Picasso restoration.......a tale of idiocy and citroen fun

[Prote]

So nice to be on Day 2 of no clonking from the front end after the new wishbones 😊

Took long enough to get there - it's had new drop-links, shocks, top mounts, track-rod ends, etc - all the usual culprits for clonking over uneven surfacts - and much cheaper to try. TBH the shocks and mounts were knackered anyway.

The old wishbones were leveraged to death and still no movement - so it was desperation that made me buy two new ones - I couldn't think what else would cause the noise.

Just like @maxxo I'm spending more than the car will ever fetch but my thinking is that, it's a cheap car with reasonable MPG, and me spending a few hundred quid once a year is cheaper and less risky than another newer secondhand car that might also have these issues. Mine is low mileage and rust-free underneath so I suppose I'm lucky to have a well-preserved version to start with.

[maxxo]

26 minutes ago, Prote said:

Hahah. I never doubt mine. I like the spirit of adventure!

If I'm worried about temperature in traffic, I put the aircon on. I think the aircon uses the main fan for cooling, not a separate one, so my theory is that if the aircon is on, it'll make the fan spin a bit. You can hear the fan spinning down when I switch the engine off so it's turning to some extent. Even in the el scorchio days last year in rush hour it never moved past two bars on the gauge... I've heard these run cool anyway...a bloke down the pub told me..

oh the petrols rapidly overheat if the fan fails!

but yes i think the same, always run the air con so the fan doesn't sieze etc and i can know if it fails

mine has never ever gone above 3 bars, the post 03 models run at 3 bars

[maxxo]

locked car today whilst picking up something from marketplace, had to wait a while so had a cigarette whilst stood next to the locked car

noticed the LED in the hazard light button wasn't flashing, of course checked the door which was locked so i thought that was strange

when i unlocked the car (remote still working fine btw) it all seemed okay

turned on ignition and........BONG

no message of course

i noticed on the drive home it hadn't auto locked

so for some reason it had turned autolocking off itself

keeping an eye on this

[maxxo]

Unplugged the MAF sensor to try and see if it would overfuel slightly and would help me narrow down the shit idling when cold

nope, made zero difference and didn't even bring a warning light on

it is getting worse, now at the point where if the car has been left for a couple of hours it idles like crap and continues to even for the first few minutes of cold stop start stuff

develops almost into a misfire when the throttle is touched, kicks out a fair amount of smoke too

next steps:

remove a vacuum line from the EGR so it doesn't activate and see if that makes any difference

plug in lexia and see what is says and check the injectors through there

starting to have some doubts wether the fuel filter was actually changed a few months ago, getting a thorough service at martinet motors next month so not the biggest deal

check vacuum lines and tape up if needed

woryingly i have a bad feeling i've got a dying injector, now i do have a spare set but i absolutely don't want to remove them

[maxxo]

Checked the parameters with lexia today, during the conditons which cause issues

they're all completely different, not sure if that's good or not......don't know what much about high pressure fuel injection systems

see my results below

interesting that the EGR seems to be doing something at a cold idle

[rickvw72]

Injector clamps rattle loose on these I find. Can pop the sealing washers too. Try spraying some carb cleaner round the injector seats with it running, just a bit. The engine note will change with a leak.

[maxxo]

25 minutes ago, rickvw72 said:

Injector clamps rattle loose on these I find. Can pop the sealing washers too. Try spraying some carb cleaner round the injector seats with it running, just a bit. The engine note will change with a leak.

injectors are completely bone dry, no fume smell either under the bonnet or in the cabin and fuel economy is about where i would expect it to be

quite perplexed by this, from what i've been reading online tonight this could be a whole lot worse than i was expecting

[rickvw72]

Can you leak off test your injectors?. Pressure looks right, so I’d rule out high pressure pump. 

[bezzabsa]

how easy/hard is it to blank the EGR on the 2.0 dizzel????

[maxxo]

53 minutes ago, rickvw72 said:

Can you leak off test your injectors?. Pressure looks right, so I’d rule out high pressure pump. 

not doing it, as bad as this is to say i've spent enough on this car as it is

i have a spare set of injectors but don't want to replace them

fancy a change anyway so i reckon in feb this will be for sale

[maxxo]

40 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

how easy/hard is it to blank the EGR on the 2.0 dizzel????

remove one of the vacuum lines from it, will bring the engine light on but will let you know if it's worth doing and for test purposes etc

[rickvw72]

Blanking the egr will stop it moving, if it’s gummed up or stuck it’ll just stay where it is, regardless.
Pretty bombproof these normally engine wise. Probably easiest common rail injectors to pull out too. I wouldn’t worry hugely should you test them and need to replace one.

 

[maxxo]

testing out some additives tomorrow to see if they're just clogged up.......

don't see how because i thrash it frequently when warmed up

i am tempted to wack the spare injectors in and see if that makes any difference

[mercedade]

Does it just have a lumpy, diesel idle when cold, but fine the rest of the time?

[maxxo]

23 hours ago, mercedade said:

Does it just have a lumpy, diesel idle when cold, but fine the rest of the time?

yes, but more lumpy than i'd expect

as i say i believe it needs 3 replacement injectors, which i do have but don't really want to replace until it's absolutely essential

[mercedade]

I'd be looking at glow plugs long before I started thinking about injectors.

Injectors would manifest more obviously than a cold lumpy idle I'd have thought.

[maxxo]

I had considered that until i checked the readings from the injectors in lexia

i do have a spare set of injectors, wether i fit them or not is another matter

[maxxo]

Did some quick cleanage today

came out quite well actually, ended up actually polishing the car too! ultra sheen etc....

enjoy the seemingly abandoned rover 110 and ford prefect.......been there for years now

also ignore all my crap in the boot

also cleaned the sills inside of the doors! yes, i put actual effort into this

whilst cleaning i also discovered the source of a knocking noise i have been experiencing over speed bumps etc

don't know how the hell this has happened, i can only assume the crappy french plastic wheel arch liners which i know are broken have shifted over slightly

not too bothered can't see it causing any harm really

otherwise, uneven lumpy idle is back, not as bad as it was......redex as i say did solve it for a week or so

i plan on selling this car in the coming months, if anyone on here is interested? i'd ideally want £350 for it

got a spare fuel rail and injectors (not known if they work), refurbished power steering pump, spare front shocks, and a few other things i can't remeber

will be fitting the rear shocks before sale, as well as giving it a service

we are on 112,300 miles now, almost done 30,000 miles since i got this car and it's been really quite good

[Ben_O]

Wow £350?

Is it not worth a fair bit more than that, especially with all the work you have done?

[maxxo]

3 minutes ago, Ben_O said:

Wow £350?

Is it not worth a fair bit more than that, especially with all the work you have done?

I feel bad asking for me, considering the fact i know it needs injectors at some point, as well as brake pipes and engine mounts and i really want it to go to a good home

[mercedade]

Seems cheap to me too, but whereabouts are you?

[maxxo]

Middlesbrough, ooooop north not too far from sunderland

no issues meeting half way etc

[purplebargeken]

Shame to sell it as you have put so much effort and care into it but sometimes.................

[Dick Longbridge]

Don't do it fella. You've bust your ass on this car, and while it's not my cup of tea, it's blatantly a much-loved motor with plenty of life left in it yet. 

£350 in your pocket is going to buy you nothing. Better the devil you know, or at least double the price - can't see it's worth a penny less than £700 on a bad day covered in salt and needing a full valet. 

[Ben_O]

What he said

[beko1987]

Sounds like you want less of the fancy citroen mechanics and more of someone who knows a 2.0hdi inside out. 

Ask on your local fb group, might be an old school taxi place that's seen thousands and knows them inside out. 

Some bloke had his taxi 2.0hdi swapped for a better one as if I was making a sandwich so it's out there. 

[maxxo]

3 hours ago, purplebargeken said:

Shame to sell it as you have put so much effort and care into it but sometimes.................

rapidly running out of time to be able to find the ideal C5.......

also quite fancy a change tbh

[loserone]

Haz u gotten C5 yet?

[Out Run]

23 minutes ago, loserone said:

Haz u gotten C5 yet?

@maxxo slipped on LHM when running from an electrical fire. Maybe.

[stuboy]

On 12/24/2020 at 1:45 AM, maxxo said:

time to be able to find the ideal C5.......