Xantia 1.9d poor running help please!

[mirafioriman]

I have a 1994 (L) Xantia 1.9d with the lucas pump.

Last week it started to run poorly with intermittent hesitation and lack of power (it's all relative ) I noticed the stop solenoid was faulty at the top where the blue plastic bit is held in place and appeared to be drawing in air so I replaced it. This seemed to fix the issue until today when it started doing it again.

The only other clue I have is after replacing the stop solenoid it seemed to take a while to bleed up. Previously when replacing the fuel filter it bled up dead easy.

Anybody have any ideas?

[Hell Razor5543]

Air is getting into the fuel line somewhere and, based on the fact you replaced the solenoid I would suggest it is prior to the stop solenoid.

[citroenxm]

Two things to look at on these..

is the block damp just below the pump? Look behind the altinator..

secondly the primer built in non return valve could of gone too.. try a new one of those..

if theres damp on the block behind the altinator its a possible chance the pump front seal has gone or is going.. eventually will result in non start or even non running..

the other thing to check.. injector return pipe pipes linking the injectors.. bend them back at the injectors and check for splits..

return pipe on the back of the engine can split to.. its a u shape pipe that can split too..

[CitroJim]

The good thing is that if a Lucas pump is leaking it's dead easy to re-seal... So much easier than a Bosch but then, as we all know, Lucas pumps are far superior

Good thinking on the return pipe Paul Had that happen on an early S1. Devil of a job to replace though

[Peter.N.]

I had a Lucas pump on a BX where the front bearing had actually failed!

Peter

[citroenxm]

Citroen were sensible and im sure all TD xantas used the far more reliable Bosch pump.

im yet to see a 1.9 td xantia with lucas..

[CitroJim]

im yet to see a 1.9 td xantia with lucas..

Nor me Paul, I think only the NA ones had a Lucas....

More's the pity...

[mirafioriman]

Only other thing I've discovered is the fault seems to go away after a good run to get the engine fully warm. Went for a longer run today and it ran perfectly when it was fully warm. It's chucking it down here but when the rain stops I'm going to investigate pipes. As the leak of pipes require a bit of disassembly to check properly I'll probably just replace them to be sure. They feel pretty hard due to age.

Thanks for the ideas of what to check I'll have a look and report back.

[Peter.N.]

If all the glow plugs are OK sounds like low compression on one cylinder, on the XUD engine that's most likely to be caused by lack of valve clearance.

Peter

[citroenxm]

If valve clearences are set correctly its increadbly rare for a 1.9 xud td to close up the valve clearences...

[mirafioriman]

Well got a quick look at it tonight. The good news is that the front of the block behind the alternator is bone dry so hopefully it's not the pump front seal. Can't see any loose or damaged pipes in the engine bay. The hand primer looks good on the outside, but I guess you can't tell whats going on inside. Where's the best place to get one to see if that's to blame?

[myglaren]

Well got a quick look at it tonight. The good news is that the front of the block behind the alternator is bone dry so hopefully it's not the pump front seal. Can't see any loose or damaged pipes in the engine bay. The hand primer looks good on the outside, but I guess you can't tell whats going on inside. Where's the best place to get one to see if that's to blame?

If you are anywhere near a ships chandlers then they have them at a much lower cost than a dealer.

Inland you will be able to get them from sailing/motorboating supplies outlets.

Not to forget the ubiquitous eBay

[mirafioriman]

Right, replaced the bleeding off pipes, primer and all the hose clips in the engine bay. It now primes up much better so I think that was past its best. Still not fixed though. I replaced the pipe from the filter to pump with clear fuel pipe and I can see air bubbles coming pretty regularly down the pipe when it's running poorly so it's definitely drawing air somewhere before the pump.....

[citroenxm]

Have you changed the fuel filter very recently??

Its also known for the fuel filter HOUSING bottom seal to let go. The swap of this requires the housing drain of fuel, filter removed and the bolt inside the filter house removing to get the house off the thermostat housing. A visual may well not be enough to detect a poor seal...

Id be more inclined though to think filter seal on the top...

[mirafioriman]

Not done the filter for a while. I was also wondering what the white bit on the side of the filter housing is and if it can draw air from there