Davie's french attraction.

[daviemck2006]

Would it do any harm if I were to spray some degreaser or some other chemical down there and then attack it with the power hose to clean it. There's such a filthy mess in there. I would tape plastic bags over the alternator first to protect it. I did see air bubbles in the clear fuel pipe as Zel says he saw when he owned it.

[MikeT]

I cleaned my Xantia engine bay by gunking everywhere then driving to a petrol station and power-hosing it all down with the engine running. I avoided spraying directly on anything electrical and there was no ill-effects.

If you do this, afterwards when it's all dry, I would advise wrapping all suspect parts you can think of (pump, hoses, filter housing, primer bulb etc, etc) with paper towel as that will show any wetting very clearly.

[daviemck2006]

That's a good idea Mike. I'll do that next week. It's nice today but I'm avoiding doing anything as Im working from 4 to 10 so I have to limit myself. Shaun is here with his mate fixing the brakes of Shauns mx5, they both think it could be the fuel pipe from the filter to the pump that's at fault going by it runs along the area where the drip is and the filter being empty after a few weeks inactivity. So first trial will be change that pipe, then clean the area then wrap bits in kitchen roll. Never know that might cure the problem for pennies for a bit of fuel pipe and couple of clips.

[daviemck2006]

There's a new oily mark under Gabby where she is parked. This suggests there's a drip while it's not running. Would a leaky pump drip while not running? Does this point to my theory that the pump is ok and its the pipe from the filter to the pump is leaking, therefore it will be a cheap fix?

Shaun is telling me tonight that his 107 is going to appear home tomorrow. I have filed that information under the believe it when I see it. All I will say is it's about bloody time! I would think it will be out of MOT though, although that shouldn't present much of a problem if he gets it running properly.

[Michel]

That's a good idea Mike. I'll do that next week. It's nice today but I'm avoiding doing anything as Im working from 4 to 10 so I have to limit myself. Shaun is here with his mate fixing the brakes of Shauns mx5, they both think it could be the fuel pipe from the filter to the pump that's at fault going by it runs along the area where the drip is and the filter being empty after a few weeks inactivity. So first trial will be change that pipe, then clean the area then wrap bits in kitchen roll. Never know that might cure the problem for pennies for a bit of fuel pipe and couple of clips.

You might find a gallon of brake cleaner and a brush pretty good and cheaper than gunk Davie.

[Zelandeth]

Carb cleaner is my usual go-to, though that's partly because the stuff I usually use is like a pressure washer in a can. It doesn't half sting if (when) it gets in your eyes though.

She's a 200+K XUD. Just get some degreaser in there and give the engine bay a good seeing to with a pressure washer. Gets done to all my cars a couple of times a year, don't directly blast any electronic stuff at close range and you'll be fine.

Only problem I've ever had was this demonstrating to me that my Fiesta needed new HT leads!

Gabby has a few oil leaks anyhow as you'd expect of an XUD of this age, so I'd really suggest a good degrease before you start really trying to track stuff down or you'll wind up chasing your tail.

Dunno how hard to change the pipe to the pump is - if it's easy maybe just do it anyway, as that eliminates it as a possible cause?

I'm sure I've heard mentioned that these filter housings can leak (ports on the back for something?) - if that's the case I imagine a remote filter probably would be the easiest option.

[daviemck2006]

Can see both ends of the pipe but not the middle so I was going to get a bit of pipe, longer than necessary and just fit it in front instead of where it is now. I'm not worried about minor oil leaks, but want to get a fuel leak stopped. I will be playing with oh next week. I will need Sunday to recover from the two days work, so a couple hours investigating on Monday should be doable, providing the weather plays ball.

[CitroJim]

Agreed on the brake/carb cleaner... Last time I tried Gunk - many years ago now - I found it offensive and it left an oily film behind, perfect for attracting more dirt...

White spirit is also good - as long as you're not allergic to it... Paint it on and blow it off with an air-line

[white exec]

Don't forget there's always bio clothes washing liquid. A generous dose in hot water will shift oil/grease as good as Gunk. Leaves no residue. Even cleans paint-brushes, after just a dab of turps/solvent.
Bio comes with its own hazard, though...

[CitroJim]

Bio washing powder is good for shifting oil stains from concrete driveways too...

I never use it for its intended purpose - my skin hates it

[Michel]

Agreed on the brake/carb cleaner... Last time I tried Gunk - many years ago now - I found it offensive and it left an oily film behind, perfect for attracting more dirt..

I tried Gunk a few times Jim, it never seemed much use at all. Carb cleaner and water or pressure washer works every time. I did the motorcycle with that yesterday. Left it running while I did it just in case.

[van ordinaire]

I used Gunk with some success but, of course, the formula may have change during the intervening decades although even then I'm not sure I didn't prefer Jizer. The great thing about these products is they were water soluble, so once you'd hosed the engine down you could reapply the product to stubborn accumulations on the still wet part.

While I've been following this with some interest because, despite not using or loosing any oil, the C15's engine is a seriously unpleasant thing to work on or around. However, I just don't see how brake cleaner will work, it's too volatile, by the time you'd picked up the lance & turned the pressure washer on, surely it'd all've evapourated?

Bio washing liquid (or powder in solution) I seem to recall Jim recomending for oil stains on drives - but considering it has little effect on greasy stains on clothes I have my doubts.

While we're on that subject, anyone have any thoughts on removing diesel from tarmac?

[Gingerposer]

(trimmed a bit)

While we're on that subject, anyone have any thoughts on removing diesel from tarmac?

My advice would be if it just small quantities, try to blot it with absorbent rags or kitchen roll, some types of cat litter will do a reasonable job too. Main issue is that diesel and petrol will dissolve the tar so any water getting on it will cause the oil to run to the nearest drain - and you really don't want any hydrocarbons getting into the drain.
Soap will mix with the diesel but soap also dissolves the tarmac so you still end up with stuff you don't want in the drains. Water companies will be on your case if this happens and you get caught.
If it's only small amounts, keep blotting it or putting cat litter (or oil absorbent granules if you have access to them) down and collecting it once it has absorbed the diesel. It will unfortunately need doing for some time.
If it's a larger amount, the tarmac may need replaced to remove the contamination.

[van ordinaire]

Thanks, won't waste any more time worrying about that then.

[daviemck2006]

Well it seems that there is nothing wrong with the fuel pump on Gabby. So much for a ex Citroen mechanic at a garage seeing it coming from the pump. Second opinion from a different garage today, injector seals on 1 and 2 leaking and that's my leak and not the pump. Then I went to visit my daughter, and Dan the Scotrail fixing man was on a day off. I just said to him that I have a leak and can you see it. After a few minutes his verdict is there's a slight leak where the fuel pipe goes into the filter, and injector one and 2 are leaking. I said what about the pump? He said bone dry. The idle is slightly erratic but it smoothes out under power. Dan said that's common with injector leaks. So a set of injector seals at £12 and an afternoon should sort it. He says the injectors should come out easily enough on an xud and it won't be to fiddly or difficult a job. So that will be the first plan of attack. Once those are done we should know as soon as it starts again if that's the problem, by the way it idles. Dan said he will do the pump for me if it is necessary, but don't touch it untill every other possible source of leaking is eliminated, as he said as far as he can see the pump is dry too.

Them Dan's next idea is take the engine and gearbox out of Gabby and convert lilpug to an xud turbo manual! A 1.9td 205 with a tweaked pump would be some car, but lilpug is so genuine and sound it won't be it that gets it. And Gabby would only lose her engine and box if the body disintegrated before my eyes, or something flattens it's rear end. Now get a 1.8d na 205 and a xud turbo something else for a donor and then get a great car! I'm not doing it though lol.

On to bigpug. I'm actually coming to the conclusion it's dead. Unbeknown to me the company who remapped it for me was very dodgy. I'm saying was as it does not now exist. I know they took the edu out and then opened it up. What was then done to it I don't know. I think it's highly likely that the edu is fried, or it has fried other bits of the cars electrical systems. I still will put it somewhere to get checked out. Does anyone know if I were to get a used edu can it be programmed to the car via diagbox? I am just basically thinking out loud just now.