Xantia Emmisions

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
wrinklet1
Posts: 706
Joined: 23 Nov 2002, 19:15
Location: Bolton, England
My Cars:

Xantia Emmisions

Post by wrinklet1 »

Hi, My Xantia has just failed its mot (first time ever) on emmisions, it had a rating of 4.20 , pass is 3.50, I have changes the air and fuel filters, put injector cleaner into the fuel and driven it for almost 20 miles on the moterway and a roads, still no difference. I have booked it in for replacement injectors to be fitted. Has anyone had the same with their Xantia? oh, the car has just been run in 121,000 miles.
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

This is a diesel then, they can fail the test for quite innocent reasons, I've had it myself, you need to drive the car very hard prior to the test, that means rev the conkers of it in third gear, accelerating very hard.
If you don't do alot of high speed driving there will be a build up of soot in the exhaust that gets blown out during the test, its this that is the cause of most m.o.t failures.
Simply driving fast on a motorway wont clear much of the soot once its built up, you need some high revs on under high load to do this, but don't go near the red and don't do it or have it tested again unless the timing belt is up to it.
You can get this car past the test by turning the boost fueling down, I would try this and check the economy figures before going down the injector alley, unless the cold idle is erattic (assuming glow plugs are ok) in which case injectors are the way to go.
Dave
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

Was the engine temperature right for the emmisions test? When I had one of mine done recently it took quite a bit of fast idling before the temperature reading was correct.
wrinklet1
Posts: 706
Joined: 23 Nov 2002, 19:15
Location: Bolton, England
My Cars:

Post by wrinklet1 »

Hi Folks, 1st- yes it is a Turbo Diesel sx. I have had the car to a tuning company. They put a very strong cleaner into the fuel filter housing (about half full) and then revved it for a full 1/2 hour. The effects were fantastic, the reading went fron 4.20 down to 1.54. It is apparently a trade secret to put injector cleaner into the filter housing. The costs...£68+VAT, not cheap but a lot cheaper than recon injectors and there is about 1/2 a can of the cleaner left that will do for the next MOT.
My next job is replacing the Hydraulic pump......Keep you all posted..
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

Well done! Don't know about it being a trade secret but I think it's a good idea to use Millers or Diesel Redex in the tank every other fill up. I've got four diesels to MOT and they never have trouble with emmisions.
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

A testing station I used to go to used to do this when a car failed the smoke test, but they stopped this practice because they had been given a bollocking, turns out that these injector cleaners are so highly refined that it didn't matter what condition the injectors were in and how much of this cleaner was injected, there wasn't going to be any notable amount of smoke from it.
Engines that had been tested after being given a healthy drink just before the test, went back to their old ways as soon as neat diesel was again being burnt.
I don't believe in one shot use of any such product, if at all, at 120 odd thousand miles injectors aren't simply dirty, they are also worn, burnt, pitted and more than likely out of calibration, recon injectors would have been the better choice, at least then they would be perfectly matched for opening pressures and spray pattern, after all that money you still don't know what state they are in.
And even if they were just dirty, 120,000 miles worth of the kind of hard baked on crap found inside an engine simply does not dissapear in a few minutes with half a litre of injector cleaner of any kind, and most of that would end in the fuel tank with only a small amount going through the injectors.
Two high mileage ZX both TD's and two high mileage Xantia a 19TD and a 19D, never seen injector cleaner and the only time I had one fail (ZX) it went on to pass 30 minutes later well within limits after giving it a thrash round to blow it out, it was only a build up of soot in the exhaust that caused it to fail.
Dave
nick
Posts: 1079
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 01:49
Location: Market Rasen, Lincolnshire
My Cars:

Post by nick »

I've never used injector cleaner in my Xantia TD, all its had is regular fuel and air filter changes.
I always give it a good thrash just before the test though.
It was tested last week and the reading was 0.8,
not bad considering its done 122000 miles and its still on the original injectors !
Nick
wrinklet1
Posts: 706
Joined: 23 Nov 2002, 19:15
Location: Bolton, England
My Cars:

Post by wrinklet1 »

Hi all, just a reply to Dave, After your message about the injectors being knackered after 122,000 miles, I though I would have the emisions checked again after doing 500 miles since the pass. I have had injectoer cleaner in the tank and nothing else. The result after warming up but not having a run (straight from home to the mot station) was 1.95, no different, so, it seems that the injector cleaner has work by getting rid of the crap in the chamber and the build up of crap in/on the injector. I have had the car back to the service centre and asked them to take out an injector just to see what the spray pattern was like, and it was excellent with no work needed (not that I would have had it done as the car passed).
Thanks for all the messages.
Paul
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

I said a few days ago that I regularly use either Miller's dieselclean or Redex diesel in all four of our cars. I've done that ever since I got the advice from the MOT station that I use.
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

Holy smoke, someone should tell those supposedly proffesional fuel injection wallers that they need not have forked out tens of thousands of pounds for ultrasonic equipment to get the crap off injectors<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>
If I had paid that amount for someone to just run cleaner through it I would feel abused<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
You pays your money and you takes your choice, some do and most don't, and also never have any trouble, extol it all you will you wont persuade me to hand over cash for something most (including proffesionals who don't sell the stuff) see as next to useless, I choose to let it stay on the shelf next to the Slick 50's and Motor up's and all the other cures in a bottle.
Diesel is more refined now than its ever been and all sorts of additives are included to keep the things running as clean as possible, not to mention having most of the corrosive sulphur removed.
Dave
Post Reply