1998 Boxer 1.9TD Grey smoke and rough idle - checked fuel lines for air, air intake for leaks... still no solution

[mcpop]

I'm now looking at the timing and have found it is off by one tooth, so that's the cause of the problem. It seems crazy, but I cannot for the life of me get the engine mount off, the one which contains the spring for the tensioner. I got this off twice before when doing the timing without a thought but it is solid this time. I have undone five bolts/nuts and have searched for more but that seems to be all there are. Has anyone by any chance got a good end-on picture of this showing all the bolt holes clearly? Both the Russek manual and my online manual have terrible pictures from the angle of someone looking down from the bonnet, which doesn't show the bolt holes clearly. I'm wondering if there's a Haynes manual which shows it, or if anyone has done this and knows how many bolts are holding it on!!

Many thanks in advance...

[CitroJim]

Good that you've found the problem

Yes, there is a very good Haynes Manual covering the XUD engine... Both a Citroen and Peugeot version which are virtually identical bar the cover...

Here's one on Fleabay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404380265138

[mcpop]

Thanks, Jim! I expect the engine is the same but the picture on the cover of the manual seems to show a different engine mount - just the bit I am stuck on - and I don't need it for anything else so I'm going to go on investigating it myself. It's very odd because it's been off before without a moment's trouble.

[mcpop]

Things have moved on, and not in a good way. I have found the cause of the problem, which was that the crankshaft pulley bolt had come loose (despite being tightened very well when I last did the timing), damaging the harmonic balancer (pulley wheel) and the crankshaft gear wheel and upsetting the timing (obviously). The good news is that I don't think there has been any damage to the valves or pistons.

Several mishaps later, including breaking off a drill bit inside the engine in the process of changing the oil seal, removing the sump and successfully retrieving the drill bit end, I am now at the stage of reassembly and have decided that the damaged crankshaft gearwheel simply cannot go back on or it will almost certainly destroy itself again in 100 miles or so.

Getting the pulley wheel was easy but I cannot for the life of me find a replacement crankshaft gearwheel. I've looked in local scrapyards, posted in relevant Facebook groups, tried Breakerlink and Breakeryard, and emailed parts stockists as far away as Ukraine, without a hint of getting one. So, getting desperate now as my motorhome's life depends on it, is it OK to ask here if anyone by ANY CHANCE AT ALL happens to have one of these lying around not fulfilling its purpose in life?

Its Peugeot part no. is 0513 73, and I have uploaded photos to Dropbox at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ej95irmn ... iikz6&dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q8khnjpd ... mzf7v&dl=0. It has 21 teeth and, unlike most of them I've found on eBay, doesn't have a solid core.

If ANYONE happens to have one in good condition that they can part with I would be so grateful and all the gold in my cellar will be yours ....!!

[moizeau]

The one on my 17td got replaced from a 1.9 n/a engine. Both were solid. I can't see it making a difference as long as teeth number and pitch along with dimensions are the same. I've never seen a hollow one.

[mcpop]

I'm leaning towards forgetting about the fact that it's hollow. Trying to get the specs of Part No. 0513A9, which is widely available, has 21 teeth, but looks as though its inner bore may be smaller. I'll keep you posted...

[mcpop]

My saga goes on and on...

I couldn't get a replacement crankshaft gearwheel so I put the old one back. I did what I thought was a very good repair on it, inserting a sliver of steel to fill the gap caused by the damage, and then using Loctite 638 to fix both the gearwheel and the harmonic balancer to the crankshaft. Timing belt seemed to fit perfectly, tense on the fuel pump side with no play in the gearwheel. All good now and off I go on holiday in it, thinks I...

Then... terribly hard to start (was always an excellent starter), with prolonged high speed cranking from strong battery, at first no firing then intermittent firing and eventually starting reluctantly. Once warmish it starts again OK.

Immediately on cold start-up, terrible clatter - sounds like top-end - lasting 2-3 seconds. Really nasty metal on metal noise. Then settles down and runs smoothly with no smoke, no hesitation, just a bit noisier top-end than before (it was always very quiet). Initially I put the awful noise down to momentary oil starvation after oil change (and sump removal to cure leak) but it has now done it after each cold start so that seems unlikely.

Also... installed a new front end crankshaft oil seal - which is leaking like a sieve. Not just a normal little leak but a constant drip leaving a pool after a few minutes running.

So, not really a success.

I was sure that I did the oil seal properly, lubricated with engine oil (nothing else) and pushed in carefully and straight.

So my questions are
- could the crankshaft be wobbling around enough to cause a leak from a new seal or does that seem unlikely?
- what could be causing the bad cold start and noise? Could momentary fuel starvation cause such a noise?

Thanks again in advance - I'm getting desperate!

[BVL]

Is the pcv valve ok ?

[ekjdm14]

Just kinda spitballing, but could the pump timing be too far advanced now? that'd cause a clattery sound & if it's got the electronic cold start advance solenoid then it'd likely be worse for a time before it got deactivated (probably more like a couple of minutes though).

Other options possibly sticking injector/s but less likely IMO.

I hate to be "that guy" (damned vulture!) but if you end up not sorting this engine I'm desperately in need of one to build up for our latest toy, so would be interested if that ends up going spare.

[mcpop]

FINAL UPDATE (I hope)! Got it all together, clatter and hard start solved (just fuel starvation) passed the MOT yesterday, all running smoothly.

Off on holidays now!!!