C5 2.0 Hdi 136 Spill rail grief. (Siemens)

[onthecut]

Punting along the M18 the other evening, became aware I was making a considerable smokescreen for those behind. Nothing untoward on the dash, I wondered if I had a tyre shredding, so pulled over to check. As soon as I stopped, the vapours pouring from under the bonnet were a considerable clue to the location of the issue. Culprit -- a split piece of spill piping between the two middle injectors.

Not having aliens fingers, or any long nose pliers on board, had to wait for a breakdown truck. Despite having told the switchboard exactly what the issue was. he turned up with nothing but some pliers, but did manage to trim the split end and just get reattachment. Naturally, next day replaced them all. Later same day, different motorway, same symptoms. Another look today and first touch on one of the plastic connectors that link the spill pipes and one of the nipples fell off.
Rang the local dealer and still haven't stopped laughing ---- £43.00 plus the dreaded for the four nipples and the pipe !

Did some digging locally and found an interesting variation in response. One company said they didn't do the nipples , but at least pointed me at the dealers; one said they were unobtainable and I would have to have a new injector, as Siemens didn't sell any spares for them. He than added that even if they did, he couldn't be bothered to sell something that small ! Third and finally, another company had stock of metal replacement unions at £3.00 each --- result.

Main point to be aware of is that if you do have a failure, either in the spill piping or on a union, it puts copious amounts of fuel out, so any signs of dampness around the spill piping is well worth investigating and rectifying before it fully lets you down. Unless you are very dextrous, probably quicker to take the injector(s) out if you are changing the nipple. While it is quite feasible to remove the retaining clip in situ, replacing it would be a significant challenge.
If there is liquid fuel lying on top of the head when you take out an injector, it will run down into the cylinder(s). If it's any amount at all, you will need to crank the engine over a few times with the injector(s) out, to expel the liquid from the cylinder. You will need to make some arrangement to divert or catch the fuel that will come up the injector pipes when doing this, or you will simply be pumping more fuel around the place.


Mike.