The other week...

[XantiaMan]

i was rather busy over at CitroJim's, as briefly mentioned in his own blog here - http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=24055

My TD had been under going some open heart surgery to its injection pump as a few seals were weeping from previous 5% unleaded/veg use. At the time of removal it wasnt leaking but wanting to continue using SVO/WVO in the future and needing the advice and support from an expert with these cars, Citrojim was the only choice!

Getting the pump off was fairly straight forward, without Jim's slim fingers and patience i would have ended up blowtorching the bolts that held the pump on it was that fiddly.

We decided to leave the immobilser removal to a specialist so i had to leave the TD there, fortunatly i had just done a deal on a well sorted Activa so had no worries about transport... however it took a bit longer to get sorted than i had hoped, 3 weeks passed before i got a chance to get back to Jim's so i can only thank him for his patience and taking up his driveway!

I found a good independant specialist to remove the shielding for me and whilst he was there, replaced the rotor head seal that was a bit fiddly, god job too as this seal had gone flat and hard and showed signs of previous leakage, total cost was £53 quid inclusive with new bolts and the immobilser could be refitted but without the shielding, it also meant some easy access to the max fuelling screw if needed...

Once i got back to Jim's on Friday evening we set to work replacing the advance mechanism seals, ended up reusing one and a spare seal for the other, these are both green Viton type and should not leak too easily, finally the rear timing cover seal was removed and it was clear to see this seal had also suffered like the rotor head seal, with a very flat appearance and no flexability, the new seal was a green viton one and should last a long time.

Jim refitted the actual pump for me as this was the fiddly, critical job, after lots of pump on pump off moments we eventually got there and he refitted the nuts and bolts with his bendy spanners and bendy fingers.. i then set to work and got everything else reassembled. Its worth mentioning that 2 dead glow plugs that was causing my starting issues were replaced behind where the pump sits, as access is perfect with the pump off, a little dab of copper grease and thats that horrible job done at the same time!

It didnt take long but we started running out of daylight, but with a bit more diesel in the tank she fired up into a lovely idle with no leaks and that was pretty much it for the evening, a very productive and satisfying job!

The next morning it was a case of checking everything over and a quick cold start, for months now its taken a while to fire because of the plugs and weepy pump, now it starts before you have released the key, hot starting is also excellent.

I finally replaced my plastic steering wheel with the leather item i got from Richard a year ago, much improved now and bring a bit of class to the interior.

We had a lot of running around to do that day, before the weather turned Jim replaced the anti-sink on the Activa for me as it was an unknown, and also fitted the brake pedal mod, this is pretty dangerous and i may put the spring back as it doesnt take much to get the ABS cutting in.. think i prefer a bit more pedal travel before it all kicks in but definatly interesting!

We had a cracking drive back to my parents house in Suffolk despite the weather, not often you see 2 Activas in a convoy!

A more sedate drive back in Jim's lovely new Activa and we were soon back in Newport Pagnall.

I filled up a bit with some freshly filtered WVO that my dad sorted for me and off i went down the M1 to Kent to pick Vicky up. It didnt stop there, as we had to drive up to Norfolk on Sunday after leaving Jack with his nanny, we had to move house during the week and already done over 650 miles since the pump overhaul, its been running perfectly and i cannot thank Jim enough for his generosity and kindness, not forgetting his time in getting my TD sorted and better than ever, i am well chuffed with it!

Gareth

[XantiaMan]

A tiny winy update, car has done nearly 1000 miles since its new seals and is running great, now on 100% SVO/WVO mix and still starts as if its on diesel!

One of the shortcomings of the car which i was not really aware of until i drove the Activa was the ride quality. It was very bouncy to say the least, fortunatly Jim came to the rescue again with some good condition low mileage spheres removed from one of his cars, my ride is now restored to the floaty smoothness we are used to from the Xantia although the handling is not as sharp! Suspect the flat spheres produced a harder ride in corners.

[CitroJim]

That's brilliant Gareth! Delighted the spheres are doing sterling service

Hope the scrapman has not been around since

[jgra1]

goodnews Gareth

Is yours smoke-free on idle, out of interest?

John

[CitroJim]

s yours smoke-free on idle, out of interest?

I think it is, largely, John. It smokes like a B52 on takeoff when Gareth floors it on his takeoffs though

It looks rather spectacular...

[XantiaMan]

goodnews Gareth

Is yours smoke-free on idle, out of interest?

John

Yes it is, only when running lots of veg would it smoke at idle when hot. Flooring its a different matter, no power without smoke!

[jgra1]

k


mine is embarrasing at idle sometimes