Tales of a C3, a Goddess and some BMW's.

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 06 Dec 2009, 00:38

RichardW wrote:Common rail.... 297 bar (4300 psi) at idle, 1650 bar (23925 psi) at full throttle

These figures really are quite astounding when you think about it

RichardW wrote:The fan in my HDi exhibits the same randomness in auto, and runs in manual all the time..be interesting to see if you can fix it!

I'm being set quite a challenge here

best I get working on it then

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 11 Dec 2009, 22:18

In the absence of the forum I've achieved a couple of successes, firstly I popped up to Sawtry to see Martin at Pleiades and collected a re-furbished pressure regulator for the Goddess which I fitted the following day. On the return leg of the journey I took a detour to visit Jim, see Robyn's new 206, the V6 being broken and top drop off my SEEM gauge to assist Jim setting the timing belt tension on Robyns' 206.

The improvement with the hydraulic system has exceeded my hopes by quite some distance, previously the interval between the pump cutting in was around 20 seconds, now with the refurbished regulator the delay has extended to a whopping 3 minutes 10 seconds

and unlike previously the car now remains at normal ride height for a number of hours after being parked

Secondly the wheel balance issue with my HDi had been driving me mad with a constant vibration between 60-85 mph despite having the wheels balanced on three occasions by different tyre fitters/independent garages. I considered my options to be either source a set of wheels designed with a centre hole (to assist balancing) or have one last go at getting them balanced. I decided to contact my local dealer at Slough on the presumption that they may have a "special technique/insider knowledge" but was put off when informed that they Charge £15 per wheel

so I called Sportif @ Chalfont who charge £30 for four. Sportif, or more precisely "Bex" their female apprentice mechanic did an excellent job and balanced the wheels correctly so now I can enjoy a smooth comfortable ride again, hurrah $\:D/$ $\:D/$

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 12 Dec 2009, 22:23

I spent several hours in my garage today, not working on a car but fitting a second light switch and wiring to the rear of the garage to give two way lighting to save me stumbling over things when I enter in the dark, a long outstanding job I'd promised to do years ago.

An update on the HDi's heater fan stalling when set to auto, around a week ago I cleaned up the connections onto the fan motor assembly and sprayed them with contact spray which did appear to help for a few days but eventually the motor briefly stalled. For my next test I moved the fan motor control lever slightly away from the far left corner of the auto position (but still in auto) which so far appears to be doing the trick, so I'll give it a few more days then possibly exchange the heater control for a spare one which has less wear on the contact track.

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 15 Dec 2009, 11:21

How does the gauge get plumbed in? I want to see what's happening with my reg, and would appreciate knowing the mode of connection to see the cut in/out pressures.

Thanks, Adam.

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 15 Dec 2009, 11:50

addo wrote:How does the gauge get plumbed in? I want to see what's happening with my reg, and would appreciate knowing the mode of connection to see the cut in/out pressures.

Disconnect the outlet pipe from the pressure regulator and screw the gauge connecting pipe in there, for the pipe I borrowed the one from my sphere pressure tester and swapped the sphere gauge (100 BAR) for a more suitable higher pressure gauge (200 BAR).

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 17 Dec 2009, 20:37

Another job ticked off from my list of "must do it one day" job's which was to remove and reseal the engine oil sump gasket on my V6, whilst I'm pleased to have done the job the weather could have been better, -1°C with an occasional blizzard blowing didn't make for the most pleasant of working environments

One thing I did discover was that the original seal used for the sump is a thin silicone bead attached to the sump itself, I did inquire about fitting a new sump complete with the said gasket but quickly gave that idea up when I found out the price is £290 + VAT

so I've used Loctite 5910 sealant as used by Citroën. I've left the engine empty of oil overnight to allow time for the sealant to set before refilling with oil in the morning.

With this cold snap now upon us I'm pleased I took the opportunity to take the Goddess out for a run on Sunday before all the salt was spread on the road, having not driven her for several weeks it was good to get her thoroughly warmed up, I'm still amazed by the attention she draws from other motorists.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 17 Dec 2009, 21:34

Well done Richard

Not a nice job at the best of times I guess but in -1 degreess, you deserve a medal!!!

Good to know it's all nicely doable in situ. Looking at a number of V6s, it's something that will come to all of us sooner or later. Touch wood, at the moment, mine's good.

Where did you source the Loctite 5910 from? My local factor does not stock it.

I used my Activa in the early part of the week but as soon as the salt was about, back she went into storage!!!

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 17 Dec 2009, 22:55

CitroJim wrote:Good to know it's all nicely doable in situ.

It is but to get to the bolt close to the bottom engine mount you need to use a slim 1/4" drive socket.

CitroJim wrote:Where did you source the Loctite 5910 from? My local factor does not stock it.

I bought it at that parts warehouse I mentioned, I bought two tubes but used less than half of one, I understand its available from Halfrauds.

CitroJim wrote:I used my Activa in the early part of the week but as soon as the salt was about, back she went into storage!!!

Quite right too

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 19 Dec 2009, 12:37

DickieG wrote:I'm still amazed by the attention she draws from other motorists.

Im not..... 8) I 'd love one

I bet if i drove through Manchester in one it would grab more attention than a Ferrari or a Porsche......

That said, imagine how much attention an SM would get

lexi · Unread post by **lexi** » 19 Dec 2009, 14:36

£300 plus for that ickle lil sump pan? I wondered to replace mine but it cleaned up decent. This is Citroen and the dealers in cahoots.

I`m beginning to think Honda Toyota and Nissan prices aint bad at all. Hoping all is well with repair. Strictly speaking it is plus 5 for those kind of silicone sealants. Then again I put some etch primer on V6 towbar yesterday in -2...........then gently dried it with a heatgun

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 19 Dec 2009, 23:04

lexi wrote:Strictly speaking it is plus 5 for those kind of silicone sealants. Then again I put some etch primer on V6 towbar yesterday in -2...........then gently dried it with a heatgun

I did wonder about the temperature issue before starting work but couldn't see any reference to it on the tube. Hopefully leaving it overnight then re-filling with oil the following day and giving it a decent length of drive will have allowed it to set, I'll take a close look for leaks in the morning as it will have been parked there since 1.30am this morning so plenty of time to show a leak.

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 19 Dec 2009, 23:14

We sell the VAG models silicone sump sealant. This gets used my mechanics working both inside and outside. Never heard of anybody having any problems with it setting

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 19 Dec 2009, 23:38

vince wrote:We sell the VAG models silicone sump sealant. This gets used my mechanics working both inside and outside. Never heard of anybody having any problems with it setting

Thanks mate I hope you're right!

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 23 Dec 2009, 22:11

All change for the gearbox oil in my V6 today, Dawn had driven her for five miles an hour or so before I intended to start work so I added another six in order to get the gearbox oil up to the required temperature of in excess of 80° C but when I returned home and plugged in my Lexia to check on the oil temperature I found that it was only 69° so another 10 minutes were spent in the drive with snow mode engaged and the handbrake applied whilst I revved the engine periodically in order to generate heat within the oil.

With the oil temperature at 84° I removed the drain plug then when oil stopped flowing I briefly turned the engine over for a second or two which in combination with jacking the car from every corner in turn to drain out as much oil as possible I managed to drain 4.5 litres out (normally only 3 litres drain) so a good result. Not so good is the time it took to refill the box as I couldn't find my long wide tube I use to attach the bottle of gearbox oil, so I was resigned to using a small funnel and windscreen washer pipe

it took a couple of hours to refill the box and what didn't help was an occasional sleet shower which eventually turned into a full blown thunderstorm

final checks on the oil level will now have to wait for the morning, well what else would you normally do on Christmas Eve?

The car has only done 59,000 miles and I've already changed the gearbox oil twice in quick succession just after buying it which is now 10,000 miles ago but even so the drained oil shows contamination, looking like oil removed from a petrol engine after say 5,000 miles rather than the clear golden colour of fresh oil. When I get time I'll take photo's of the new and old oil to show the difference. I now regard changing the gearbox oil on a V6 as service must do item every 10,000 miles as I'd prefer to avoid the palaver Jim has been going through recently

.

Earlier this week I wired in one of those rechargeable glovebox torch sockets to my HDi that I'd removed from a BMW being broken some time ago, the only problem I've got is finding somewhere to mount it other than have it laying in the cointray as it is at the moment, all (sensible

) suggestions welcome.

lexi · Unread post by **lexi** » 23 Dec 2009, 23:19

Very good Richard. I`m just about to do this. Why so long to fill? Is it vacuum ?

Ah I see now ....your microbore hose