Xantia583

Seems like i'm talking to myself... It's getting worse. I've changed the fuel filter and now its running worse. It runs hotter, the priming bulb you can press when the engine is running, the idle is now too low unless the A/C is on,, performance is flat, seems to pull ok to 1500rpm then it hits a flat spot and wont go away, and it took me a whole minute to get the bloody thing started!!!! Someone out there must have some ideas or be able to send me in the right direction? I'll end up putting my Montego back on the road at this rate as its the only reliable car i've had in years!

May have found a couple of causes already. There was at least a tablespoon of water in the bottom of the fuel filter together with some rusty looking crap, it needed draining 3 times to get it all out. The filter itself has seen better days, this will be replaced later. I've also found a number of splits on the boost pressure sensing hose which goes to the top of the fuel pump, surely this would have caused the fuel pump to have seen less boost than there actually was so possibly causing a lean condition? A quick drive confirms i appear to be running more boost now, its much better performance wise now.

I've just purchased a 141k Xantia 1.9 TD on an R plate. Its a lovely car, been serviced by a specialist every 6k with all receipts etc, but has a couple of problems. Firstly, it takes a long time to fire when re-starting from hot. When i viewed the car, it was started from stone cold and fired before the engine had enough time to turn! I did start it a couple of times from hot but it didnt take too long to fire so didnt suspect anything. It can take up to 10 seconds to fire from hot (has been hot today too). When it does fire, there is very little smoke, and it runs very smoothly. fuel consumption is very good. Is this a known problem? where do i start looking? I've pressed the priming bulb a few times to see if it makes a difference, sometimes it does, other times not. The car is no ball of fire, its ok mid range but lacks response and top end urge compared to my old Perkins Montego. I'll address the performance issue once the hot starting has been resolved. The other problem is the temperature. The gauge seems to be remarkably sensitive to changes, going up a slight hill under load i will see '85' degrees, normal running temp between 75-80 which is the mid point on the gauge. There is no excess coolant pressure, level is fine etc, maybe a sticky thermostat, hope its not the head gasket considering its been so well maintained. It may not be a problem, im just not used to a gauge the changes so often, my other cars tend to move quite slowly. Gareth