Citroen XM Forum

Dean wrote:...throw the new belt on and fire it up, i wouldnt risk using the old belt again,
chances are it will be fine but i just wouldnt risk it.

Mind Dean, I was only suggesting trying the old belt for long enough to hear the engine run
for that extra peace of mind before replacing everything anyhow NOT longer term use;
did you see the earlier picture showing the belt's backing face on view on the cam pulley!!?





Maybe it won't hold up for another last 30 seconds mind!!

Andrew

There will just be the two halves of the bearing cage and then about 8 ball bearings swimming round down there, plus the outer race but you have that and the seal.
There is a hole behind the starter motor for pegging the flywheel, if you have the dual mass bottom pulley with the timing hole on the outer ring DONT TRUST IT, it does mean you have to get the starter motor off but at least you know the timing is going to be right, if the timing hole is on the inner half of the dual mass pulley you are ok.
Also you could just put it in 1st with the handbrake on, they petrol pulleys shouldnt be that tight.
I would love to be able to get the bottom cover off without touching the pulley but i guess its the price you pay for your citroen addiction
Looking at the belt, wouldnt chance it, but it should hold for a while...................is it worth it though?

D

Dean wrote:if you have the dual mass bottom pulley with the timing hole on the outer ring DONT TRUST IT,
it does mean you have to get the starter motor off but at least you know the timing is going to be right,
if the timing hole is on the inner half of the dual mass pulley you are ok.

Interesting point - I have seen one of these twin casting crank pulleys with a rubber joint between them
degrade down and I can see the risk of the outer ring slightly turning out of true from the correct
position on the woodruf key notch on the end of the crank. I can't recall whether the hole to peg the
pulley was on the outer or the inner though would say it's likely the outer now you mention it. I've
always been at great pains to peg the starter/main flywheel from behind the starter motor on the
2.0i petrol Xm and Xantiae and the 1.9TD Xantiae though it's a total farce attempting to guide the
long stepped peg in behind the starter on the turbo set up - seems the starter will need to come off.

Dean wrote:Looking at the belt, wouldn't chance it, but it should hold for a while...................is it worth it though?

I'm sure you're totally correct in your caution!!

So there's no way of locking something onto the starter ring gear/flywheel to brace it against so a
long bar can be levered onto the crank pulley!? Really!!? I don't fancy relying on a timing
locking tool being fed through behind the starter into the guillotine that would splice the small
bar!!

Andrew

What a coincidence, I've been in the process of taking the head off my XM turbo too. It's been a pain but not half as bad as doing a 2.5. Separating the exhaust/turbo system caused some problems. I didn't want to remove the whole turbo/manifold/head as one piece so thought that unbolting the manifold from the turbo would work. It did but it wasn't easy, the bottom 2 nuts have limited access and I couldn't get enough force on them with a spanner. So I bought a 10 mm 3/8ths drive socket from Halfords and drilled out the inside to clear the stud. The head's now off but I haven't had time to look at it in detail. After a diesel the piston cut out come as quite a shock.

I've decided that after a rebuild of the head I'd set the valve clearances before refitting the head so I don't have to fit the timing belt, etc. only to have to remove it again. What do you think? No doubt I'll post up some photos in due course.

Steve.

Seems were all have Turbo 8v woes at the moment.

Ill be needing to rip my Black one to pieces soon to try and find fault and cure of the heavy oil consumption.. Im very like though, to put a whole engine in the car instead so I can it shifted on...

So Ill have awhole spare engine that runs - new water pump/cam belt/head gasket.. doesn't use a drop ofwater, but uses or looses quite a bit of oil.. The strange thing is I cannot see any smoke from the exhaust!!

Paul

Hi Gents

At least the weather is good for a bit of outside work at the moment

Andrew, im not sure if there is or is not a cutout in the bell housing but if not the locking pin should be ok because it will have a leverage advantage over you being on the outside of the flywheel.

Steve, always nice to see some pictures yep i done my valve clearance watching tv while the Mrs was out, shhh . standard sort of thing, measure before you strip the head then add on what you need to the existing shim thickness, the shims are of course available from cit but do give them a ring first, i had that "its gota come from france mate, bla bla bla, 2 months, bla bla bla, umpty your pockets bla bla bla" .
Any obvious clue as to the problem? was one up or three down on compression?
I know what you mean about the cutouts, because it wasnt designed as a turbo engine they just used pistons with a massive cutout to drop the compression ratio's which is nice because you can pinch bits from the ten a penny N/A's .

Paul, the only thing i can think with yours is a leak on the compressor side of the turbo or blocked crankcase vents, its gota be burning the oil if its not lubricating your drive, would be easyer to just swap the engine out for a good one though if it proves to be anything else .

I would love to be playing with my turbo now but ive gota sort out this damn focus , mind you at least its easy to work on with loads of room under the bonnet, i bet you could have its engine on the deck in under 3 hrs easy if it came to it, very uncitroen .

Good luck all

D

Well Dean, its decided already, its gonna be an engine swap for a non leaky one...

Paul

Handy having spares isnt it this focus im valeting and servicing at the moment drinks oil too, about a litre in 500 miles, which is damn heavy, again no smoke, bone dry engine and clean as a whistle on the plugs, mind you the poor thing hasnt been serviced since my mate got it 3 years ago that and obviously it's a F*** .

So the oil drinker is available for parts once removed then Paul, or are you keeping hold of it?

D

Yes dean it will be.

No I probably wont due to space reasons, so may be available .... Got too many V6's here, and wont be rushing to a Turbo again.. Ive got another block and auto box here mated too.. taking space. Good auto box mind...

P

I could do with some boost pipes, boost control valve and some other bits would they be available? very tempted by the spare box and block but im really short on space till i move, when its all out let me know though and i can draw up a list

D