Dressing the Engine (Part 1) - Fitting the Starter Motor, Pressure Regulator and Sensor Wires

With the engine and gearbox reunited just a couple of small but satisfying jobs…

Starter Motor

I had rebuilt the starter back at the beginning of the year. Now it came to fitting it, I cleaned all the paint off the back of the two brackets that bolt to the engine to make sure I had good earth contact.  I tucked the battery positive cable well out of the way low down behind the starter – as far from the exhaust manifold as I could.

Rebuilt Starter Motor

I also (retrospectively) spread a little grease on the teeth of the flywheel – partly to aid engagement when the starter was operated and partly to reduce wear between the pinion and the teeth. With the engine on the stand I had access to the exposed bottom portion of the flywheel and, with the starter handle engaged, could rotate the crank and flywheel as necessary.

The flywheel is visible under the bell housing

This was also a chance to put in place the last of the bolts that serve to hold the gearbox to the engine. Finally I added the heat shield. This had looked quite scrappy and the only way I could tidy it up was to give it a good polish. I don’t think it would have been polished when fitted, but it’s no bad thing, as a highly polished shield will radiate the exhaust manifold heat away from the starter more effectively.

Starter Motor Heat Shield

Pressure Regulator

The bracket and regulator were both refitted. I put them back in their original spot – down below the fuel pump. On the photo I have highlighted the bolt you undo to release system pressure. It only needs about one turn. Don't take it all the way out or you will lose the little ball bearing that sits behind it!

Pressure Regulator mounted underneath the Fuel Pump

I had no serious plans to relocate the regulator – partly because – with the engine out – I couldn’t be sure where I had enough ‘spare’ space to put it. I didn’t want to relocate it then find it got in the way of something when I tried to fit the engine and gearbox. I will fit a recharged accumulator sphere (65bar) and worry about changing it as and when it’s flat.

Many years ago (11 September 2001 to be exact) I bought a regulator hose for a GSA (£8.99). These have a reinforced end to help absorb the pressure pulse in the hose and can also be fitted to Ds. It's not been used: my car was off the road at the time. Perhaps it was part of my plan for when I got it back from the garage? You can still buy the same reinforced hose for about £45 these days....

Regulator hose with reinforced end

Sensor wires – temperature gauge and oil pressure warning

The flying lead for my oil pressure switch was badly corroded and so I made up a new one. While I was at it I made a new leads for the water gauge sender too. At some point that had broken and had had a modern crimp end fitted.

Temperature gauge sender - August 2015

More by luck that judgement it was blue, but I wanted to have a 'proper' Citroen bullet and tag on it. 

New Wires for Warning light senders

Both sender wires have an eyelet connection where they connect to the senders but, for the other ends, and while the water gauge lead needed a ‘standard’ 4mm male bullet connector, the oil pressure switch needed a smaller 3mm bullet. In both cases I re-used the original protective rubber sleeving over the wires to protect against chaffing.

On my car, the water gauge sender is fitted near the bottom of the water pump housing.

Temperature gauge sender - August 2018

Later cars with the three big dash dials can have a water gauge sender, AND a temperature warning sender. The circuit wiring diagrams for these suggest that the latter (the warning sender) was fitted on the water pump, with the optional temperature gauge sender (if fitted) relocated to the cylinder head near the inlet manifold. Be careful if you plan to replace one of these as the two senders do different jobs and are not the same.

An oil pressure warning light was introduced with effect from the end of the 1967 model year – so just in time for the 1968 model year. It bolts on to a modified casting on the oil gallery in the engine block.

Oil pressure switch below the fuel pump - 26 November 2015

Oil Pressure switch - August 2018

To accompany this introduction, the conical battery charge warning light on the (mid period) dash was altered to a dual function indicator - but only for the 1968 model year. 

Pre-1968 battery light (left) and for 1968 only, 
combined battery charge and oil pressure light (right)

The top half glows red if the battery is not charging........

.......and the bottom half glows red if your oil is spread down the road…….

I have always preferred the aesthetic look of the conical light as a dashboard feature and am still in two minds about whether to fit that or the correct 1968 dual light.