Newbie does a Xantia 1.9TD Head Swap - ho ho ho!

[MikeT]

Blue or grey/black smoke? A sniff should tell you if it's fuel or oil.
Could it not just be traces? I'd give it a bit more time to see if it goes away on its own. The dipstick will soon tell you if you're using any engine oil.

[MikeM]

Blue or grey/black smoke? A sniff should tell you if it's fuel or oil..

It's definately blue Mike. I just hope I can still trust my sense of smell - starting to wonder if it let down at the start of this project

Could it not just be traces? I'd give it a bit more time to see if it goes away on its own.

Only time will tell. And that sounds like a plan I can live with, at least for now.

The dipstick will soon tell you if you're using any engine oil.

Trouble (if you can call it that) is that it goes away soon after startup so I doubt it will use a significant amount.

It's not enough to worry about, it's just a visible symptom which is hurting my pride


MikeM

[davetherave]

Mine always emits a large cloud of smoke to let me know its alive! Think thats the vegetable oil though!

[MikeM]

Last night as soon as wifey got home we had to rush out to pick up a caravan. As we got to the bottom of the road and I dropped the clutch to change gear, the engine stalled . I rasied the clutch to bump start and she fired but shortly afterward the amber 'K' lamp came on.

I asked wifey if she'd had any problems to and from work at which point she exclaimed 'B***er! I just put unleaded in' and dived into her handbag in the forlorn hope that the receipt would prove otherwise - it didn't.

Well I'm sure I went as white as err a white thing (never been good at those )

Fortunately, she'd only put 10 litres in and the tank was nearly empty at the time so as the garage was only a couple of miles away and we were now on a dual carriageway it was foot down to avoid stalling again and a quick prayer.

As we got to the top of the slip road, I knew I'd have to keep the car moving to avoid stalling but the traffic wouldn't allow it - 'oh dear' I said

We had to push the car around the junction but luckily it's the high point and I managed to roll down hill from there all the way to the pump.

Filled with diesel (I think I double checked, triple check and.. well you get the idea) and tried starting.

Cranked her for about ten seconds with no joy, but on the second turn she fired, somehat lumpily but kept running. With enough smoke out the back to simulate a nuclear winter we managed to get on our way and the engine smoothed as we progressed.

Started alright this morning so I'm hoping that the 10l/52l mix hasn't upset her too much.

Actually, I'm quite pleased that wifey did this. With both petrol and diesel cars it was bound to happen sooner or later, and if it had been me I'd never have heard the last of it - at least I've now got the moral high ground - although I'm sure it's only a short term lease

MikeM

[andmcit]

You may possibly have done some grief to the glow plugs. Mine had the same
fate when I was driving home on auto pilot and had been almost exclusively
driving another petrol Xantia! It's never really been keen to start from stone
cold since even after new plugs. Your fuel mix will do it no harm after the
event though and in fact is regularly used in colder climes to prevent freezing
fuel. I'd be keen to know if there are any fixes to improve cold starting after
running it on unleaded myself.

Andrew

[MikeM]

You may possibly have done some grief to the glow plugs.

Thanks for that Andrew. I'll keep an eye on the starting performance and maybe renew if I have problems. £30 a set isn't going to break the bank (depends on the bank I suppose )

You say that yours still didn't like starting even after new glow plugs. Suggests some damage elsewhere, surely?

MikeM

[andmcit]

You're very likely right Mike, it's a 230k mile engine now and the misfuel was
relatively recent so not good on an elderly engine. To be fair it does start every
time and it runs well although it needs a few cycles of glowplugs to prevent a
hugely embarrassing massive fallout chugging out filler clouds. It never fails
to start though so credit to the robustness of the XUD.

Despite my best efforts to drive these to destruction, they seem to stand up
well - I tend to drive very hard and will pull the mpg down to petrol levels
whereas the petrol models don't seem to be as severely afflicted in their mpg.

I have a very jaded view of 'alternative' diesel having purchased a VSX estate
where the full contents in the tank settled/gravitated apart over time when
other work was carried out to it and whatever the hell the ingredients were
(wood polish?) the pump promptly died and doesn't want to come back to 'play'
again. No such Mickeymouse fuel shennanigans with petrol fuel cars so I'm
more in my comfort zone with them.

Andrew

[MikeM]

Andrew (or anyone else)

Any idea how well diesel and unleaded mix? I checked up on the densities of each and it looks like unleaded (being some 12-15% less dense) would separate to the top.

MikeM

[Deanxm]

Hi Mike

With the car moving around it should mix in quite nicely and has andrew has said the mix wont do any real harm, would have been less of a risk if there was half a tank of derv in there when swmbo misfueled it but i used to run my BX DTR with a gallon or so of unleaded in a full tank of derv to perk it up a bit and help starting on chilly mornings and she lasted fine.

D

[MikeM]

Cheers Dean,

Ever curious, I've just mixed some unleaded and diesel together in a sealed glass container to see how well it separates. Initially, no separation, but will check later tonight and again in the morning.

MikeM

[MikeT]

Unless the car's not used, it won't get a chance to separate.

[MikeM]

Unless the car's not used, it won't get a chance to separate.

I'm inclined to agree Mike. Otherwise it would be pointless using petrol as an additive to prevent diesel waxing in cold weather.

Trouble is I'm a techie at heart, and if I have the means to tinker - I will

MikeM

[Deanxm]

Trouble is I'm a techie at heart, and if I have the means to tinker - I will

Go on, admit it, subcontiously you wanted her to misfuel it just so you had the chance to tinker with it again

D

[MikeM]

Go on, admit it, subcontiously you wanted her to misfuel it just so you had the chance to tinker with it again

Well I must admit that I do feel the urge to do more (eyeing up the clutch cable next) - a serious case of 'itchy spanners' me thinks

MikeM

[davetherave]

Petrol and diesel will be fine, just keep topping up with diesel, in my old xantia which didnt start as well on 100% veg I use to pull up to the forecourt and intentionally put £5 of petrol in!
(I still put diesel veg and petrol in in varying quantities!)