Activa no go!

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 09 Feb 2010, 12:37

Having a few problems with jennie's activa, wont rev over 4k & totally flat power wise.

A couple of weeks ago the car was running fine, all of a sudden there was no power & it is really reluctant to rev. The engine doesnt mis-fire or anything just hits a brick wall.

The engine is/was running fine, no mis-firing or other problems. the ecu has been checked for faults & there are none present, all sensors seem to be working correctly.

I have checked the boost pipework/cct thoroughly for leaks, even took the rubber pipe from turbo-hard pipe off (nightmare of a job).

Also checked the air filter/induction system for blockage, the induction hose has split anyway so that wouldnt cause a prob really & airfilter is ok..

After fitting the system back together the car seemed to come back to life for no reason, i gave it an 'italian' tune up & was fine for a week, better than ever power wise. A week/couple of hundred miles the problem has come back.

Iam now wondeing if the cat has blocked, or the turbo has problems i.e wastegate penny has jammed open/turbo seized?

The plans for this weekend if weather is ok are to drop the exhaust off before the cat & quick test drive.

Also going to plumb in a boost gauge to check the boost pressure (snap on diagnostic reckons it sees boost but not so sure meself) & will check fuel pressure/fuel filter.

Iam even going to check that its actually achieving full throttle.

Any thoughts on this, anybody had similar problems?

wainy · Unread post by **wainy** » 09 Feb 2010, 13:35

Hi,

It's a long shot but I had a very similar problem with my GSA X1 years ago.

Was on the way back from a friends wedding when it started losing power on the M40 and wouldn't go above 45-50mph. Was getting dangerous so was taken home by RAC. Had a look at it when we got home and it started fine and ticked over OK, so I gave it a real kick on the throttle and a big shower of the silencer insides came flying out of the back end

! Took it for a drive and it was noisy but was back to normal. Replaced the back box and all was OK.

So your hunch about a cat/exhaust-related problem could be right.

(By the way........ a GS with a booming back box sounds fantastic

. Didn't want to fix it!)

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 09 Feb 2010, 21:14

yep my bet is on a blocked exhaust too, a no boost situation would still let it rev, probably not the cat though as once thats blocked its blocked, could well be a baffle come loose and is restricting things.

D

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 09 Feb 2010, 21:32

I've seen a cat completely in bits and it never blocked the exhaust. It would rattle too.

The actuator is very soft on these. Get a boost gauge and see if your getting anything at all, straightforward to nip it up if it is loose.

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 09 Feb 2010, 22:12

AussieFrogs recently had a fellow with similar problems, and it was a blocked paralytic converter. He had some interesting photos.

Apparently it didn't rattle either, so I for one am retiring that diagnostic from the fore.

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 09 Feb 2010, 22:44

Gareth i think it depends what the monalith? is made from, the ceramic honeycombe ones are a pita, tiny little 1/16th squared holes about 6" long will block in no time if there is any oil getting in there.
Trouble is if its the cat why after it was given a damn good thrashing and cleared did it block up again so quick?

D

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 12 Feb 2010, 08:31

Did you ever resolve this Brigsy?

I've seen a totally blocked cat on a 1.9TD which gave rise to similar symptoms. Again, no rattles or anything.

It's a shame an Active is not easy to de-cat, just for a test...

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 12 Feb 2010, 17:36

think ive got a decat downpipe that would fit an activa acually....somewhere.

D

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 16 Feb 2010, 12:23

Its out of my hands now so wont know if it was the problem or not, shame really as im sure it is at fault. Cheers for the advice though all

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 08 Mar 2010, 11:52

Ended up doing the decat myself after it frightened a few mechanics, not too bad a job really only a couple of hrs work.

Cat was shot, but the main problem is the turbo is siezed

I can turn it with a ratchet on the shaft but its too stiff, so needs a rebuild or at least removal to pull it to bits & check it out. Its done ok for 156k so cant complain too much..

Access is poor, has anybody attempted to remove a turbo in situ. From brief look removing the o/s shaft/intermediate bearing housing & rear engine mount will free up a bit of room? i may have a go on the spares activa...

It was interesting to see how all the arcs system is set up when underneath aswell, looks well shoehorned in

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 08 Mar 2010, 13:17

You wont have enough space to remove the turbo with the engine in situ. On a 406, the subframe can be dropped, and then it can come out from underneath, but on an Activa that is an unhealthy option. Alternatives are removing the head with the turbo/manifold attached, removing the engine and gearbox, or tilting the engine forwards, although even then i doubt there would be enough space.

By all means have a go on a spares car, but if there was an easier way i wouldnt have documented in depth the procedure when i had to sort mine out.

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 08 Mar 2010, 19:04

Access looks terrible like, dropping subframe looks like hard work so engine out time i guess. Its running ok for now so can wait a bit

Will probably pop the spare engine in as its lower mileage, do clutch & manifold gasket too.

Just been reading up on the 406's & it looks like a common fault with turbo seizing up on these engines.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 08 Mar 2010, 23:43

Brigsygtt wrote:Access looks terrible like, dropping subframe looks like hard work so engine out time i guess. Its running ok for now so can wait a bit

Will probably pop the spare engine in as its lower mileage, do clutch & manifold gasket too.

Just been reading up on the 406's & it looks like a common fault with turbo seizing up on these engines.

Should imagine its down to the way some are driven, and if regular oil changes are adhered to. They dont run much boost standard at all, be lucky to find one running 9psi top end like it should and most are only around 5-6psi, hence why people think they are slow. I had a call from the new owner of my old car, telling me how he smoked a 330i BMW from the lights

Must say my original turbocharger @ 117k was totally mint, free spinning but no play in the shaft and an immaculate compressor wheel.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 09 Mar 2010, 07:09

I agree about the regular oil changes and regular coolant changes too helping the turbo to live longer. They are water cooled and the passages are quite small.

Seems to me the turbo generally lasts longer on the Citroen vehicles. Maybe because the turbo has an easier time of it due to the need to wait for the hydraulics to get up to pressure. Maybe some Pugs get thrashed right from cold and that won't help.

The most important though is to let the engine idle for a while before switching off so that the turbo spins down and cools down a bit.

It would be interesting to know how reliable the turbo is when the engine is utilised by the Puggerisers. By their nature they're looking for performance and may not be 100% kind to it.

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 09 Mar 2010, 16:55

The car has had decent servicing & warm up/cool down. It did go through a stage where it only done short local journeys, can only assume this has added to the problem.

Still its had a good innings at the mileage, anything over 100k on a petrol turbo is usually borrowed time.

As far as were aware it is an ex fleet car so it wont have been driven slowly, from what ive heard a lot of the activas were fleet cars? not sure how true this is though..