1995 2.1td SX Auto Project

[Dieselman]

Quite a tale, shows how important it is to thoroughly check everything before submitting for an MOT.

For the locked car couldn't you have pried out the top of the door and used a wire to open it?

The cam cover gasket could well be the oil leak, they really do leak badly from there all down the back of the engine, due to the engine being canted back 30 degrees, so the gasket is below the liquid line.
The loose boost pipe could also be blowing oil out, so you may have fixed that bit.

Ignoring a crank seal leak, a less obvious oil leak can be the O ring at the base of the filler unit and also the breather pipe at the base to the crank-case.
If there is oil on the front of the crank-case under the starter motor it is likely to be one of these.
The O ring is 17.8*22.8. but you won't be able to readily obtain one, so use 18*23 and a smear of silicone. Citroen P/n 1170 17
Vapour hose is 1192 48.

For the Lhm leak clean down and have a look. It could be the steering power ram, but I think that's unlikely. The rotary valve would be more likely, but that's Rhs.
Your leak is directly under the reservoir so possibly just spillage, or a split return hose.
It could also be the return hose from the front height corrector. The rubber elbow is known to split and the fluid runs to where your drips are.

You would be well advised to give the engine bay a wash to readily see where any fluid is leaking from.
Perhaps slow down a bit and be more thorough. Rushing for an MOT on a neglected car is likely to just lead to wasted time and money. Having abandoned two tests, the tester is now going to be very alert to any issues.

You are going through the usual issues of resurrecting a neglected Xm. Once fixed they will stay fixed.

[josh2109]

I should have picked up the loose hoses, but in my defence the car never leaked any oil, coolant or LHM (bar the one rear line bursting) in the months I've been working on it in the driveway. I had a (false) sense of confidence due to how clean the driveway had remained underneath the car in all that time. I think all of those leaks manifested themselves as a result of a decent drive and getting the engine quite hot, which just isn't possible on my driveway without leaving the car idling for a long time or holding the throttle down and driving my neighbours mad.

I don't have any pry tools that wouldn't have damaged the paint on the door, and I had the glass at hand so it was the preferable option for me at the time.

I'm praying it's not the crank seal otherwise that will probably conclude this project for the foreseeable, as I will have to focus on other quick wins in the collection instead.

I'll check the areas that you suggest, from memory though the front of the block isn't too bad. I did give the engine bay a wash about a week or so ago, but it was mostly just a blast over with soap and the pressure washer - I didn't break out the degreaser or brushes.

I'll take a closer look at the LHM return lines too, if it's just one of those split then that's preferable to anything more severe.

I get your point RE the timescale of the MOT, but as mentioned previously I am at a point where I need to decide if I carry on throwing time and money at this car or if I cut my losses, push it down the list and crack on with something else.

[gwolfski]

Hey, a lada!

The PCV on mine is covered in oil too - seems to be common.

[josh2109]

I did some more work on the car today.

The main headline is that I've cancelled the MOT, as I've found an area of the front sill that I want to patch.

I've replaced the valve cover gasket:















Upon inspection from below, I'm certain that the bulk of the leak was oil dripping down the inlet hose that wasn't connected after the PCV. The valve cover gasket was then also contributing a drip. All of this appears to have been dripping onto the gearbox and intermediate driveshaft, resulting in the drip I could see. I'm fairly confident that is sorted now. In the photo you can see how much oil was leaking down the underneath of the inlet pipe. I've since cleaned that up.



The LHM leak is much less obvious. There's a film of LHM everywhere in the area. It starts above the subframe, spreads over it and even tracks down the wishbone on the nearside.









I'll have to try and degrease it, but it's not a pleasant place to work with solvents.

The lines to/from the LHM reservoir look ok to my untrained eye:











I can't tell you how desperately I want to have this car finished and MOT'd, it's been a slog

[josh2109]

Hey, a lada!

I was using it as my daily for some time, as it's proven itself reliable. However, I couldn't ignore the holes in the floor anymore so she's laid up until I weld the floor pan. I'm changing the clutch at the same time, as the pressure plate failed. It's all apart, and needs to go back together so I can have the space back on the driveway, and my nice cheap commuter car back!



I also have a ZAZ 968 and a Zastava 311, amongst many other things sat in the project pile!





Sometimes I wonder why I do it to myself

[gwolfski]

Those are some nice cars! I've got two Nivas that I can hopefully assemble one good one from.

[Dieselman]

The LHM leak is much less obvious. There's a film of LHM everywhere in the area. It starts above the subframe, spreads over it and even tracks down the wishbone on the nearside.



I'll have to try and degrease it, but it's not a pleasant place to work with solvents.

That power steering high pressure union looks suspiciously wet. Easiest reached via the passenger side wheel housing.
The union is a standard DIN fitting, no seal.

Spray cleaner down from above and also from underneath if on ramps, then jet off.

The reservoir and return hoses appear dry.

Your ZAZ968 looks like a rebodied Skoda Prinz.
You appear to have a passion for Soviet steel.

[josh2109]

I've chucked a tin of degreaser over the area this eve, then pressure washed it.















Hopefully now I'll be able to see where the LHM is potentially leaking from!

I also notice that the steering rack boot has a split, just for good measure...

Your ZAZ968 looks like a rebodied Skoda Prinz.
You appear to have a passion for Soviet steel.

It's a really peculiar car, I feel it has design nods to a lot of different contemporary vehicles. It has an aircooled V4 as well, just to make it a little bit wierder.

I have a few Eastern Bloc cars at the moment, but I enjoy most cars. Really I just enjoy things that are different. this was the most recent vehicle that I took on:



My daily was a Lexus LS430 up until recently, and the main family car is a Discovery 3, which somehow goes wrong less than everything else despite the appaling reputation LR products hold.

Those are some nice cars! I've got two Nivas that I can hopefully assemble one good one from.

Thank you, I'd love a Niva but the prices for anything that isn't a parts donor are mad these days! My 2101 is a compromise, but I do enjoy it.

[Dieselman]

My daily was a Lexus LS430 up until recently, and the main family car is a Discovery 3, which somehow goes wrong less than everything else despite the appaling reputation LR products hold.

Never a less appropriately named car than a Pontiac Trans Sport.

Why do you have so many left hookers? Is that a business venture?

A well sorted Xm will run rings round a Disco, for reliability. The problem is finding one that is sorted.

I noted the steering rack gaiter.

The easiest way to change it is to undo both ends of the power ram and push it off the spigot, then wind the rack to extend the left side and using something to counter hold the rack from turning, unscrew the passenger side inner ball joint. A ring spanner over the spigot and small pipe wrench to undo the ball joint works well, if you don't have a proper ball joint tool.

You will need to remove the cover over the ball joint to grip the metal joint. If reusing the cover just pry it back gently from behind the rubber.

Plastic type gaiters are the best and last much longer, elastomer ones are easier to fit. Citroen ones last a very long time.

[josh2109]

Right, time for a fairly hefty update on this car!

I found my LHM leak, and it was indeed the power steering union:



I put a flare spanner on it, and to my surprise it was slightly loose. I tightened it up, and that sorted the LHM leak.

That left me with this to sort:



I hate getting started with welding and fabrication, but I always find that once I get back into the swing of things it isn't too bad.





I zinc primered the repair patch to give some future protection to the inside.







It's not pretty but it's good enough, a bit of seam sealer and then stone chip over the top and it's done.

I then took it in for the MOT...



Sadly it failed on headlight aim (they corrected that for me as part of the test though), brake lights not working (a new development, as they worked when checked a week or so prior), some rust on the n/s sill and the steering rack gaiter on the o/s (key piece of information there being 'o/s', as you'll see later when I get round to replacing the boot).

Brake lights were a pain to sort out. On inspection once home, it turned out that pressing the brake pedal made the cooling fan run but didn't illuminate the bulbs. To cut a long story short, there was a 10a fuse related to the cooling system and hydractive ECU amongst other things that had blown. It turns out the diode I put back into the hydractive ECU was causing a short, blowing the fuse and then causing the wierd fan behaviour. Removing the diode sorted out the problem, and I now had working brake lights sans cooling fan operation when I pressed the brake. Result.



As a 'side mission' whilst sorting out the brake lights, I also slotted the mangled battery connectors with a hacksaw as they were unable to tighten down. I put some dialectric grease over them, new fasteners and now they clamp down nicely.



Next up, the rear sill. I'd noticed the bubbling before, but thought I'd leave it to the MOT tester to decide if he was happy with it or not. He was not.



Best sort that then:





















Rack boot next then... and remembering that it failed on the offside, and that I even ordered the offside boot, I then somehow convinced myself it was the nearside and so ordered that and cracked on... It was split, in my defence. Also, you will notice rubber boots - I couldn't get the plastic ones locally in a timescale that worked for me, sadly.







A huge jubilees clip on one end and a cable tie on the rack end did the job in the end. I'm resigned to the act it'll need replacing again in the future.



At this point I took it back in for a re-test, and I honestly could have cried when I realised my mistake. Replacing the nearside boot was an absolutely miserable job, I can honestly say that's one of the more unpleasant spannering experiences I've had on a car, and I've done a lot of crap jobs on my cars...

Happily, the offside is incredibly easy to replace and I changed it as soon as I got home from the test centre.









I took it back to the test centre 2 days later and they passed it on the re-test - the XM now had an MOT!



More to follow, as I've been busy since!