ZX 1.9td - Farewell faithfull steed!

[beko1987]

Beko, I take it you're aware of these links for tuning a Bosch-pumped XUD.

 

Our Peugeot Diesel - Part 1 - The Exhaust

Our Peugeot Diesel - Part 2 - The Intake

Our Peugeot Diesel - Part 3 - Fuelling Adjustment

Our Peugeot Diesel - Part 4 - Boost and the Injection System

Our Peugeot Diesel - Part 5 - Final Tuning of the Injection System

 

The turbo is an arse to get to, but the bits you can do with the injection pump are easy and make the car nicer to drive.

 

Also, it's never too cold for vegetable oil - I ran my 405 TD estate on a veg/petrol mix in the winter of 2009/2010 where temperatures were below -20C.

Interesting reading! But, I want someone/a group of people who know what these engines should sound like normally! I could go twiddling screws with some basic knowledge, but if someone who knows by the change in sound what's going on had a look over, it would be much better

 

[Lacquer Peel]

It's hard to go wrong with it.

[beko1987]

I'll get her running right as she is first. The new exhaust should help, and at least stop all the random background noise so I can hear the car again, rather than just the exhaust droning against the body!

[beko1987]

Well, yesterday I got the exhaust fitted! Having done the job 3 times before it didn't take long, and soon I had the old one laying next to the new one

 

 

The new one went on a treat, and I used my new fixing fit to secure it, which resulted in a much better fitment. Also, top tip is to sellotape all the bits together, poke that onto the bolt (the bolt puncturing the sellotape holds it all on) then wind the nut on! The exhaust cant get too hot as the tape from back in August when I last did it was still very much there!

 

The exhaust also fits to the backbox correctly, and the backbox now doesnt sit at a funny angle. I could fit and bolt the clamp on one handed, before this required me to lay under the car and bearhug the exhaust and backbox together.

 

Job jobbed, ALL TEH NOIZE HAZ GONE! I went to the tip on Sunday, in blissful silence! No more banging as I lift off to drop a gear to turn a corner, no more suicide rattle when cruising at 45 in 5th, no banging as I lift off a bit at speed (basically ANY engine movement was heard via the exhaust.)

 

Whilst at the tip, I threw the old exhaust in the scrap skip, and also binned the cat part I bought in error last year, had a clearout from behind the shed, even asked the elderly neighbors next door if they had anything as they were out in their garden, got some chairs and an old washing airer gone for them

 

 

I reckon my random drone is the front brakes. Whilst under the car dodging the oily crap falling into my eyes as I hugged the front crossmember to get at the exhaust bolts, the driver side disc inner is worn to the shape of the brake pads... I wanted to get new discs and pads up front as the pads that came with the car (and branded citroen) have not worn at all, still haven't, I've done nearly 25k... Looking like I will be poor for the forseeable though so it may be front discs and pads first, then rears (which also really need doing due to much worn ness). There's also a wheel wobble braking at speed, which I reckon is linked.

 

I appeared to have my throttle cable fitted incorrectly though. I fitted it so the cable was taught, and the throttle linkage was held off the stall stop by a few mm, but the pedal had no slop at all. This made the car feel less responsive. So yesterday, I adjusted it back to where it's been before, with a bit of slack, and 2-3mm of slop in the pedal. Much better, she boosts a bit now!

[beko1987]

O yea, what was really fun was throwing my mates old octavia brake discs through that bbq that's front-right of the shot. A massive lob made it fold the BBQ in half.

 

Shame there wasn't a toilet or sink in there...

[Lacquer Peel]

Was the old exhaust just a bad pattern part?

[beko1987]

Old exhaust was a D, which I had the TD engine end/run of pipe welded to it. But we got the angle wrong, so the run wasn't straight, and the centre silencer caught on the transmission tunnel.

 

Worked for 6 months though, and passed the MOT with flying colours cos it was better than the old one

[beko1987]

Right, she is now lovely and silent*, however, I have not failed to notice that she is running like crap...

 

Symptoms:

 

Heavy steering, especially heavy when turning right

No 'go'. She always used to be quite nippy, but not so much now. Turbo still kicks in, I can hear it

Sounding 'louder' on idle and above 2.5k (60mph) there is a drone that increases with speed up until about 3k when it goes

When in 5th, and accelerating or foot on to keep the speed, if I push 5th u pa bit on the gearknob, it's proper vibratey, and moves with the engine if that makes sense. Lift off, silky smooth again (drone still there though)

 

What are the top 3 things I should look at?

[themildbunch]

Sorry if it's an obvious one but have you changed the fuel filter recently? Veg / Bio can really remove crap in the system pre filter and cause it to block - sometimes much that it'll just grind to a halt when pushing up a hill...

[beko1987]

Yep, the fuel filter is a month old, changed when I had veg issues. Reckon it's pushed that much crap through again running on derv? It's on the flat too, not just uphill

[Lacquer Peel]

I'd swap the fuel filter again, I think you have a spare. Is the power steering belt ok? Maybe the rack is buggered, your car has covered a lot of miles.

[beko1987]

I might try a new filter now, one landed on my desk this morning!

 

I'm wondering if the aux belt is failing? The volts move up and down from 13.7v up to 14.4, they used to be smack on 14.4 at all times with nothing electrical really on. There's also a slight squeak at times (when cold and damp usually) when I steer sharply, which goes after a bit, and the steering almost seems better at low revs than high, highter the revs, the harder the steering is. How easy is an aux belt to change? And is the Aux belt what I need to change, or is there a seperate PS belt?

 

The rack could indeed be bollocked. Any symptoms to look out for /checks to be done? It's done 286k, so I wouldn't hold it against it too much if it had. How much are new second hand racks?

[Lacquer Peel]

I'm not sure about the belt, it was a serpentine belt on my 405 TDs but it could be separate belts on your ZX.

It's easy to change with a few different tensioner setups but access is tight on these cars.

Not sure how to check the rack properly, I've never changed one.

[Supernaut]

Check boost pipes. Sounds like one of them is leaking / loose. With regards to you hearing the turbo but feeling no 'go'.

 

By boost pipes, I mean everything pressurised by the turbo, so basically the pipe running up from the turbo into the intercooler. Ooh, also a classic on the XUD engines is the 'D-seal'. That's the little D-shaped seal between the intercooler and the intake manifold.

[twosmoke300]

Surely it would be easier to go and look at the car to see if the Pas belt was seperate or loose? 

[alf892]

Poor performance after new exhaust?

 

Maybe a restriction in new exhaust due to poor construction........or a pie/dead body/something fell in there whilst in storage?

[beko1987]

The aux belt seems to just be one belt, unless I'm missing something? I have tried twisting the belt, and it seems nice and tight, but I know this isn't foolproof.

 

I'll have a look at the various pipes and see. The whole engine bay is an oily mess, she is leaking oil from somewhere (up at the top rear of the block I think, but it doesnt seem to be the rocker cover, although thats on my list of things to look at). I'll have a look at the D seal (seen that before when I've had the intercooler off for a poke about years ago) and the big boost pipe.

[beko1987]

Poor performance after new exhaust?

 

Maybe a restriction in new exhaust due to poor construction........or a pie/dead body/something fell in there whilst in storage?

Nah, it was running crap before, I just ignored it incase the old exhaust was the issue, it was alot more narrower than the current one. Not seen any cooked pies come out so far

[beko1987]

Just looking for ideas really, have tomorrow afternoon off, and might have a few hours spare Sunday etc...

 

I did notice that one of the bolts that holds the rack on wasn't sitting flush with the assembly, but wasn't finger loose (really should have tightened it up whilst I was laid next to it really...) Couldn't move the rack but then it was up on the ramps at the front with bits of broken paving slab wedged under the rear wheels so didn't fuck about wobbling it toooooo much...

[Lacquer Peel]

Buggered PAS pump contributing to alternator voltage fluctuations and the squeaky belt?

It probably is the one belt.

[beko1987]

Would the PAS pump cause a light drone at speed?

[KruJoe]

All one belt (multi-v type) I think.

PAS fluid level ok? Or leaking... onto the belt? Belt clean and dry?

 

If you set about changing it, make sure you know how the tensioner works. Weird one on this 306, three allen bolts to slacken, one hidden.

[beko1987]

One of the pulleys (that sits on the 'smooth side' of the belt) is a bit greasy, might be dropped fluid, or a leak.

 

Suppose the best way to check is to have it off, I'll consult the HBOL and see

[hairnet]

Buy my civic

[themildbunch]

Check boost pipes. Sounds like one of them is leaking / loose. With regards to you hearing the turbo but feeling no 'go'.

 

By boost pipes, I mean everything pressurised by the turbo, so basically the pipe running up from the turbo into the intercooler. Ooh, also a classic on the XUD engines is the 'D-seal'. That's the little D-shaped seal between the intercooler and the intake manifold.

 

Yes, that's good advice - the D seal is always soaked in oil and once taken out it'll never fit back in again unless you snip it... Still available though on eBay - about £3 posted of something... Often the jubilee clips holding the hoses onto the turbo slip - in fact if you can hear the turbo quite loudly this might be what's happened... kind of a pain to get to - might need to take the intercooler and top engine mount off and pull the engine forward a bit held by a jack under the sump.

[Supernaut]

Yes, that's good advice - the D seal is always soaked in oil and once taken out it'll never fit back in again unless you snip it... Still available though on eBay - about £3 posted of something... Often the jubilee clips holding the hoses onto the turbo slip - in fact if you can hear the turbo quite loudly this might be what's happened... kind of a pain to get to - might need to take the intercooler and top engine mount off and pull the engine forward a bit held by a jack under the sump.

Heh. I could hear the turbo on my first 306 quite loudly. It still boosted very nicely though. That may have been to do with me fitting a '94 model downpipe (no DPF!). Bloody thing sounded like an HGV from the outside.

[beko1987]

Well, yesterday myself and Eva went to my mums. I could have investigated the drone, or something else more productive, but I gave it a good vacuum out cos it was a skip, can't quite remember when it was last cleaned inside

 

 

 

it was a bit of a skip. First thing was to fire up the wet vac and dry the carpets out

 

 

 

This is the cleanest footwell of the whole car!

 

 

Was a bit damp under the front carpet too, but with the sound deadening removed it just sits there, not coming through the carpet

 

 

Luckily I left access easy to pull it up and dry out underneath

 

 

Up here does seem a bit damp

 

 

Sadly I seem to have chopped the cable for the seat belt pre tensioner, must crimp that back together at some point. Took the connector off and tucked the wire up out the way to avoid any further damage

 

 

Decided to empty the glove box out, and tidy it up as the shit in it rattles when the clutch is in a certain position

 

 

Centre console was a bit baccy-tastic

 

 

Radio was dusty

 

 

I do roll far too many rollies whilst sat in traffic...

 

 

However a good going over with Henry sorted it out

 

 

These seats are pain, as the covers pull around with the suction, and there's so many nooks and crannies. One full of tiny tree bits from when I parked too close to a bush the other week...

 

 

Rear bench was covered in the remains of the last tip run I did

 

 

More hot hoover action

 

 

Behind the drivers seat was terrible. Remains of a Goblin gulper tool were found, and my scraper went back in the boot hopefully for the rest of the year now

 

 

However, a quick flick of my magic fairy wand

 

 

 

and it was clean again!

 

 

Dyson spot brush and the scabbard tool from a Hoover Dustmanager proved ace for the task

 

 

However, the drivers footwell see's the bulk of the crap, it's getting very ingrained too

 

 

 

Some considerable time later

 

 

 

and it all looked much much better. Dashboard got a good vac with a Dyson dusting brush

 

 

Shitty fleece and work lunchbag carefully positioned on the back seat as always

 

 

Mileage quoted for prosperity

 

 

Console tidied up

 

 

Radio hidden away just because (probably the third time I've ever done this tbh)

 

One of the main reasons for doing this was I won a competition the other week, and won some samples of Poorboys World air fresheners, not yet released, posted from 'murica. I got BubbleGum and Locker Room. I chose Locker room, it smells nice and fresh/clinical

 

 

Liberally sprayed that over everything, I can say that it still smells nice

 

 

I then had some lunch, and moved onto my parents car, which after some OMGCHAOS with a clematis on the way back from the garden centre needed a vac out too

 

 

I lolled at the shitty drivers mat, which has only travelled this far

 

 

and employed some slave labour to finish the rest

 

 

And done. Nothing productive or essential done, but it is a nicer place to be now! For about 2 weeks, when it will be back to how it was... Didn't do the boot, cos that's full of shit! And, luckily it fucking tipped it down the whole way home tonight so she looks a bit cleaner outside too. Time to swap the wheels around though, can feel the fronts start to hit the water in bad patches. Best get those swapped whilst their still fit to go on the rear

[beko1987]

So, after the chap with the blocked Dyson eventually turned up, I got on with what I had planned for today, which is have the wheels off and see if anything is amiss and making the drone at 50mph, and to swap the wheels back to front.

 

So, front passenger side off first

 

 

Discs look a bit smeggy

 

 

And the pads which have not worn in the entire time I've owned the car are starting to eat into the discs

 

 

 

Plenty of meat, but I'm suspicious of this...

 

But nothing to suggest anything too bad, and it brakes fine, so I jacked the rear up and took it's wheel off

 

 

I just dug the email out from when I bought these, June 2015, so only 9 months to wear down to this. Methinks the rubber is a bit soft...

 

 

Front wheel on, I had a look at the rear just because 

 

 

The rears are proper tired, but there's still some meat on the pads, and they worked fine on the MOT, the red bars on the brake test were even and true

 

 

Not lipped either

 

 

but due for replacement this year (I put it off last year)

 

One thing I noticed when looking at the front was the drivers side CV joint boot looks like this

 

 

but the passenger side looks like this

 

 

Is this a problem?

 

Also underneath, I note some oil where it should not be

 

 

Either way, passenger side done, drivers side now

 

 

Same story on this side, rock hard unwearing pads eating away at the discs slowly

 

 

Not quite as much of a lip though

 

 

More oilyness. It doesn't drip onto the road (well it does, over 2 years where I park is a bit oily, but day to day nothing. I probably should start to work out where it's coming from though, seems to be inbetween the engine and gearbox...

 

 

Drivers side front wasn't as worn as the passenger side, the tracking must have not been out as much

 

 

Grebby rear bits

 

 

The last thing I did was spray some grease over the steering UJ, as reading lots of forum posts (mainly for Xantia's which is not much help here) saying it can dry out and cause issues. I sprayed it and hoped for the best.

 

After a test drive to amy's sisters after this, the steering is still quite heavy, the noise is still there but the steering feels a bit more 'precise'. It's odd to describe, when wobbling the wheel side to side at speed, I can feel it alot more than I could. I also got shitted up by a bloody bike, coming down the road, 2 bikes appear behind me. I'm going quite slow by now, as I'm approaching a junction, and remembering SF15 when a bike did this then came alongside me, when he suddenly hung back and started weaving over the road. I'm sure he was flashing too, but it could have just been his lights pivoting with the bike. Either way, radio off, and I was 1/4 miles away from my destination so kept going, nothing felt odd, all looked ok when I stopped but FFS I thought the bike was trying to tell me something. He pulled into the shit pub by Breadvans so I'll never know!

 

 

So stupid car is still no better, but at least the brakes are good enough to be put off for a bit. They all need doing, but not immediately, there's only a tiny wobble braking from speed, and as tested when an Insignia braked so hard infront of my coming home from work one night his brake lights did the fast flashing thing moderns do, and I pulled up fine behind him (there may have been a little clench at the end) they will do for now.

 

Wonder if that oil leak is causing the drone?

[Lacquer Peel]

XUDs leak a bit of oil, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Is it definitely not a bearing?

[beko1987]

Ah thats good then, Ill leave it! It never wants topping up so its either not leaking from the engine or not leaking much at all.

 

It could be a bearing, I didnt have the discs and calipers off to rotate the hub though so could not say. It starts to drone at 50, and tails off at 75/80. Doesnt sound different if I throw it aroubd corners, and the other day I stuck at 55 in 4th and it made the same drone as in 5th, so hopefully its not the gearbox.

 

Which bearings shit themselves usually?