Wayhay broke down 3 times on the way back there

Post by **aerodynamica** » 25 Apr 2012, 20:16

Help! all was well until the power dropped off but it kept going. Then 50mph was all it could do then it slowed and i had to hit the hard shoulder hardish. It cut out.

All electrics off and waited a minute - tried a restart and after a lot of cranking it cought and fired up OK. chanced it and off I went and if appeared to have full power again.

few miles later, same thing but at least I got to my exit. It died at the traffic lights but since I KNEW it would I stopped 4 car lengths before lights (I would have been first at the stop line) to let others past. Same thing; after a short rest it fired up after a good 15-20 seconds of churning. Then It does one more set of lights and I nurse it to my street where it sits happily idling for as long as.

Gave it some welly and no untoward smoke out the exhaust, not overheating and no sounds.

It just passed its MOT first time so is this Karma?

Help if you got it!

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 25 Apr 2012, 20:43

When was the fuel filter last changed? I presume this is your Xantia, not your CX?

Post by **aerodynamica** » 25 Apr 2012, 21:18

Yes Xantia. I changed the filter last October so only 6 m back. It's a metal topped one too.

Update: I've spent the last half hour out with it running and it will idle for a full 4-5 minutes before shuddering and belching out white smoke. Temp seems fine. Using the fuel priming bulb restores it and it'll run for a further 4-5 mins before it repeats.

I think it's the fuel filter housing having a leak.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 25 Apr 2012, 21:34

Air ingress through leaks in the fuel system can cause problems with speed as more air than fuel is pumped through the injectors.
Also a clogged fuel filter will restrict speed.
How many miles have you done in those 6 months? Do you only run on diesel or do you take advantage of being able to run on veg oil?

Post by **aerodynamica** » 25 Apr 2012, 21:43

Lots of miles and it's been used near as dammit every day for 6 months. Not used veg oil yet as I was waiting. Only Diesel. I think I might have located the issue- the white plastic thermostat cap lower down on the filter body: it's oozing out diesel, I had covered it in a cutting from a rubber glove and stretched and secured it in place with a small jubilee clip around the boss but the diesel leaking out has finally perished it after 3 months. It was a temporary repair as someone on here said they'd send my a filter housing but never did! I will now need to get it off to repair/replace.

Post by **aerodynamica** » 26 Apr 2012, 20:06

I bodged the fuel lines around the filter to bipass it. It started instantly ran as smooth as a custard skin and ran like a train. But I bipassed the filter so I could get to work as a desperate measure and chanced the one journey to work. I didn't want to push my luck even with it running like a dream so I got a little clear standard in-line filter to add in to the 8mm section of the piping. It works fine but looks really heath-robinson.
I wonder if it's ok to remove the plastic filter housing to give it the works. I recall reading that when you remove the mounting bolt in side ut then coolant flows out.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 26 Apr 2012, 21:38

It's this air leak that come back to bite you for sure.

My 1.9TD is progressively becoming a 'bee-atch' to start after an overnight or two's lay-up.

I happened to be chatting with a diagnostics chappie today and he says that the fuel filter housing can be warped (over a long period of time obviously), most likely, on a car that does long journeys at lower speeds say 40mpg because of heat build-up in the engine bay. I have read on the forum that they degrade over time also because of the diesel.

He reckoned that if you call any Citroen garage they carry them in stock as standard because it is a common problem.

He also suggested to me to use either red rubber grease on the seal for the fuel filter to the housing or silicone sealant with housing lid partially screwed down onto a bead, bead left to set for a period of time to firm up and then further tightening so that the silicone beads acts like a new gasket - being VERY careful not to allow silicone into the supply.

I was just wondering whether blue Hylomar would do the job as efficiently. It's non-setting and used as a gasket sealant for oil and used in Rolls Royces so it must be good?

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 26 Apr 2012, 21:47

I'd get a new diagnostics chappy Roger, there's an o-ring that should be on the top of the filter which gives a nice tight fit when the lid is nipped up.
Over the years the housing's o-rings harden and so don't seal well enough. There's one between the housing and the heat exchanger, and the main culprit is the one on the thermostat (white thing on the pump side of the housing down near the bottom/back).
IIRC you can remove the housing without losing any coolant, replace the o-ring on the base, and also either silicon seal up the thermostat face after cleaning it thoroughly, or carefully remove it and replace the o-ring.

Post by **aerodynamica** » 26 Apr 2012, 21:58

Thanks for the replies folks. I will remove the filter housing with care so hopefully it'll be fine.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 26 Apr 2012, 22:28

Hi Andy

Hope you're well chap.

The guy was someone who was buying off us B2B so I don't use him. I'd use my mate.

Changed the bottom one. Cost £8.09 from Citroen. Top one as you say comes with filter so that is sound.

What size is the one in the white thermostat housing. I know you've done a few in your time but can you remember how big it is? PS I recently blu-tacked the lower thermostat up - surely that should be good enough for diagnostic purposes?

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 26 Apr 2012, 23:20

I've not needed to replace the thermostat one yet, did replace the bottom one but don't recall it being that expensive! Might be Jim gave me an o-ring from his stash.
Blutack should definitely do the job for diagnostics.
I'd still replace the filter as 6 months is a long time.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 27 Apr 2012, 23:32

I bought a cheap in-line filter and am going to bypass the main filter tomorrow for the smile!

Post by **aerodynamica** » 28 Apr 2012, 20:27

You'll need to make some sort of adapter to deal with the step between the 10mm pipe going to the filter and the 8mm pipe going out.
Here's my Heath-Robinson set up:

crappy photo.
The copper pipe seen between the 10 and 8mm pipes is one I got from the assembly line at work that is 8mm one end and a flared end to 10mm the other. Then the filter, I'm keeping an eye on this to ensure it can cope with the flow of diesel - last thing I want is the filter element breaking up and going into the diesel pump. The priming bulb is now always hard (haha) even first thing in the morning and it starts on the button now.

Post by **Rhothgar** » 29 Apr 2012, 18:15

Here's my effort.

Would anyone like to hazard a guess where the air is getting in as the photo with one filter shows that filter is only half full but at the lowest point between primer bulb and fuel filter housing!

Post by **aerodynamica** » 29 Apr 2012, 18:48

That's a nice, clean engine room you have there. Did you prime the bulb before connecting it at the other end? I did this to get the bubble out: primed slowly so that only a small bit of diesel squished out. If you did this and still there's a bubble in the filter then I suspect it's the fuel priming bulb itself drawing air. I replaced mine with a new one.

How did you solve the 8mm-10mm pipe situation?

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