Right pickle

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Gembo
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Right pickle

Post by Gembo »

Good morning, I'm brand new to this forum and the French car scene and now new to these problems. It all started when I went to change the glows plugs on my Citroen xsara Picasso 1.6hdi DV6 90 Bhp and well you guess it........ they snapped off one even dropped into the clinder !!!! :cry: As much as I tried to fish the end out I couldn't and failed. So I pulled the head off !!! Go me !!! So with every thing put back together I go to turn the key ..... well it's sounded like there was no compression!!! I thought I had got the timing wrong, but I rechecked it and was spot on. The only thing I think I've done is when I put the cam pulley on I noticed it was just pass the timing pin mark, so I just turned it a full turn around in popped the pin back in and didn't hit anything plus the piston were halfway in the bores. So I'm really stuck on what to do please can someone advise.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by xantia_v6 »

I am not very familiar with this engine, but I believe that it has hydraulic valve lifters. If these are all empty of oil, then the valves wont be lifted, and (although it may seem strange) it will seem like there is no compression. I imagine that the only cure is to crank it for a long time to get oil pumped into the lifters.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by ekjdm14 »

EDIT in light of the above post: if it does indeed have hydraulic lifters that have drained while the head was off then cranking much longer until they build oil pressure is the key. Still see the bit in my original post below re: valve clearances. If they're all/mostly massive then it's likely the case as you didn't hit anything when turning the cam (only other cause would be bent valves but fingers crossed its the lifters.

original post below

First thing I'd suggest is double check the starter is engaging and actually spinning the engine, I've heard starters that stuck before sound like the engine had no compression. Other than that, apart from triple checking the timing marks are correct and checking for any wildly out valve clearances I'm thinking it'd be time to whip the head off again and see what's amiss.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by Gembo »

Thanks for Fast reply gents, I did remove the lifters into a container. Although I didn't squeeze the oil out, there was oil in the container from them. Whether that was enough to do it I don't know. I had all the valves out and lapped them all in. looking back I did install the lifters with the hole lined up with the hole in the socket where they sit. (if thats makes any sense). Really am stuck on this one. Don't know if worth checking the timing marks on the cams inside the rocker cover. Although I didn't move the cams that all........
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Re: Right pickle

Post by ekjdm14 »

Well I think cranking it for a while longer (after ensuring the starter is engaging/turning the engine) is probably the first thing to try, since if the timing is out any damage will already have been done on first try. (and in reality if you were smacking valves you'd hear them clicking away if the engine would even turn at all).

If it doesn't improve after a few minutes of cranking over then whip the rocker cover off and see what you have with regards valve clearances. Not sure on the holes lining up but that sounds right to me since the oil needs to be able to get into the lifters.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by Gembo »

Yeah i just took the plastic rocker cover off and as far as i know its all working good under there, i'll try again
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Re: Right pickle

Post by RichardW »

Lighty, who fixes these things for a living, says this is often a problem on these, and he usually has to tow start them after the cams have been out in order to build enough lifter pressure to get the valves to work. Once started the first time they are OK.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by Gembo »

Well,...... she is running !!! After my last post I just went out and cranked it for around 10 seconds .... And she fired up !!! That was a new one for me, one I won't forget. Thank you for all the advice chaps. The car running sweet now with her new head gasket all de-carboned cylinder head, valve stem seals ,new injectors, glow plugs and full service. Cheers Liam
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Re: Right pickle

Post by RichardW »

Nice one - that is some job on a 1.6 HDi!!!
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Re: Right pickle

Post by CitroJim »

Excellent news :D
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Re: Right pickle

Post by ekjdm14 »

Brilliant, glad to hear it (and from Richard's post, this sounds like it was one of the easy ones to start! :o )

That's pretty much my early experience of this forum, coming here with a sinking feeling and wallet trembling only to go away a day or so later with wallet and car intact :) Good work.
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Re: Right pickle

Post by Gembo »

Thank gents, yeah I was getting a bit of a sweat on! Many hours just staring at a 1.6 hdi engine thinking what have I broken!! Still on the bright side a great learning curve and the car is no longer a smoky lumpy start up :-D :-D Oh and I blanked off the EGR valve 8-) 8-)
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Re: Right pickle

Post by EDC5 »

Gembo wrote: 08 Sep 2017, 21:30 Thank gents, yeah I was getting a bit of a sweat on! Many hours just staring at a 1.6 hdi engine thinking what have I broken!! Still on the bright side a great learning curve and the car is no longer a smoky lumpy start up :-D :-D Oh and I blanked off the EGR valve 8-) 8-)


Don't blame you, I had the throttle body off my engine yesterday and there was a thick layer of tar in the manifold. I'll need to give it a good clean soon.
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