Swirl Valve Broken Plastic Actuator Tip Repair An How To.

[M0JFK]

If your swirl valve actuator tip as snapped off here is what I did to fix it and save a lot of mauling about and brass too.

 

Locate what is left of the stub and drill a 1.5mm Pilot hole down the middle of the plastic stub then screw in a curtain line hook, being careful not to split what is left of the plastic stub...hence the pilot hole.

 

You may have to bend the hook or the loop a bit to the size of the ball joint on the swirl valve flap...you want to size it so it is just a tad smaller than the radius of the ball joint on the swirl flap side so you have to clip it on using long nose pliers, don't have it to big that it is just going to keep popping off the moment you toe the throttle.

 

 

Fixed and done in 15 minutes.

[paul.h]

Thanks for the tip, I will link to it in the Common Problems topic. A new diaphragm actuator which includes the plastic cup is only about £20 from a dealer and you can just remove the cup from the actuator rod and replace that without doing the rest.

 

Note this only applies to the 2.2 hdi 136 bhp engine since the others do not have this actuator.

 

This is in the C5 Common Problems pinned topic in the Technical section:

11. C5 2.2 hdi 136 hp only, swirl plate diaphragm actuator ball cup breaks.

Vacuum leak/turbo fault codes (any engine).

Located at the left end of the cylinder head. Symptoms may be loss of acceleration, engine management light, increased fuel economy. The plastic ball cup may be replaced on its own (10 mins) or the complete actuator replaced (several hours DIY), about £20 but the cup is not available separately.

 

I read in Car Mechanics a case where the actuator had a vacuum leak which resulted in the engine management light and limp mode and fault codes for over boost and turbo regulation fault. The slow loss of vacuum reduced it also to the turbo wastegate so turbo boost level dropped, the ecu then increased the boost control duty cycle which then deactivated the swirl control increasing the vacuum boost and tripping the EML/limp mode. These fault codes have also been reported here and it turned out to be a split in the vacuum pipe to the egr valve actuator - so any cause of a vacuum leak should be looked for before touching the turbo.

[aspire_helen]

Hi

Now my 2.2HDI is approaching 15 years old, the actuator cup will no longer stay on the ball end (but not broken per se), so i've simply used some wire to hold it in place making sure it is still free to move as designed.  I did use a tiewrap at first but it broke after a few weeks. I have found some cheap (non-nylon) tiewraps enbrittle very quickly in the heat of the engine compartment and fail.  I recommend anyone using a tiewrap under the bonnet should ensure it is a quality, nylon product.

Helen

[paul.h]

This topic has a few notes on replacing the diaphragm part http://www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/topic/8259-antipollution-esp-asr-fault/?hl=diaphragm&do=findComment&comment=40936