2 quickies - oil sensor + LHM level

HDI Dave · Post by **HDI Dave** » 15 Dec 2010, 22:06

Evenin all,

Two niggles I've been getting in the cold weather, when it was - 5 - 8 degrees,but when the car was warmed up,after say half an hour!

1./ The oil light kept flickering on after 1/2 an hour of driving..surely the oil is nice and warm by then?!

I checked the level and it's near max,my car doesn't seem to burn much,hardly any.I've re checked it a few times,on the dipstick, and it's always near max...strange. Any ideas, sensor dying,can they? oh and where is it?

2./ The STOP etc dash lights kept flickering on,and I noticed the steering was getting heavy. Of course I pulled over straight away...
I checked the LHM fluid level with the car running, on high, and the red umbrella thing in the sightglass was well down. It was fine a couple of months ago,I think..I looked in the reservoir and it looked empty, around 6" deep from the filler neck. I thought it was because it was on high, so I tried on all settings, still nearly empty.
So I put around a 1/4 litre of LHM in, which brought the brolly between the red lines, but the tank still looks really empty, on all settings, even when she's sat on the floor...Is this normal? ( it's my first hydrocar).

Does LHM break down or something? as I can't see any leaks at the minute!
Fluid in and all is well again,but where could it have gone!

Cheers, Dave.

addo · Post by **addo** » 15 Dec 2010, 22:15

Into the spheres, out via split strut return hoses, or under your carpet.

Also check for split return hoses from the regulator, steering and doseur.

HDI Dave · Post by **HDI Dave** » 15 Dec 2010, 22:20

Hmm,
my passenger carpet has felt a bit damp recently,and maybe a faint smell,(does lhm smell?) but I put it down to a loose scuttle, which I sealed today! What's under the carpet,lhm wise?

"regulator and doseur"

where will I find these

Cheers Addo

addo · Post by **addo** » 16 Dec 2010, 00:17

The brake valve/doseur "boot" leaks under the driver's feet - look for oily signs near the upper parts of your brake pedal. Damp passenger footwell is scuttle sealing or heater matrix.

Regulator is down low at the nearside front behind the radiator and near the starter. It has a flexible return hose that goes up towards the battery tray and eventually back to the reservoir.

Doseur return line is across the firewall below the heater matrix elbows, it's about a ½" diameter rubber line. Steering return is a similar size and comes up behind the reservoir (more or less) but often has a sneaky leak as it's sleeved in heatshrink but cracks inside this...

Post by **quintet** » 16 Dec 2010, 00:37

Hmm if your carpet felt a bit wet then that could be a leaky heater matrix issue, but lets not go there, theyre not nice to remove/replace

. As for LHM your not likely to find it within the vehicle as the pipe work all runs under the car or in the engine bay, it's 'green' & in my opinion doesn't have much of a smell either, The doseur valve is mounted basically where you would expect to find a (brake) servo on a regular car, imagine roughly where you brake pedal linkage would come through the bulkhead and then look into the engine bay, it's pretty well tucked away but your basically looking for an object with a few pipes coming out of it has a round end facing out towards you (that description is about as much use a chocolate fire guard, maybe some one can post a link with pics in it

).

If your new to these cars then maybe you could put a Haynes manual on your christmas wish list or get one off e-bay, it's an old car now so they're pretty cheap on there.

Also as a bit of a tip, if you suspect your car may have a leak next time it snows park your car on a clean bit of snow (for a few hours) & then inspect the snow after having moved your car, look for green snow

, this might give an indication to whether there is a leak & more importantly (roughly) where's about on the car it is.

Post by **myglaren** » 16 Dec 2010, 06:40

Post by **CitroJim** » 16 Dec 2010, 07:26

quintet wrote:if you suspect your car may have a leak next time it snows park your car on a clean bit of snow (for a few hours) & then inspect the snow after having moved your car, look for green snow

Old French proverb: Don't eat green snow...

Seriously, this is an excellent tip. I check weekly for leaks and in fact daily in a casual sort of way. I always park in the same spot both at home and work and I always look at were the car has been parked. Several times I've spotted leaks this way, oil, water and LHM.

If you suspect the dosuer, slip your hand under the drivers' side carpet after lifting the door seal rubber. If it's wet and oily under there then the dosuer is leaking. beware that LHM is very aggressive on the bitumen sound deadening on the floor pan and it might be a real mess under there.

On the oil level front, I believe the sensor should only be active for 30s after switch-on and then should go inactive. Sometimes, the use of fully synthetic oil can upset it and cause it to register low oil when in fact there's plenty. Else that, it may be a chafed wire going to the sensor. It's at the back of the engine and near the exhaust manifold. It can get very brittle over time.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 16 Dec 2010, 08:16

the LHM citro blood level should only be checked on level ground and the car fully up on its highest setting,

the yellow disc should be between the two red bands on the level indicator,

if higher the only problem with this is it might seep out over the top of the tank when the car has settled all the way down to its lowest,

the tank normaly does appear half empty or is that full when lokking in through the filler,

if you have the doseur valve rubber protector cap split you will have a river of citro blood inside the car under the pedel and carpet, and you will also have quite a strong sweet smell, stick you hooter in the top of the hydraulic tank to learn what to sniff for,

regards malcolm

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 16 Dec 2010, 09:00

citronut wrote: stick you hooter in the top of the hydraulic tank to learn what to sniff for,

regards malcolm

Never a truer word spoken

addo · Post by **addo** » 16 Dec 2010, 09:19

Steve, stop posting green fluid pr0n. You can't believe how badly that picture makes me want a new pump.

hobblerian · Post by **hobblerian** » 16 Dec 2010, 11:55

Surely the oil light is relevant to the oil presure not the level.

On my XM I have a level indicator which only operates on initial start up, then there is a warning light on the dash which will light up if its not being pumped round the engine.

Post by **myglaren** » 16 Dec 2010, 18:16

addo wrote:Steve, stop posting green fluid pr0n. You can't believe how badly that picture makes me want a new pump.

What? Like this one:

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 16 Dec 2010, 18:30

the XM does have an low presure warning light for the hydraulic presure as well,
it also does have tyhe tank level indicator, as all propper hydraulic citroens do,

HDI Dave is enquireing about both engine oil warning lamp also the hydraulic level indication on the tank

regards malcolm

hobblerian · Post by **hobblerian** » 16 Dec 2010, 18:46

citronut wrote:the XM does have an low presure warning light for the hydraulic presure as well,
it also does have tyhe tank level indicator, as all propper hydraulic Citroëns do,

HDI Dave is enquireing about both engine oil warning lamp also the hydraulic level indication on the tank

regards malcolm

I'd assumed he'd fixed his stop light issue by topping up his LHM and that was put to bed... No one had seemd to mention much about the engine oil light he was also getting, if this lights up after its running for half hour then its engine oil pressure related, where as he said he had checked level and it was ok and his didn't burn any oil. It could be a failing engine oil pump or blocked strainer. The only engine oil sensor thats been had mentioned so far was about the level indicator not the pressure one.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 16 Dec 2010, 18:59

ok i agree most of the reply's have been centred around the hydralic level indicator,

i think Jim has sudgested it could be a failing oil presure switch,

if it were any other cause he will most likely do internal damage to the engine,

and it would sound clattery,

although it should not be dismissed,

regards malcolm