Snapping Sound on ZX

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 19 Sep 2010, 23:33

I was working on my ZX 1.9D today and I noticed that two of the camshaft cover bolts were not tight. I set my torque wrench to 20 Nm, and started tightening the first bolt (the one at the cambelt end). Before I got to 20Nm there was a really loud snapping noise. I thought I'd stripped the threads but the threads seemed to be ok afterwards. So I tightened the bolt and got on with other things. I thought at the time that it must be the camshaft cover snapping itself into place. After coming in, I've been thinking about what else it could have been. I'm wondering if I have actually snapped something important. I know that that bolt is not the original one, because the original bolt fell out and I asked a chap in a garage if he had a bolt to put in there, as there was oil coming out of the hole. So I'm wondering if it's possible to snap something by using a bolt that's too long. Does the threaded hole go all the way through to somewhere important? What is underneath the first camshaft cover bolt?

Paul

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 20 Sep 2010, 00:08

It goes into the cap (like an arch) which holds your cam in place.
Pretty important.

Would be worth removing the cover to check.

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 20 Sep 2010, 00:21

I'll take the cover off and have a look tomorrow. I wonder if the hole goes all the way through the cap.

Paul

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 20 Sep 2010, 18:44

no it does not go all the way though, but it is possible for you to split the vcam cap in two,

or even crack the cam cover

regards malcolm

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 20 Sep 2010, 23:38

I took the camshaft cover off to have a look and I can't see any damage inside. It looks ok to me. The bolt seems to be the correct one. It's M6 with the threaded part being 25 mm long. It's the same length of thread as the middle bolt on the cover, and also the same length of thread as the bolt on the flywheel end, with the fuel pipe mounting attached to it. I had a look on service.citroen and it describes the bolt as "Dia 6X100-25", which I assume means M6 with a 1.0 mm thread pitch and 25mm long (not 100% sure about that but it seems a reasonable guess).

The bolt which caused the noise is exactly the same as the middle bolt on the cover. The lettering on the top of the bolt is the same, the captive washer is the same, the chamfering is the same. The bolt was missing after the garage had worked on the car. I took the car back and one of the things I mentioned was that one of the bolts was missing, and there was oil coming from the hole. The mechanic "found" me a replacement bolt in a few seconds and put it in while I watched him. Now I know that it wasn't a replacement, it was my original bolt, that he took out and couldn't be bothered to put back in.

As the bolt seems to the the correct one I didn't bother with any further dismantling, other than taking the cover off. I thought it best not to take the camshaft bearing cap off as it might lead to further problems. The cambelt is off so I can't turn the engine over by hand, but when I put the belt back on I'll watch the camshaft turning to make sure it's ok.

The cam breather hose looks like it's leaking. Is it supposed to be in two parts or one part? As I pull the camshaft cover backwards, I can see a gap appearing in the hose, about two inches from the camshaft cover. I can't see into the hose, so the gap might be correct. It's got a factory fitted hose clamp with no way of undoing it. If I replace the hose, do I have to cut the clamp off or is there some other way to get it off?

Paul

Chlorate · Post by **Chlorate** » 21 Sep 2010, 01:52

First post in what seems to be forever:
The cam breather hose is only one part, I had mine break on me when I tried to detatch it.
If I recall; I bought a new one from a Peugeot stealer for about £5 and they had one on the shelf.
You're probably referring to what I call "one of those annoying French hose thingies" there is a way to unclip them, but I find a pair of side cutters is an awful lot easier. I'm not entirely certain if they're made to be reusable or not.
Just hack them off and use a couple of jubilee clips, although zip ties may well be sufficient given it's only a breather.

But then again, if the hose is only split, you may well be able to fix it with araldite and duck tape

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 21 Sep 2010, 07:28

Paul, as you said, the snapping noise may well have been the camshaft cap locating home.. if so, then it's a welcome noise

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 22 Sep 2010, 00:51

I put the cambelt on and turned the engine over by hand today and it seemed ok, but I didn't have time to take the camshaft cover off. I'll have a look at the breather hose when I get a chance.

Paul