405 GTX TD emission problems

Hi,

If anyone can help/advise, I'll be most grateful.

My 405 GTX 1.9 TD Estate, '94 on the L, 94,000 miles on the clock,
failed the MOT on high emissions recently (5.3, and black smoke was strongly
in evidence when the mech blipped the loud-pedal, so it's gen). Average MPG
is around 10/litre or 44/gall, but can be much higher if poodled around
Shetland's lanes in 2nd/3rd gear. The garage is talking 'swap the pump, it's
£400 rebuild plus five hours of workshop time but we don't know whether
that'll do it', and occasionally the turbo seems to have stopped working. I
can't even afford the new batteries for my pacemaker (which seems also to be
packing up since I got this quote), so spending big money on this problem
isn't really an option.

More info:

a) she's a poor starter in cold conditions, and there's a good ten-second
lag between the dashboard preheat light going out and the underbonnet relay
clicking a second time to turn the current off to the glow-plugs. Full
throttle is needed to get it to 'bite';

b) Squeezing the fuel priming bulb produced a lot of squishy, bubbling
noises, but the bulb didn't become 'solid' as I'd thought it might. I was
able to carry on squeezing for maybe a full minute, with no change either in
sound or 'feel', which doesn't seem to be correct;

c) engine power seems normal, but there's a slight occasional misfire. Valve
clearances were within tolerance when I changed the timing-belt 6,000 miles
ago, so I don't suspect closed-up valves. The engine doesn't appear to use
water; the temperature gauge registers at just below 80C, and the MOT tester
was happy about that aspect at least.

Any comments much appreaciated. Thanks in advance!


Pihl Andrews

 

My 405 GTX 1.9 TD Estate, '94 on the L, 94,000 miles on the clock,

garage is talking 'swap the pump, it's

First thing, take it out on a quiet road and floor it in second. Keep this
for at least 10 seconds, and you will see the cloud of smoke reduce, and
eventually go completely. Do this again, and then take it back immediately
for a retest. Mine (93 1.9 TD with 140,000) got a score of 0.5 after this
trick.
There could be a fault in the pump, but try this first.
There is also an adjustment on the top of the Bosch pump , under the cover
where the turbo diaphragm lives, where you can, if you know what to do,
reduce the overfuelling on turbo boost. If you get it wrong, however, you
end up with reduced power. Basically, if you take the cover off and remove
the diaphragm, you will see a spring. Put a washer, or thin packing under
this spring, no more than 1mm thick, and it will reduce the over fuelling on
turbo boost. DON'T turn any of the spindles.
Have you checked all the glow plugs are OK? One down and you will have this
sort of problem when starting. Also on the TD the glow plugs remain on for
about 2 or 3 minutes after starting. They go off when the temp is up, or the
throttle has been open enough to activate the little micro switch on the top
of the pump for more that a certain time.

If the engine runs ok then ignore this. You may have an air leak on the pipe
from the tank to the pump. It goes via a fuel preheater in the back of the
water pump on mine. You might also have a perished rubber pump. I did change
mine a year or so back.

 

Hello Brian,

The garage tried that - the levels came down a bit (from 5.3 to 4.3),
but it wasn't enough.

I'll try that!

Cna these be checked without removing them? Sorry to be such a novice
)

OK ... the Haynes manual refers to that switch, but I haven't discovered
it yet.

OK -

Cheers - thanks for the reply.

Phil Andrews

 

Philip

I had the same problem this month on my 406 1.9TD. Smoke reading 5.6. The
local dealer recommended filling with Forex an injector cleaner and then
giving the car a good burn up the motorway. This cures 90% of problem
engines. This cured the problem and brought the reading down to 2.5 upper
limit is 3. They now recommend using an injector cleaner at each service.
Mike

 

Hi Mike, I saw your previous post about forex. I've had a look and can't
seem to find it anywhere. Where did you manage to get hold of it, and how
much was it, roughly. I've tried wynn's oil additive and 3 bottles of redex,
but I still seem to get smoke,

Neil

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that - I used injector cleaner, and that brought the levels
down a bit (but not enough - 4.3). I took another look under the bonnet
yesterday after hearing other advice and found that the fuel filter housing
appears to be leaking slightly (down near the inlet pipe) when I prime the
system with the squeeze-bulb - could this have any bearing on my problems?

Cheers,

Phil Andrews

 

There's a star washer holding a filter/one way valve assembly. The 'o'
ring is probably leaking. I left mine to sort itself out. It's a very
expensive part to replace. Cheaper to just get a 2nd hand filter pot.

 

The later 93 on cars don't have the microswitch. Later vehicles using
this engine just leave the heater plugs on for a few minutes.

 

Hiya,

OK ... I've found out that it's £63 inc VAT + postage for the filter
unit assembly. I didn't realise that that part of it might be repairable -
I'll attempt that, thank-you kindly for the info.

Cheers,

Phil

 

Hiya,

Right! Thanks for that - as usual, the Haynes and the hardware don't
match.

(o)x