Xantia 1.9D - not starting

[Duracell]

Hi

I've been trying to help my brother with his 94 1.9D xantia - he has just replaced the hydraulic pipe feeding the front offside suspension sphere but is now unable to start the engine. It some times runs briefly but then dies, theres no sign of unburnt fuel out of the exhaust, the priming bulb happily pumps fuel through to the diesel pump and the unions on the injectors have been cracked and fuel pumped through. Although nothing was touched on the engine we have also checked the camshaft and diesel pump timing and removed the fuel cut off plunger - all with no success

I've run out of ideas - any advise would be welcomed

Regards

Richard

[MikeT]

Assuming the car had no starting problems before the hydraulic pipe replacement, I suspect your brother might have introduced or worsened an air leak to the fuel intake side or the leak-off side. If they haven't been changed, it costs little to replace the leak-off pipes.

On a leak-free system, the priming bulb should resist after a pump or two. If it remains relatively soft, you've got a leak and/or it's one-way valve has failed.

[Duracell]

Thanks for the reply - The car behaved perfectly prior to changing the hydraulic pipe - The bulb behaves normally and goes rock hard after 2 pumps - the leak off pipes are a few months old and look in perfect condition - successfully bled up to the injectors again this time with the air box off and noticed that no1 cylinder is blowing white smoke back out of the inlet manifold - checked the cam and pump timing again which is spot on - checked the valve are not stuck open and then put no1 on tbc with the valves shut and filled the inlet manifold with diesel to check the valve seating - it didn't go anywhere which doesn't suggest a major problem with the valves. Either my thinkings wrong or I'm missing something.

[spider]

I don't think you have missed anything, if there's fuel being delivered (fit a clear pipe between filter and pump inlet if in doubt if its got an excess of air present) and the engine is timed OK it should start.

I have seen an XUD that had fuel at the injectors although there was so much air in it it would not run (fitting a clear pipe just showed almost white due to the bubbles, never seen anything like it before) , it started when I connected the feed pipe (before the filter, so it was still filtered) into a can of fuel.

Are glowplugs operating ? (I know it will start eventually without them from stone cold but its not very easy)

I thought of major failure (broken belt) although you'd soon know as from your previous post you know what you're doing.

A blocked exhaust (!) can cause this although how it would get blocked is difficult to say if nothing was near it. A blocked air intake too (although not that likely, worth checking though)

I'd be tempted to ensure you have fuel at the injectors (you say you already have, so close the hp pipes now) , then switch the ignition on and check you have power to the glowplugs (or manually energise them if possible, not recommended) then crank it.

[Duracell]

Thanks - I'll try the clear pipe and feeding from a can - there is power to the glowplugs and they all have the resistance so I believe them to be ok