Leaky HP Pump

[Rhothgar]

Can some 'bod' take a look at this please?

Jim probably holds the answer to this one?

Is this mincemeat or is it easily repairable? I have a spare pump so no big deal but if tweaking that flange nut up can do the job then it will save me taking it off!

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[Mandrake]

Tweaking the nut tighter won't help, it needs new o-rings under the two large hex head bolts. I've just done mine recently. The o-rings are quite cheap and the job is easy if you take the pump off the engine!

[Rhothgar]

Hi Mandrake

It's not actually leaking from the hexagonal blanking plugs so would that make a difference?

[Mandrake]

According to your video it is ? The oil is pulsing around the perimeter of the hex plug. That's where the o-ring is.

Item 1 at the top on the following diagram:



The arrows show all the places a pump can leak from but its most often one or both of the black o-rings under the hex head bolts.

[CitroJim]

Rog, as Simon says. Easy job. Very messy though... Use lots of rags to catch the LHM and be careful of the spring and ball..

Basically, undo the pipe and move out of the way, undo the 19mm hex and renew the O ring on it...

It's Item 5 in the piccy below..

[Mandrake]

Only messy if you forget step 0 - depressurise the hydraulic system eh Jim ?

How do you refit the plug in situ with it on a 45 degree angle ? I would have thought that the spring would lean out of position and not locate properly in the recess in the plug without the pump being rotated for the piston to be vertically up.

Also I would not recommend replacing the one o-ring by itself, the other one which is facing nearly downwards on the car will be about to let go too. For this reason I remove the pump from the car so each piston plug can be reassembled when facing directly up while held in a vice.

Other than on the V6 (where its a nightmare ) getting the pump out isn't really that hard and gives a chance to inspect it for other problems and clean up the mess of oil below it that usually finds its way into the alternator...

[CitroJim]

Only messy if you forget step 0 - depressurise the hydraulic system eh Jim ?

Yes, that's true Simon, very true... I never bother...

Other than on the V6 (where its a nightmare ) getting the pump out isn't really that hard and gives a chance to inspect it for other problems and clean up the mess of oil below it that usually finds its way into the alternator...

Easier on a V6 XM than a V6 Xantia amazingly...

LHM generally is not good for alternators so it is a good idea to give it a good clean if it's got a bit covered in LHM.

[Rhothgar]

Cheers Simon and Jim.

I thought you meant the hex plugs that require Item 4. Simon referred to TWO and they have hex key heads (as in Allen Key). I did say blanking plugs in my first reply so just miscommunication between us all.

Drawings are good (for an architect). I understand them and they leave no doubt.

Brilliant! Nice cheap repair then. At the moment, this 'particular' Xantia is clicking every 4 - 4.8 seconds.

Any idea on torque values for the actually main hex through-bolts? 40lb ft?

[Mandrake]

Cheers Simon and Jim.

I thought you meant the hex plugs that require Item 4. Simon referred to TWO and they have hex key heads (as in Allen Key). I did say blanking plugs in my first reply so just miscommunication between us all.

No I meant hex as in a normal 8 sided bolt head, and yes there are two of them, each with a seal.

The bottom item 1 in my picture is the power steering pistons, (6 of them) they are torx drive not Allen keys, hence your confusion. Fortunately they never seem to leak as it doesn't seem to be possible to undo them with anything less than a rattle gun!

Drawings are good (for an architect). I understand them and they leave no doubt.

Brilliant! Nice cheap repair then. At the moment, this 'particular' Xantia is clicking every 4 - 4.8 seconds.

This leak won't have any bearing on the click rate, you probably just need a new accumulator sphere fitting.

Any idea on torque values for the actually main hex through-bolts? 40lb ft?

No idea sorry, I've never owned a torque wrench...

[Hell Razor5543]

If the accumulator sphere is on its' way out (and the click rate suggests it is, as does Simon), I would also replace the anti-sink sphere as well. This one does not give any indication it is on the way out, other than a pressure test.

[CitroJim]

Torque required is moderately tight Roger. Not stupid tight, not loose, just past 'nipped' up...

In other words, tightened sensibly...

I echo James's comments about accumulator spheres.

Note you’ll need a good 12mm flare nut spanner for the pipe union as they can be silly tight but again they don't need to be. 'Just nipped up' is fine.

[Rhothgar]

Thanks guys again.

I had a sense they were torx but couldn't see them clearly in the vid and couldn't be bothered to wak outside to check that at that time of night. I had had a look on the serivce.citroen site and they do so as allen on there. Memory test failed!

I thought that the accumulator may have gone but if the system is leaking, as it is, would that not allow full and adequate pressure to build up? Hence my thinking that that might kill two birds with one stone.

It's not a problem if it needs an acculumulator. All the other spheres are done so a couple of grey ones from Citroen will complete the setup.

[Hell Razor5543]

Simon suggested the acc sphere first (I did think about it, but was uncertain if the leak would cause the same click, which is why I didn't post it). I just added the bit about the anti-sink sphere as it doesn't tell you it's failing.

Grey spheres?

[addo]

Yes, new ones are grey.

Glad to see the HP source is at stake.

[Mandrake]

I thought that the accumulator may have gone but if the system is leaking, as it is, would that not allow full and adequate pressure to build up? Hence my thinking that that might kill two birds with one stone.

It wouldn't stop the pressure building up unless there was a high pressure stream of oil coming out... However I suspect it might allow ingress of air into the pump on the opposite stroke of the piston.. Since I had my pump out and replaced the seals a month ago the intermitent harsh ride that the car had previously had is largely gone...

Whether it was the seals or whether removing and refitting the rubber inlet hose did the trick I'm not sure, but there is a definite improvement in consistency and quality of the ride.