Xantia - lhm pump removal

[Jaf]

Hi guys. Still chasing lhm leaks. I've changed most of the seals on the pump but of course can't get to the rear or underneath ones. Will the spring/ram at the rear be any trouble if I take the pump off?

Probably just me but I can't work the search on this site. Got 1700 hits for "lhm pump removal".

Thanks!

[Mandrake]

Not sure what you mean by "spring/ram" at the rear ?

Here is a diagram of the 6+2 (anti-sink model) pump and all the possible sources of leaks:



Which ones on this diagram have you done ?

By far the most common source of leak is the black o-rings on the suspension circuit pistons, which is item 1 at the TOP of the picture. There are TWO of these pistons, (only one is shown in the cutaway diagram) one which the left hand steel supply pipe comes out of towards the front of the car, a second one 120 degrees around the pump with a blanking plug - depending on mounting this usually faces nearly straight down, but in line (left/right) with the steel pipe.

The six green o-rings for the power steering pistons (item 1 at the BOTTOM on the image) usually don't leak and I've never been able to remove them - in all likely hood only an impact/rattle gun could get these torx head bolts undone without damaging the pump as they are exceptionally tight.

Leak point 2 is the large o-ring which seals the end cup on the power steering section. There is also a small fibre washer here but if it is damaged it can be scraped off and disposed of - the o-ring by itself should be sufficient.

The seals for 1 and 2 are available form Citroen. 2x small black o-ring, 6x small green o-ring, 1x large black o-ring.

Leak point 5 is the seal under the triangular flange where the three bolts hold the pulley assembly onto the main pump - this seal is not available (from Citroen anyway) but you can improvise with a square section sphere neck seal, which is the right size! (This seal is on the suction side of the pump too, so doesn't hold back high pressure, it only needs to be air tight)

Leak point 4 is the shaft going to the pulley, there is a seal embedded in the triangular end section, however this seal can't be replaced without pressing the pulley off the shaft with a hydraulic press, and I don't know where you would get the correct seal anyway. If it's leaking along the shaft its an engineering shop job or swap for another pump.

Leak point 3 is around the low pressure inlet spigot - which is just pressed into the housing, and can rarely come loose and start leaking. (A few people have had the spigot come right out!) If it's leaking here you might be able to seal it at the base of the spigot with a fillet of high temperature resistant glue but again it might be an engineering shop job to get a permanent fix, or swap the pump.

[citronut]

if you refer to the large spring plunger that goes down the back of the pump, this is not attached to the pump, but to the auto adjusting aux drive belt tenssioner,

[citroenxm]

That ram is the spring tensioner for the aux belt.. it will not be affected as its connected to the pump mounting bracket.

Theres only two bolts to hold the pump on.. one goes through the bottom access to the 6mm allen head through one of the holes in the pully the outher is the shorter upper one.. you need to remove the high pressure pipe securing tags which you have to anyway to get the steel feed pipes out the way..

[addo]

The Torx-headed chamber plugs are readily undone with an impact driver.

[Jaf]

Oops. Thanks guys. That'll teach me to look properly. As far as I can tell it's leaking from the rear size 50 torx plug (possibly the power steering chamber going by your diagram, has a spring in it), the one pointing at about 8 o'clock. And possibly the one at the bottom, but of course leaks drip downwards. Have had to replace 3 other plug seals (5,10, 12 o'clock) one by one over the last year. Never had a problem undoing them by hand. Thought I'd get the pump off and replace all the seals. It's only weeping so not urgent but I like to understand what I'm doing before making a start!

So what's the high pressure pipe securing tag? Sounds suspeciously like armour!!

Do you think I might be better leaving the pump on and just taking the alternator off? Either way the fan belt's going to be changed cos although it's not old I don't think the lhm will have done it any good.

Have just picked up a new seal for the top of the lhm tank so will take the tank off and look again for the leak over that side of the car. Do you know it's the only complaint I have about this car - every rubber seal seems to be failing one by one.

[citronut]

the usual reason the dust seal on top of the tank leaks is if/when the tank is over full,

you could try re/tensioning the tank top securing rod/clamp

[Jaf]

Pretty sure it was overfilled when I bought her, though it's been 7 years since then. I did notice when I cleaned the tank filters in the summer that the clip was put on so that it was tighter than it should be. Ashamed to say that's the first time I've done the filters. If the new seal doesn't work I'll just put the clip how it was. Worth trying for 9Euro.

Again it's a tiny leak but every time I look at the area I get a little clearer on how it all works. I feel such a fool with this car because to me it's so complicated, I was a mechanic but on old fashioned cars.