Veggie and Activa tales but now rental reviews blog!

[CitroJim]

Rapeseed for 55ppl is absolutely excellent Will... makes for very cheap motoring... I must say my experiences of driving a 2.5 is very positive. A real gem of an engine

[KP]

They are great Jim!

The only thing I would replace this one with is....

Another one! With 1/2 leather and heated and ac despite their issues.

The price of the veg is so tempting I'm thinking of buying a 1000litre cube to put in the garage and store a load in as would be a few pennies cheaper in that amount as well! But the rangey blocks the driveway

[Chris570]

Ahh didn't know that Chris!

The problem is that you can't overheat veg so my thinking is to make life easier for the uplift pump in the main pump to heat the veg in the filter housing. Which I'm sure is leaking a little air Ito the system so want to replace it and put a hand grenade pump in for emergency needs.

Also as I'm using soya at the moment it is a good bit thicker than rapeseed but I may have stumbled across a supplier 45mins away that can supply new rapeseed for 55p/l!! Even cheaper than some wvo suppliers and would be good for winter as well.

While I can get away with not cutting it with diesel i almost always put a little in each tankful so as to make it thinner.

I've replaced some sections of supply pipe under the bonnet but think I'll need to replace it all soon and run the supply pipe along the bulk head and the return pipe over the engine covers instead of the original fitment going thru and round some as it's a very specific angled route which is annoying as the pipe takes so many twists and turns on it's routes

Replace the supply pipe from bulkhead to injection pump, unless you've got a big split the return won't leak. The problem with heating the filter (gently) is that all you're doing is thinning the oil once it's at the filter, the pipe from the tank is still under negative pressure and so will still be prone to air ingress, that's why i've got the little lift pump.

Good work on the 55ppl! I pay 74ppl from Costco.

[KP]

Where did you get your pipe from and can you recall the ID of the pipe as I have a feeling it's 12mm as it is massive compared to stuff I've dealt with in the past

Out of curiosity what have you used as a pump and to power it at ignition on?

[Chris570]

it's 10mm ID.

I found a little carb pump on ebay and i've wired it up to the double injection relay so it runs on ignition 2. it's quite handy as while the glowplugs are on it's pumping fuel up and around.

[Chris570]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0816172763" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's the one i went for

[KP]

I like the idea of that but any copper in a fuel system with veg is not great as the veg reacts with the copper.

Wonder if a small washer pump would do as I have some kicking about in the garage which could possibly do the job..

[KP]

Anyone know what colour wires are that connect the filler cap sensor down to the main loom above the tank access hole as i went and had a nose earlier and there are a good few in there that are just 2wires

[KP]

Well annoyingly the new c5 is presenting other issues.

Yesterday my dad went to start it and nothing.

I looked at it earlier and there were no faults other than the clutch switch and steering angle sensor but when you try to turn it over the starter doesn't get any juice.

The nav display also just shows economy mode. Now I've had the car on a charger for about 15mins and the battery voltage on lexia shows 11.85v

I'm starting to think I need a new bsi unit which sounds like it could be fun as I have no docs with the car so no security code but think I've read on here that you can usually get away with a generic 5 digit code...

[KP]

Well I've now cleared the Eco mode bit with the battery off for an hour but still no start. There is a click from the bsi area so in wondering the starter is toast :/

[KP]

Well i have another green blooded project on my hands!!

So far mechincally thanks to sir Eastment of Roundabout City There are no major issues with it and by god the easiest solution to the biggest initial issue was resolved with a single screwdriver and less than 60seconds of work. The downside is that it has gone from the most economical version of this car i've ever had back to the correct amount of fuel consumption i was expecting with the driving style it invokes

Bodywork wise there is a little rust and some tatty bits inside and out but bit by bit im going to work round it.

First off is a refil of the AC system tomorrow. Its a rare beast in that it has AC and a roof!

Then I'm going to soak the car in water while i do a few other odd jobs and then give it a good soap sudding as there is moss over a good amount of the normal bodywork gaps and shuts so its going to take some time but will be done. Then at some point in the future I'll work my way round it tidying up the blemishes and then hand it over to vince for some titivation....

Pictures to follow once cleaned up but as its a weekend/fun toy im happy that it has a drinking habit, better than me having one anyway lol

[Captain Slow]

Go on then, what was the easy fix?

[KP]

A boost pipe had blown off so the turbo never really provided any pressure to the engine. As it's designed with a slightly lower compression than an na equivalent engine it felt even more gutless than you'd think as it would likely have been running about 70-80bhp IMO at that point. The securing tab wasn't located right so allowed some twist and the pipe must have come off under boost. Cleaned up and back on and jobs a good en

Defiantly a hybrid or stage 2 turbo though!

[CitroJim]

Good to see you and the Activa yesterday Will

It's good and and excellent base to make a really tidy one. Both rams bone dry

The pipe had come adrift at the throttle body and it was a hard one to spot as it was not obvious at all so nobody must feel bad about not spotting it before...

The ELIT shows what looks like regular overboost events now so the pipe may have been helped away from its home by that. We tried swapping the turbo boost regulator electrovalve but my spare was duff so that was not conclusive..

Another possibility that needs checking is a perished pipe to the wastegate actuator. A leak in it will cause the wastegate to not open or open late and thus overboost.

Apart from that, very well bought

[KP]

Thank you again Jam

I had another check of the pipe when I got back and I think it's been trimmed in the past at the regulator end but it held some pressure for a whole until I got bored tasting the pipe again

Annoyingly as I left Tims last night after picking up some XM bits that are very geeky it started raining and I've not been able to push it and stretch the activa parts much but it's time will come! The tyres whilst new don't seem to like the rain and in the dry spin up out of corners in second and in the wet in third as soon as the boost really kicks in above 3000 rpm.
This is what leads me to believe the turbo has been changed as from what I recall the standard turbo kicks in about 2-2500 rom and is linear across the range even when boost ie upped more. This gives you a real heavy shove in the back and at 110kph of you floor it you still get a good wallop and the speedo races round quite quickly to high numbers. Which suprised a focus st170 on the m6 as I think he changed down to third in front of me on the slip road and was aiming for tr third lane when joining and got beaten to it by me

The bits in the boot have kept the weight balance a bit more even but I think a battery relocation is on the cards and maybe the install of an egr cooler.
The crankcase breather system will be sorted as well so as it breath instead of dumping into the inlet manifold and then a standard looking recirc dv will be sorted as well to help with in gear changes as the boost level just drops harsher than I'd expect. The piping is there and just needs the pipe on the turbo inlet altering for better flow.

Engine temp has once gone above 80'c and that was when the car had a quick run and then parked up for a few minutes while I got my fast food on the way home. Oil temp doesn't go any higher than about 55' not matter how hard it's pushed I reckon the oil cooler/warmer is doing a good job.

The back box seems wrong so that's on the list of things to do and the radio is insecure and doesn't power on so needs looking at.
Worst case for the radio is I swap it out like I did in the xm but actually buy the steering control adapter harness
Corner spheres are very hard but may start the sphere replacement program soon so am off to eBay land to buy the tool like I used to have that I have away ages ago now to a nice socialist in wales

As the correct tyres now longer exist and it's a fun car thinking of Yokohama parada tyres for super grip in the corners in the dry.
The rain is out so that's going to help with the washing part today! May even get the claybar out for one last hoo ra before getting the claymitts today