Getting the old Gal back on the road

[Smiley69]

I thought Iâ??d detail this mini project as I went along for no reason other than it may be worth some info to someone in the future.

The car;
1994 Cherry Red 1.9 XRDT.
Owned since Apr 1998.
Only 141K Miles (Low mileage for age).
No modifications.
[attachment=0]
The car was in regular use up until just after Easter â??11, driving most weekends to and from Fareham (Hants) / Edinburgh, a cool 471 miles each way. Easter â??11 was the final journey south and at which point I started to fly home for the remaining weekends that I was stationed north or the boarder. The Road Tax expired 30 June 11 so therefore the car was SORNâ??d. The â??Significant Otherâ? was given instruction to give the car a periodic start whilst I was away with my ship just to ensure all was ok, which she did.

Iâ??m now shore based and want to get the car back on the road, unfortunately when I came round to start her up the battery was flat. Not a problem, jump leads at hand, she started second time (almost first time) and all sounded as it did last year. I left her running to try and charge the battery but after 15 or so minutes I noticed that the top coolant hose that returns water to the radiator was solid and hot, something Iâ??d never noticed before. When I opened up the bleed vent adjacent to the fuel filter housing a hiss of air/steam came out. I then allowed to the engine to cool and depressurise before fully re-filling (using the 2Ltr bottle method) and then started the engine again. Unfortunately exactly the same occurred.

The water pump has been checked correct by a mate and he has suggested that the head is cracked. Iâ??m remaining positive and hoping that itâ??s just the head gasket or possibly a slight warp of the head.

This will be the first car engine Iâ??ll work on in this depth since my MG Metro required a re-bore and a full re-build. Am I worried? Not at all!

31 Apr â?? Garage cleared and car in.

1 May â?? Intercooler, fuel filter/housing, radiator hoses out. Starter motor removed
[attachment=3]
4 May â?? Top timing covers off, engine barred over and locked into position. Intercooler tubing out (not easy), inlet manifold out and exhaust manifold studs removed.

I've hit a bit of a snag, to get to the tensioner to release the timing belt I need to remove the bottom timing cover, however the aux belt tensioner allen bolt is a bit tight. I think its time to bring out the impact driver!! :pray:
[attachment=2]
Anyone tell me what kind of fuel Pp I've got fitted?
[attachment=1]
Updates to follow.

[Carlos182]

Looks good, certainly potential there!
That's a Bosch pump.Most likely be a K14 or T2 turbo being that age too. Get on the veg and get tuning!

[Matt]

Looks like a good project mate

[Toby]

That is identical to my car , except mine is '95.

That is indeed a lovely Bosch pump, and you almost certainly have a T2 lurking underneath there somewhere.

Looking forward to seeing this back on the road, team ph1 Cherry Red

[4WayDiablo]

Ah from farehan eh? I'm only over in waterlooville so if you need a hand :-)

[Smiley69]

Toby,

Does yours have a sun roof and is it suffering from rust :x

[Smiley69]

That's a top offer 4Way, if the need arises I'll be giving you a shout.

[Toby]

Toby,

Does yours have a sun roof and is it suffering from rust :x

I most certainly do have a sunroof. No rust yet though, it's kept well greased up around the metal parts

Could be the seal leaking water through?

[Smiley69]

I tried cutting it all out and treating it with some de-ruster. It wasn't ver sucessful :cry:

[Jenkosowls]

The rust spots on phase 1 roofs are caused by welding iirc the sun roof supports to the roof after the body has been dipped always go in the same places

[Bananalad]

Yeah i just cut out a lot of rust and welded in some material

[Curt]

Yeah, rusting around the sunroof is quite common on early cars. Looks tidy though

[hbomb1905]

Looks like a minter for its age! Nice to see one thats been owned for many moons!

[Smiley69]

Back in the garage for the final push to remove the head and i've hit on a stumbling block.

Do I need to remove the aux belt and its crank pulley to allow the timing belt tensioner to be relased so that I can remove the head? As shown in the photo above, I'm struggling to loosen the allen bolt identified by the arrow in the piccy.
If the aux belt doesn't need to be removed, how do you get to the timing belt tensioner with that plastic cover in the way?

[ginge191]

Forget the car, that avatar is EPIC!!

[Smiley69]

That pic was only the start of it. Check out the webpage below and scroll right to the bottom.
http://caseysousa.com/tutorial-animated-gif/
My lad and I did this and I submitted it to the fella who's tutorial I used to create it.

[ginge191]

hahhahaha that is AMAZING!! Top work!

[Smiley69]

I need to put it into my signature block but forgot how to do it.

[Poodle]

Another south coast member, we seem to be developing a monopoly. You'll need to remove the aux belt and crank pulley to get to the timing belt tensioner properly. Looks like it'll need lots of plusgas!

[Smiley69]

The head is now finally off but I'm yet to investigate where the damage is.

I took advice from Dave and Darren reference removing the timing belt and all went well, belt slipped off when pressure was applied against the tensioner.

The next issue was removing the head. Everything loosened off (so I thought) and some movement visible at the vacuum Pp end. However was something still holding the free end of the head in place. I didn't read anywhere that the is a locating dowel in the end of the head (fuel Pp end) the locates in the engine mount, Thanks Mark_Airey & ZX_Volcane for enlightening me. Pic to follow.

The head is now on the bench awaiting my beedy eye.

As mentioned in other head removal guides, I removed the fuel filter/cooler housing from the head and there appears to be the remnants of a gasket. However talking to my local Peugeot Dealer it appears he can't locate it in his diagrams. Any ideas?

[Smiley69]

As mentioned before the head is now on the bench.

I couldn't see any obvious signs of failure of the head gasket between the pots and any of the coolant channels.

My original problem was that the coolant hose returning to the rad from the thermostat was pressurisng due to what I could only presume was exhaust gases. The system was filled and bled several times and always the same outcome.
[attachment=6]
[attachment=5]
[attachment=4]
Below are pics of the surface of the head when the gasket was removed.
[attachment=3]
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1]
Areas of concern that I noticed were the increased pitting and degredation on pots 1 & 4 as seen below . I'm unsure how much of this is to be expected on a head that's 18 years old with 141K on the clock.
[attachment=0]
Your thoughts are always gratefully received guys.

[Poodle]

I'd say that's to be expected, but still needs to be fixed. I presume the head is booked in to be skimmed if you're replacing the gasket anyway..? If not, try banda engineering, good price and they've always done me well.

[Smiley69]

I've got Banda's number at the ready. When the skim is complete I'll work out which MLS head gasket kit I need.