Xantia HDi Turbo?? Smoky and Limp Home

[citroenxm]

Its Ok Jim, its just REALLY GOOD to see you posting here... your input is really missed...

Indeed so....... GROUPHUG

no?

oh ok

DEFO......

[CitroJim]

Its Ok Jim, its just REALLY GOOD to see you posting here... your input is really missed...

Thanks Paul (and Chris of course) That's really special and very appreciated

There's a grouphug smiley available but I don't see one on the FCF. I expect Xac will soon fix that though...

[olliewarwick1]

It's a 110 HDi. I've had a quick look around the pipes etc but if I'm being completely honest I'm not sure what I'm looking at however, I cannot see any obvious leaks. That said, it has always appeared damp/oily behind the engine over the hydraulic pipes directly behind (what I think is) the EGR valve. But not being out of the norm I'm not sure if that's anything to go by, I just assumed I'd split some oil but maybe a more thorough look is required.

I will attempt to remove the EGR valve tonight to see if I can free it up a bit and check the pipes more thoroughly. I may take you up on the offer of a replacement though.

Well that's what I've read, apparently these cars just keep going on and on, plus I've just added an electric leather interior so it's even more comfy now.

Thanks,
Ollie

[CitroJim]

Olle, the turbo hoses are in four parts. Underneath the car on the turbo outlet you’ll see a short stub hose that links to the plastic hose that runs under the engine between the engine and gearbox. This can get holed if the under-tray is missing and the car grounds. Next. connected to the other end of the plastic hose is a rubber hose that goes to the hot side of the intercooler. Then from the cold side of the intercooler is another rubber hose that goes to the inlet manifold running parallel to the air-box as it does. Inspect all these pipes very carefully for splits and tight connections. If you see any oil at all on any of them, clean them up and then inspect again after a few miles. The oily patch will re-appear if they are split.

My old HDi had splits in all but the plastic pipe and the last split in the cold to manifold pipe was an absolute swine to find, It was only visible if the pipe was bent back on itself.

The intercooler is a bit harder to check as it's sandwiched between the coolant rad and aircon condenser. The coolant rad can be unclipped and gently eased forward to expose the intercooler which in turn can be tilted to expose both sides. Again, any oily patches on it suggests a leak.

Lastly, if the EGR and wastegate electrovalves don't sort it and you can find no boost leaks anywhere, make sure the MAF sensor is good as it can cause a similar issue. Short of swapping it with a known good one the only way to check it is by use of Lexia Diagnostics reading live engine data.

[olliewarwick1]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for all that, I will have a good close look tonight. Last night I didn't get chance to remove the EGR valve although, when I put my finger in I could push it up and it sprung back down freely and firmly which suggests that it may not be seized. I gave it a good squirt of WD40 just in case. Also, today I popped in to my friendly mechanic and he put it on his machine and he gave me three codes as follows, with his descriptions
P0403 - EGR Valve
P0243 - Turbo Solenoid
P1112 - Fuel Rail Pressure
Now, I'm no mechanic however, these look to be two faults? (my mechanic agreed but also said that he wasn't a diesel expert and didn't have the time to work on the car)
I will remove those hoses and check, plus order a new electrovalve and see if that make any difference.
Thanks again for all help given, it is very much appreciated.
Ollie

[olliewarwick1]

Hi All again,
I removed all of the pipes and cleaned them all up. I found a split on the pipe on top of the engine on the bottom which is why I missed it when I was looking before. So I cleaned it up and taped it up with duct tape, not really expecting it to hold for long but hopefully long enough to see if it's the problem. Took it for a blast and the boost is back! It's still pretty smokey but I guess that could be my dodgy patch up job.

I do still think there could be an issue with one of the electrovalves (could also be causing the smoke mentioned above) because the symptoms did slightly change when I swapped them so I will replace those in due course.

Anyway, thanks for your help. You all mentioned a split in the pipes so hats off to you. I owe you all a beer if we ever meet.

Ollie

[citroenxm]

Hi..

No the smoke should clear up after a bit of a blast.. its just the excess unburnt fuel soot in the exhaust system after too much fuel for too little are issues...

Nice one.. We had a feeling there was a split, but not actually being with the car doesnt always make it easy...

The EGR fault and Turbo solinoid fault is the fact I asked you to swap the TWO valves over. This is sugesting then that One of the elsectro valves IS faulty.. The faulty one is now connected to the EGR vaccumm pipe. So fitting two new valves should fix those problems. Sugestion: Keep the one that on the Turbo Vaccum pipe as you know it is working. Keep it as a spare!

Paul

[olliewarwick1]

The smoke has cleared up, and in fact I think it's got more pull and less smoke than normal so maybe it's been an issue for a while, so another well done Paul. I'll replace the electrovalves when I next do some service work on the car. I went to Citroen to see how much the replacement pipe was and they quoted £130!!!! I appreciate it's a high pressure pipe but even so, at least muggers have the courtesy to put a balaclava on so you can spot them!
Does anyone have a spare pipe they wouldn't mind selling to me? It's the that goes from the intercooler on teh left hand side over the top of the engine on to the top of the turbo. I did enquire at Euro Car Parts as well but I've not had the best experience with them, plus they don't sell that part.
Many thanks,
Ollie

[CitroJim]

Welcome to the bizarre world of Citroen spares pricing Ollie. They use a random number generator

Good luck on finding them; few 110 HDi cars get broken as yet

As an aside, I repaired one with good quality duck tape and it lasted ages and ages. When it goes, just replace it with some more tape!

[Old-Guy]

I can recommend 'Gorilla' brand duct tape - incredibly sticky and really strong without being impossible to tear. I keep a roll in the car for emergencies.