Hiya all,
I posted about this ages ago but thought I'd fixed it.
Basically, in the mornings my Xantia would be an absolute pig to start. It would constantly turn over, just about firing but not quite making it, and then eventually bursting into life, running rough for a bit and sending white smoke everywhere. I replaced the glowplugs, and this didn't make a difference.
I then thought about fully charging the battery. I did this, and the next morning - bang, 100% perfect start. It would then be fine for a week, until it would then gradually degrade again often to the point where the car wouldn't start at all due to low battery power. I'd then charge it, and off we go. The battery had a CCA power of something quite low, I think it was about 330a. You guys said that it was woefully underpowered for the Xantia, which I think it probably was.
The problem reduced significantly during the summer, so I didn't bother to do anything about it.
It started up again in early September, so by the beginning of October I decided to throw a nice new powerful battery out of it, and spent £45 on a Varta battery which was the correct one for the Xantia. 530cca I beleive. The difference was huge. It turned over so much faster than the other one did, even when fully charged. I was very happy.
A few days ago, I noticed it didnt quite turn over as fast as before. This was concerning. This morning, it's back to its old habit of being a pig to start and throwing white smoke everywhere when it does eventually start. I have no doubt that a full charge will fix it for a week, and then it'll go back to being naff again.
Any ideas? The time has almost come to sell the Xantia as I'm replacing it (Don't worry, although its replacement is a Mondeo, we are looking for a nice Xantia Estate as well), and I'm sure I can't sell a car which won't start [:(]
Thanks!
Xantia starting problems again
Moderator: RichardW
Sounds like the alternator or its drive belt. I would expect to find the overal car voltage tends towards 11 volts which indicates that one phase of the alternator has failed. Most likely it is one of the rectifier diodes and if you can get one you may be able to change the control unit on your existing alternator. I believe these are about £25 or so.
Often when a diode fails the warning light will come on dimly under heavy electrical load, and sometimes it will pulse very slowly.
Obvioulsy the drive belt should be checked first as should all electrical connections.
Jeremy
Often when a diode fails the warning light will come on dimly under heavy electrical load, and sometimes it will pulse very slowly.
Obvioulsy the drive belt should be checked first as should all electrical connections.
Jeremy
I had the same problems with my 1.9TD'94.
My problem was the fact that the glow plugs kept on glowing (as long as engine runs) which resulted in high energy consumption and thus results in low battery.
After couple of weeks my dynamo even burnt out!
The faulty part was just a temperature sensor for afterglowing.
Hans
My problem was the fact that the glow plugs kept on glowing (as long as engine runs) which resulted in high energy consumption and thus results in low battery.
After couple of weeks my dynamo even burnt out!
The faulty part was just a temperature sensor for afterglowing.
Hans