BX XU PETROL BOTTOM PULLEY

[Tim Leech]

Anyone got one laying about, my Xantia still wont run properly, and Jim suggests it could be the valve timing being out, but the bottom pulley fitted to a Xantia has quite a few holes in it making it very awkward to time up correctly so he suggests fitting a BX one and then trying it.

To be honest I'm at my whits end with it, and will try anything to get it right as for 5 years I have wrestled with the constant poor running and high emissions, £1500 and 1200 miles later its still bust.

So far its had

ECU

2 Lamda Probes

Complete new exhaust inc Catalyst

Plugs, leads and coil pack

MAF Sensor

Coolant Temp Sensor

Fuel Pressure Regulator

New Cambelt Tensioner etc

[JayW]

Surely the holes in the pulley are irrelevent? You can locate TDC with a torch in the spark plug holes and work from there...

Does that engine not lock off with a key into the flywheel like the rest?

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Tim.
The only fault you can have cats on petrol cars is where the core melts
due to excessive fuel being put down them. the symptoms are when you
drive the car for 5 to 6 miles, from cold the car performs perfectly. when
you get back home, do the journey again straight away, and your car
then feels like a 1.6cc car but with a 1.4cc engine. when you get back
home , do the journey again, this time the car is so slow you think you
are going to be walking back.
The only other time people change the cat is after a head gasket blow-
ing, and shoving lots of rubbish down the exhaust.
Won,t be inlet manifold gasket, as it would be running weak and have
a high tickover, can check by spraying carb cleaner where the gasket
is, the car will speed up when running on carb cleaner.
It could be a crank sensor, are they fitted to the bell housing on those
Bottom pulley has nothing to do with the timing these days, usually the
crank sensor does that.
Is it a 16 valve Tim
More info Tim
Hope this helps not hinders.
Vince

[mat_fenwick]

What part of the emissions are high?

[Gary]

I think the bottom pulleys are a 2 piece unit bonded together and they can move without falling apart throwing out the timing pin hole.
Has the fault been there since the belt was changed? you can find tdc as Jayw has suggested using a rod down the plug hole and then seeing if the timing pin hole in the pulley lines up where it should.
Hope this make sense.

[Tim Leech]

What part of the emissions are high?

all of them!

The faults always been there, since before the cambelt snapped and I had to get the head rebuilt, im at my wits end with this car and willing to try anything!

[Tim Leech]

Well another day of Xantia shitness, had the timming checked at work, my mechanic reset to what he thought should be right, it doesnt fire at all now, and hes away on a weeks course, and noone else at work will touch it.

Joy!

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Tim.
Would I be interested to know Tim, how are you managing to adjust the
ignition timing on a car that only has coil packs
Vince

[mat_fenwick]

I'm assuming he means cam timing in relation to the crank....

I'd be interested to know whether it's hydrocarbons or and/or carbon monoxide or the lambda reading which are excessively high though, that may give a clue.

[MULLEY]

Have you managed to get a Lexia connected upto your car to see what the issues are? Got to be worth getting Jim to come up to get it looked at.

[Paul296]

Well another day of Xantia shitness, had the timming checked at work, my mechanic reset to what he thought should be right, it doesnt fire at all now, and hes away on a weeks course, and noone else at work will touch it.

Joy!

You have my deepest sympathy Tim. I've had two Xantias and both were money pit nightmares - I do still really like them though. Matthews idea of getting Jim (Eastment?) to have a look sounds like a good 'un. If he can't sort out an errant Xantia - no one can!?

[BX Meteor]

What part of the emissions are high?

all of them!

The faults always been there, since before the cambelt snapped and I had to get the head rebuilt, im at my wits end with this car and willing to try anything!

Let's use some basic logic here ....
When you say "the fault has always been there, since before the cambelt snapped" ....
How long have you had the car ?
When and how did you first find out about the problem ?
Also, maybe not relevant, but when and why did the cambelt snap ?

[Tim Leech]

What part of the emissions are high?

all of them!

The faults always been there, since before the cambelt snapped and I had to get the head rebuilt, im at my wits end with this car and willing to try anything!

Let's use some basic logic here ....
When you say "the fault has always been there, since before the cambelt snapped" ....
How long have you had the car ?
When and how did you first find out about the problem ?
Also, maybe not relevant, but when and why did the cambelt snap ?

Ive had it 6 years.

I realised it had the problem when it went for its first MOT,

The cambelt didnt snap as such but the tensioner broke up 12 months after I bought it and the belt came off and you can imagine the results!

Is a diesel and petrol bottom pulley different, I imagine they are as the HP pump is not run from it.

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Tim.
When I timed my BX when I did the cambelt, I removed the plugs and
the rocker cover aswell and then I put a long thin electricians screwdriver
on top of No 1 piston through the sparkplug hole to ensure that the piston
was at TDC and to make sure she was firing on No 1 cylinder, I used
the valves on No 4 cylinder were ON ROCK.
Hope this helps Tim.
Vince.

[BX Meteor]

A bit more logic ...
if the problem was there before the belt broke, then maybe the cam timing is not faulty ..... unless you are assuming it was faulty when you first got the car, and, that the cam timing was put back in exactly the same faulty way after the belt broke.

otherwise I reckon it's nothing to do with cam timing, but if you want to check it, the way Vince suggests is a good idea.