Xsara oil leak

[boroboy]

Hi all,
I'm a Frenchcarforum virgin.

Just got a few questions I hope you great guys may me able to help me with. So I'll fire away:-

I own a 99 Xsara 1.4 8v, 87k, had a small oil leak from what looks like the head gasket, is this a common fault with the 1.4 Xsara's? Or could it be the cam seal? Oil leak seems to be coming from the left hand side front of engine (when looking towards it from front of car). Can't really see due to timing belt casing, can see oil around head gasket area though.

Not causing any major prob, just a bit annoying. Had plenty of head gaskets loosing water in the past (not with Xsara), but never oil alone.

One more, car seems to have a clunking type of noise coming from the passengers side rear of the vehicle, seems to happen whilst breaking or driving over an uneven or pot holed road. Have had the rear wheels off & checked shoe's (OK), also checked rear exhaust under ramps. Do the Xsara's have rear radius arm bushes? Have also checked suspension whilst car jacked up & no movement. Any idea's?

Thanks.

[howiedean]

Hi all,
I'm a Frenchcarforum virgin.

Just got a few questions I hope you great guys may me able to help me with. So I'll fire away:-

I own a 99 Xsara 1.4 8v, 87k, had a small oil leak from what looks like the head gasket, is this a common fault with the 1.4 Xsara's? Or could it be the cam seal? Oil leak seems to be coming from the left hand side front of engine (when looking towards it from front of car). Can't really see due to timing belt casing, can see oil around head gasket area though.

Not causing any major prob, just a bit annoying. Had plenty of head gaskets loosing water in the past (not with Xsara), but never oil alone.

One more, car seems to have a clunking type of noise coming from the passengers side rear of the vehicle, seems to happen whilst breaking or driving over an uneven or pot holed road. Have had the rear wheels off & checked shoe's (OK), also checked rear exhaust under ramps. Do the Xsara's have rear radius arm bushes? Have also checked suspension whilst car jacked up & no movement. Any idea's?

Thanks.

Mine is exactly the same although a very small weep. I'll let you know if I find any problems as I'm doing the cam belt this weekend.

[boroboy]

Howiedean,
Is yours the 1.4? I had my cam belt, alternator & PAS belts changed 2 months ago, didn't think at the time to check the cam shaft oil seal, as I'd only just bought the car then.

Mine too, is only a very small leak. Other than that the car seems fine (touch wood), apart from the heater blower resistor (easy DIY fix). That's another common fault.

[howiedean]

Howiedean,
Is yours the 1.4? I had my cam belt, alternator & PAS belts changed 2 months ago, didn't think at the time to check the cam shaft oil seal, as I'd only just bought the car then.

Mine too, is only a very small leak. Other than that the car seems fine (touch wood), apart from the heater blower resistor (easy DIY fix). That's another common fault.

Hi,
Yes mine is also a 99 V 1.4 westcoast, it's got 54000 on the clock. The only problem I've had is poor running which I put down to the fact that it had not done much mileage the last couple of years.
A couple of tankfulls with injector cleaner sorted that. I wouldn’t say that it is very fast but it's fine for what we use it for.

Regards

[boroboy]

howiedean,
I've had mine 3 months now, it's got 87,000 miles on the clock, runs great. I changed my plugs, only cost £6 for a set of bosh ones. Checked my air filter & that was clean. Have you changed your plugs? That would cause poor running. My car is brill on petrol, getting around 43 mpg or 120 miles for £12, that's at 94p per litre.

I also have a slightly sticky clutch cable, another common fault, due to the angle the cable has to come through.

Notchy gear change, as well.

Does your accelerator peddle have foot rubber on it? Mine doesn't, just wondering if they ever did?

Let me know when you changed your cam belt & if you then notice any oil leaks. You might as well change the PAS belt & alternator whilst your on, as they all have to come off anyway, whilst you do the timing belt.

[Stuart McB]

Don't forget the MAP sensor attached to the inside of the wing. Do a site search on it, you'll find a great way af keeping it claen for pence.

[howiedean]

howiedean,
I've had mine 3 months now, it's got 87,000 miles on the clock, runs great. I changed my plugs, only cost £6 for a set of bosh ones. Checked my air filter & that was clean. Have you changed your plugs? That would cause poor running. My car is brill on petrol, getting around 43 mpg or 120 miles for £12, that's at 94p per litre.

I also have a slightly sticky clutch cable, another common fault, due to the angle the cable has to come through.

Notchy gear change, as well.

Does your accelerator peddle have foot rubber on it? Mine doesn't, just wondering if they ever did?

Let me know when you changed your cam belt & if you then notice any oil leaks. You might as well change the PAS belt & alternator whilst your on, as they all have to come off anyway, whilst you do the timing belt.

Hi,
OK, I've changed the Cam belt, water pump and tensioner. I was suprised at how worn the water pump and tensioner bearings were.
There is a small oil weep from the front right hand side of the engine (Cambelt side). The local citroen dealer mentioned that this is common on the 1.4 low power low torque engine.
I've torqued the head slightly and I'll see what happens. If the leak continues or gets worse, I'll change the head gasket.

Regarding the previous problem of poor running. I changed the fuel filter, air filter and spark plugs (pain in the arse to change!!). The plugs made a massive difference to the running, that combined with injector cleaner and Italian tuning sorted it!!!

I'm getting about 38 - 41 mpg running 34 miles to work and obviously less around town, so I suppose its not bad.

Regards

[howiedean]

Don't forget the MAP sensor attached to the inside of the wing. Do a site search on it, you'll find a great way af keeping it claen for pence.

Thats going to be my next job, cheers.

[boroboy]

Hi again howiedean & thanks for the reply.

Ditto regarding the location of the oil leak.

Did you notice any oil leak from your cam seal?

Has your oil leak stopped since nipping up the head gasket?

If & when you change your head gasket, will you get it skimmed & crack tested? I changed a head gasket on a Punto (1.2 8v), a few years ago. Gasket set cost me £20, head looked OK, didn't bother getting it crack tested or skimmed. Car was A OK after that.

My oil leak is very small, only looses round 1/4 of a dipstick mark, every 5,000 miles, just an annoying mess on ground. If it gets any worse I may change head gasket.

[howiedean]

Hi again howiedean & thanks for the reply.

Ditto regarding the location of the oil leak.

Did you notice any oil leak from your cam seal?

Has your oil leak stopped since nipping up the head gasket?

If & when you change your head gasket, will you get it skimmed & crack tested? I changed a head gasket on a Punto (1.2 8v), a few years ago. Gasket set cost me £20, head looked OK, didn't bother getting it crack tested or skimmed. Car was A OK after that.

My oil leak is very small, only looses round 1/4 of a dipstick mark, every 5,000 miles, just an annoying mess on ground. If it gets any worse I may change head gasket.

Hi boroboy,
Well I wont know for a while if nipping up the head has cured the leak and there was no oil from the seal. The amount I'm loosing is not noticeable on the dipstick or drive, so I'm not overly concerned at this time.

I have a feeling that I'll be replacing the head gasket anyway as I think the 1.4 is prone to gasket problems anyway.
I'll let you know how I get on.

Regards