Peugeot 205 XR

[Cascade360]

mercedeslimos said:

Surely you'd pick up an engine, the TU was used in loads of Peugeot and Citroen stuff from the early eighties till the mid-noughties. This is why a Saxo VTS unit is a drop-in (except wiring etc)

Yes but as you can tell my mechanical nous may not extend to an engine swap...

[Cascade360]

thiscocks said:

Whoops. Was the screw out of the carb?

Yes. What is most annoying is I had the carb back on the car and realised i had missed two retaining screws. The screws hold together a few different parts which were held together by the inlet manifold bolts anyway so were not really needed. I thought id insert them for peace of mind but tried to save time by doing so without removing all pipes etc. Which didn't really work and i lost a screw. I thought it had fallen into the engine bay. Rookie error...

[Cascade360]

I'm still hopeful i havent destroyed the engine...



Screw is out, going to do a quick compression test then if looks okay turn it on and see what happens...

[Cascade360]

http://imgur.com/gallery/2b64osN

It runs...

There is a bit of an odd mechanical noise but what is it...doesn't sound like a misfire?

[Cascade360]

No...i can't work out how to use the compression tester haha.



How do the bits go together...

[Cascade360]

Either i have zero compression on cylinder one or im doing it wrong. I suspect the latter :bigsmile:

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

How is 3 compared to 2 and 4?

Can't get a reading off the compression tester at all not sure what im doing wrong

[Cascade360]

Penelope Stopit said:

That's not going to fix itself

Strip down to check?

Sadly rebuilding the engine is probably beyond my skill set.

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

Is this on any cylinder now or only cylinder 1?

Describe your method?

I only tried on cyl 1 (it started raining). Decided to wash the other car in the meantime

All plugs out, screwed in adaptor, connected gauge, throttle open and turned car over for ten secs or so.

[Cascade360]

Mr Happy said:

If cyl 1 is the one that ended up playing keepy-ups with the carb screw, no compression would suggest that the inlet valve isn't sealing as it's taken a battering as the screw has came through.

Try one of the other cylinders, if you get a reading then you've mashed the valves/head on cylinder 1, if not then you're using the compression tester wrong!

The screw ended up in cyl 3 so im doing something wrong with the compression tester

Given the engine is running okay odd noise aside im hoping the valves are okay...

[Cascade360]

xstian said:

aaron_2000 said:

A lot of the jobs you've done so far will be harder than swapping the engine/stripping it.

Stripping the engine is easy, but putting it back together again is slightly more difficult. Unless I missed the part where the OP rebuilt the gearbox, I'm not sure what jobs he has done which are harder?

I agree with this nothing I've done to date is that tricky so still not convinced an engine rebuild would be within my capabilities. As this thread shows i am a very amateur home mechanic...

[Cascade360]

To be honest swapping in a new engine sounds easier than rebuilding the current one if it is broken - as far as I can tell there isn't an awful lot to it (and less to go wrong) and I think I could probably do it - but (a) faff of trying to buy a decent second hand engine that is itself in good nick and (b) time and space (and safety) etc of doing it entirely on my own, getting an engine hoist, dealing with the parts etc. it probably isn't something I'd want to do.

[Cascade360]

aaron_2000 said:

Are you planning on selling/scrapping it if the engine is toast? You could hire a mobile mechanic to do it for you or help you with it.

I haven't got that far in my thought process

It is true that if it is knackered there isn't much more damage I can do by pulling the head off, so will likely do that.

[Cascade360]

xstian said:

I think what others are saying about a compression test is a good idea. I wouldn't be surprised if you've bent a valve and a compression tester would tell you this. The trouble you have is you haven't had a chance to use the car and enjoy it and now you need to spend more money on it.

I think you need to decide what you would like to do long term with it. If it a good 3 door shell, its worth repairing. If it already got rotten sills etc, it might not be viable unless you are attached to it.

I can put you in touch with someone who would probably have an engine for this. A head rebuild is a nice job and not too technical, but a engine swap is probably easier and quicker.

Indeed. Will try and get a reliable compression test out of it.

The shell is solid, the only rust I can see is a small patch under rear seats and a tiny bit of frilliness in inner front wings / engine bay, but really very minor. Someone has treated it to a rubbery underseal at some point. The bodywork isn't great though, it has a very poor repair on roof line and bonnet needs a respray. Rest might come up okay with a machine polish. I've got the kit to try and fix the roof line issue but not convinced I'll get it looking good.

It was never intend to be a long term keeper tbh. Once it is back running, it was only ever going to be used to toodle around to the shops and things. For fun journeys would always take the TVR. So not sure what's best to do if the engine is damaged. It wouldn't be an awful lot of money to get it running okay, but if it isn't going to get used much, what's the point. I'm probably about £2k in so far.

Edited by Cascade360 on Tuesday 3rd August 10:28

[Cascade360]

Turned back to this today to try and get a reliable compression test and realised id left the ignition on for two weeks and battery is as dead as a dodo. Plugged my ctek in and not a single light will come on. The charger is fine it has been charging my other car no problem all week. Can the battery be too dead to charge?

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

Connect another battery in parallel and then the ctek will work. However if the battery is years old you may have killed it off.

Thanks. Will whip battery out of 75 and give that a go. It doesn't look that old suspect it was put in just before i bought it given it had been off road for ten years before that...

[Cascade360]

It works, woo

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

If that’s a ctek battery ‘conditioner’ you have, rather than a bulk charger, you’re in for a long wait…

Fortunately it's a proper charger so charged fine overnight

Tried the compression test again this morning. This is the reading on cylinders 1 2 and 4.



Clearly still doing something wrong, though didnt get any reading on 3... these numbers cant be right though as engine does run?

Edited by Cascade360 on Sunday 15th August 10:15

Edited by Cascade360 on Sunday 15th August 10:16

[Cascade360]

xstian said:

Not sure if you have got far with this, but there is someone on the 205gtidrivers forum with a TU head and carbs for sale.

It's sat on my drive without anything having happened.

Well actually I finished bleeding the brakes and got it off axle stands. But engine is untouched.

Not sure if to buy another compression tester. Don't wanna touch the engine on the TVR and the back spark plugs on the 75 are a pain to get out. Can I compression test with just three spark plugs out?

[Cascade360]

So, an update.  I bought a second hand Gunson compression tester from ebay and it arrived this evening - and I got readings!  Sadly ... not good readings. 

Cylinder 1 - 13.5 bar

Cylinder 2 - 12.5 bar

Cylinder 3 (i.e. the screw cylinder) - 9 bar ...

Cylinder 4 - 14 bar

Pretty sure this means as anticipated we have a goosed valve?  Best case, top end needs rebuilt?



What to do...

Tbh, minded to move it on and buy something else.  It's due me probably two grand or so, suspect I'd be lucky to get 500 quid back as is.   But don't really have the skills or time to rebuild a head and suspect someone will take it for a few quid as the shell is fairly solid and it is straightforward for someone with skills time and inclination to swap an engine in? 

Ideas on a postcard...