 2.0i Turbo CT and Hydraulikk to Activa for the non-activa spheres in an activa, or change motor to Active roll control system for the two activa spheres.

[KP]

Ok checked all my levels as the orange warning light within the water temp guage comes on as well i've noticed this morning.
Oil is fine, just on if not slightly over the max marker, water level is perfect on the max and the LHM is a bit overfull if anything.

Cant see anything else it could be other than oil starvation which is possibly why the turbo whines a bit more than i think it should do...

Guess at some point i'll need to whip the sump off and create a new baffle system for it.

[KP]

Well now my engine is knocking, and just typical, its after i fill the bloomin tank.
Sometimes it does it when revs rise above 2k and sometimes when they rise above 3.5k....

Checked oil and all levels are fine, oil if anything is still a little overfull, could this be the cause? also now when cornering it doesn't take much cornering force to get the warnging lights up that i've mentioned before.

Checking the water a fair amount bubbled over, leading me to think that something in the head isn't right as it seemed to compress the water out of the system and it was only reading 85ish on the dash so not enough to boil over i would have though... Will check the engine again in a few minutes and the levels to see whats what.

I check the oil at minimum hieght by the way to make sure its good, its a little dirty but thats to be expected.

[CitroJim]

Oh dear Will,

I reckon it's goodnight Vienna for your head gasket

The orange warning light coming on during cornering suggests it's not holding it's water and the system is pressurising. THis is how they normally go and very,very rarely do they ever contaminate their oil.

So, off with its head ASAP and (light) skim and new gasket. All should then be good again.

On the plus-side of things, an 8V petrol engine is dead-easy to do an HG job on and complicated only a little by the presence of the turbo...

[KP]

Problem is jim i dont have the time or space to be taking a head off and then getting it skimmed I could get away working from home for a day but not really with the current project load

Guess its going to have to be booked into the local specialists if they will take it on...

[addo]

Once the cooling system gets overly pressurised, you're compromising a bunch of seals - water pump gasket, coolant manifold gasket, radiator cap and also stressing the hoses.

To do the job thoroughly, a hoist will really help. Farming it out to someone who warrants their work (and known for quality) is often a good move.

[KP]

DOH i feel like such a plonk

Just been out and rechecked the oil and noticed that on one side of the stick the oil was just below the minimum marker

Yet on the other side is over the max marker but is a much thinner cover of oil. I think i've only been reading one side of the stick and its been the wrong side and its been catching oil as it comes back up the dipstick tube making me think more oil was in there than there actually was. Definately sounds to me like shells have gone and not the top end as just rechecked the water system and no water is being used or is bubbling into header tank and no steam off the exhaust as if a headgasket was perished. I think this spells the end for my activa unless the shells are a cheap and easy job to get replaced.

[addo]

Drain the oil, measure volume that comes out (invert the filter into your drain pan) and either send a sample off to be tested or spread it out thin on a glass slide and examine in bright light.

[XantiaMan]

Shells are easy to replace, easier than doing a head gasket! Sorry to hear you may be giving up so soon, maybe i should have broke it in the first place like i was going to and then you wouldnt of had all this hassle and expense.

[KP]

I know Im seeing if a nieghbours friend would be able to do the shells on the cheap or at least help me do them as im guessing draining the sump and taking it off isn't too bad on the CT compared to some of the other engines are is it jus as much a pain??

[CitroJim]

Something is not adding up here Will You have symptoms of cooling system pressurisation but that cannot be as a result of an engine knock...

The XU10 bottom end is very strong and troubles down there are very rare normally. Are you 100% sure it's a big end knock?

Adam's idea of looking at the oil for signs of bearing material is a good one. If a big end has let go, you will see evidence in the oil and as said, they can be replaced in-situ but I'd not recommed it. Firstly the main bearings cannot be replaced and secondly, if a big end has let go, there'll be potentially debris in the oilways that may result in a blockage and that will very rapidly kill new shells. Wen a big end does let go it normally really makes a mess that really needs the whole engine to be stripped, cleaned and rebuilt. The last engine I saw that ran a big-end (a Ford Zetec) even deposited debris in the cambox.

Your best bet by far is to become an Activa despatcher with a difference and lift a good engine complete from a scrapper. Don't forget the same engine was used in some 406s, the XM and the Xantia CT Estate. It should not be hard to source one at a good price and frankly, it's only a days work to do the swap.

Before going don this road, exclude everything else. I wish I could come and have a look with you at this...

I'm still thinking you'll find the issue at the top rather than the bottom.

Finally, money and time would be well spent connecting an oil pressure gauge to the engine. That will confirm for sure if the bottom end is in distress.

[addo]

Most people don't really know what a rod knock sounds like; same for noisy hydraulic tappets. Sometimes a leaky exhaust flange gets confused with motor internal sounds!

At the risk of sounding silly, the "STOP" light doesn't mean anything else. If you are at all unsure of its trigger, pull over the moment it is safe to do so, and investigate... A flatbed truck home is appreciably cheaper than a new motor.

Order I would proceed in:

1. Inspect underside of oil filler cap
2. Compression test all four
3. Drop oil and measure total volume
4. Examine oil sample for super fine particles
5. Check from underneath for signs of longterm coolant loss (especially behind timing cover and the manifold at block rear)

[SLYTZD]

I've had 3 2.0i 8v Xantia's apart from my Activa & TD, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the 2.0i & the Activa share the same engine, apart from the turbo.

My first met a premature end
The other 2 met there death at about 140,000. The head went on 1 & the other was from the big end. (Not to be confused with the main bearings.) The best way to describe the sound would be a hammer as apposed to a tap. Yes you can replace the shells & if my memory serves me right they only cost £6 for the full set from Citroen. Again VERY easy to replace, you could probably replace all 4 in under an hour including jacking up. Basically it's just a case of unscrewing the sump, turning the engine by hand with the plugs out to lower the pistons you want to work on, unscrewing the 2 nuts that hold the bottom of the big end together, removing the old shells & slipping in the new.

The down side is you've only done half the job, it's not only the shells that wear, the crank shaft also wears leaving it slightly oval. Your new shells will keep you going for a while but it wont be long before it's hammering again. The only way to fix this is engine out, total engine strip-down to remove the crankshaft, having the crankshaft reground, which cannot be done en suite & then refitting with oversize shells. For me making it beyond economical repair.

[KP]

Thanks Guys

I really wish you did live further north Jim

Checked oil filler cap and there is no mayo or water mix deposits(had a R5 turbo so know what they look like )

I'll get them to compression test the cylinders if they can.

Same for measuring the oil that came out as well and checking for metal deposits.

No real long term water loss from underneath the car. there is now still a very very small amount of water that gets past my temp coolant hose fix i've done but this is only about a half cup of water every other week really.