A Quick Word About........Jacking - and Tool 2505T

You know those funny sticky-out square holes at the back of the front wheel arch? The ones everyone calls the jacking points?

Well they ARE the jacking points - but not in the way that nearly everyone uses them. Citroen actually had a special tool to insert in those square holes - Tool 2505T. 

They are large, paddle-shaped pads made of cast iron. Use of these extensions provides a larger surface area for jacking. 

Tool 2505T

One of the problems with trying to use the 2505s is that the square tubes holes on the DS tend to get filled with mud and water (also causing the box sections to rot out by the way). It means that the 2505Ts were hard to fit, or were not ffully fitted - which can be dangerous. Garages clearly had to apply force to get them in. I've got a couple and you can see where the end are flattened from hammering!

More often than not I used the 2505 'paddles' as intended: for jacking and then put an axle stand under the square section, but also admit to jacking against a block of wood placed at the corner behind the wheel arch. It's just easier than the struggle that it takes to get these 2505s out of a rusty square section!

Engine Rebuild (Part 8) - Water Pump and Housing

In 2014, when I was planning to get my DS running again, I thought back to the last time I had seen it running: probably back in 2002 and on one of the short trips between barns at the farm. One thing I remembered about that start-up, was that there was a dribble of water from a small hole on top of the water pump shaft.

'Breather' Hole on Water Pump

Research back at that time had told me that it indicated that the ceramic seal on the pump shaft had been breached - probably because the car had sat idle for a long time. There is a small chamber into which any water that leaks past the seal, can escape to. There is then a drain hole on the bottom. The hole on the top is an air vent to allow air in to replace escaping water. leaking water is a pre-cursor of impending bearing failure. In my case the bottom hole was silted up (not a good sign anyway) - so water bubbled out of the top hole.....

If the seal leaked with the car parked up between 2001 and 2002, what kind of state was it going to be in having been laid up between 2002 and 2014! I bought a new replacement water pump ready to fit.

As anticipated, removing the water pump and housing as part of the engine strip down revealed lots of silt and rust......

Water Pump Housing On My DS - 6 August 2015

Water Pump Housing Off My DS - 28 May 2017

Now 2017, and with my cylinder head recently fitted, I turned my attention back to fitting the water pump. The new pump looked lovely, but sandwiched between my new pump and the vapour blasted cylinder head would be a grubby water pump back housing. Shiny replacements were very expensive and could only be considered a luxury. They also seemed to have a different shaped mount for the centrifugal regulator and I couldn't risk a replacement not being suitable. 

My Mount Point for Centrifugal Regulator

Later Style Mount Point?

I decided I would re-use my original Citroen one, but the thought of a grubby 'sandwich' on my rebuilt engine was enough to convince me to get it vapour blasted.

The studs of various lengths for mounting the water pump were removed, as was the 'boomerang' bracket for lifting the engine, and the remains of the gaskets were scraped off. The water temperature sender was unbolted. these have a reputation for being tough to remove but it came off pretty easily and without damaging itself or the pump housing. The housing was sent for blasting. The results were great, other than they highlighted the pitting where the top radiator hose fits. No matter, refitting the hose would cover those again.

I struggled for a while to match the long water pump studs to their correct locations. Putting them back where they'd been removed-from looked odd, as some of the lengths were uneven?

Water Pump Studs - 28 May 2017

Details of the replacements that you could buy didn't help as they didn't correspond to the lengths of the ones I'd removed! Also, one of the five after-market studs you could buy was an M9? All mine were definitely M8s. A quick check of the parts books confirmed that later cars had one M9 stud out of the five and also that the lengths had changed several time. I had to go right back to a parts book from 1966 to confirm mine were the right lengths for their time.

Parts books didn't help with telling me which stud went in which hole though. Some studs not only hold the water pump on, but also hold the bracing bars for the alternator and centurial regulator. Two of the studs also hold the 'boomerang' bar used for lifting the engine. Only by looking at the lengths of the threaded parts and working out where these bracing bars went was I able to work out which stud went where. Phew!

With the studs replaced another hurdle.... A trial fit of the new water pump on the studs showed it had a lot of free play: the holes through it were considerably larger than the diameter of my M8 studs. A refit of my old, dead pump showed that it didn't exhibit this free play. I was concerned about the free play because it meant there was a lot of sideways movement. With the pulley belts fitted and under load, would they pull the pump sideways and break the seal - allowing coolant to leak? I got around this by putting some heat shrink over each stud. It took up the free play and, being heat shrink, should be able to cope with temperatures under the bonnet.

Water Pump Studs With Heatshrink - 28 January 2018

Manual 814 says to fit the gasket dry but I decided to include a thin smear of Hylomar Blue - partly out of concern for those studs in over-sized holes. The final hurdle was how tight to tighten the bolts holding the water pump on? Advice from the CCC forum was about 22lbs/ft BUT advice from Aussie Frogs was that this was too much. In the end it was irrelevant as I found that the pulley wheel got in the way of the end of the studs - meaning I couldn't fit a torque wrench anyway.

With the pump back on the car, I refitted the Jaeger temperature sender that I had cleaned up.

I haven't done it yet, but I will re-make the wire that attaches from the sender to the main loom. 

Distributor Tower - Strip Down and Overhaul

One of the steps in an engine rebuild is replacement of the camshaft seal. As the camshaft drives the distributor, it passes through an eye at the base of the distributor drive tower, and that is where the camshaft oil seal is. All this hidden away behind the bell housing. 

Distributor on the drive tower - August 2015

I planned to vapour blast the drive tower. To do that, I would need to dismantle it - so this was also a good time to change the distributor spindle oil seal. 

When I ordered a load of new seals from Citroen Classics, I'd very rashly also ordered a replacement seal for the distributor drive tower spindle, as well as the cam shaft seal and oil pump seals. Money changed hands and I started to put the phone down. "Good luck with the distributor drive tower seal" were Matt's parting words. Whatever did he mean?

I soon found out. You won't find it in manual 814, but instructions for dismantling the drive tower are covered in Operation DX.211-6 of Manual 518. The oil seal is located near the top of the drive spindle, just underneath the slotted head. 

And that is where the difficulty lies..... The technique for removal involves pressing the spindle and its cam down and through the slotted distributor drive socket, in the course of which it also pushes out the sealing cup (a hefty core plug) at the bottom.....That's a lot of pushing, and the ledge on which the drive socket sits would take all the pressure.

I was worried about the force on the cast alloy underneath the drive socket - and so was my local engineer. He welded a threaded bolt to the cup at the base and used a nut to pull the cup out. He left me to remove the spindle.  

The manuals make no mention of the need to align the distributor drive socket with the teeth of the cam on the spindle - to preserve ignition timing settings, but I would strongly advise you do mark the relative alignment, as there is no way to check or adjust this once the distributor tower is rebuilt. 

With the cup removed by my local engineer, there was less resistance to the spindle and, with the alignment marked, I carefully drifted it out from the drive socket. The oil seal was then easily removed - as was the camshaft seal. The spindle seal was lubricated and fitted back into place.

Something You Don't See Every Day: The Oil Seal in the Distributor Tower 

While the body was vapour blasted I zinc-plated the distributor clamp and cleaned up the drive socket and spindle. Reassembly was pretty straightforward. My engineer gave me a replacement core plug for the bottom but it was not as hefty as the proper Citroen one - which I decided to re-use.

Drive Tower Stripped - 16 December 2017

With the spindle and oil seal lubricated with engine oil, The spindle was orientated on the drive socket using the marks made earlier, and the spindle was then pressed back on from the bottom of the tower.

With the spindle pressed back through the drive socket, as per Operation DX.211-6, I checked the freeplay at the base (0.15mm to 0.30mm) to make sure the spindle was free to rotate. Once happy, and leaving the feeler gauge in place, I used a long socket of the appropriate diameter to press the cup back into place until it just touched the end of the spindle. (The feeler gauge prevented me from pinching the spindle too tightly in the tower body). The gauge was removed and, with a bit of judicious wiggling, so was the welded bolt on the cup. 

The camshaft seal was lubricated and pressed into place using a socket. On my first go I pushed it all the way to it's base - only to find that it snagged on the pinion of the distributor drive spindle.  Luckily it could be pushed out a little from the other side.

All back together and ready to go back on the car

I'm still deciding on whether or not to buy 123 electronic ignition, or to rebuild my distributor. However, since my distributor is not the right one for the car, I'll probably go for the 123. If so, I'm hoping to be able to fit a new Ducellier distributor cap.

A Quick Word About.......Oil Filter Replacement

Before I try to fill the engine up with oil, I thought I'd better put the oil filter in. While I remembered......

I'm not going to go over the procedure for changing the filter as that's a routine maintenance thing. However if it's a job you've not tackled yourself (or you've never changed your oil!) then the  'DS Technical Team' people have produced a very handy video showing you how to go about it. You don't need a car hoist but if you plan to crawl under your car remember to support it properly on axle stands  - not the car jack:

DS Technical Team - Oil Filter Change

Well I don't know about you, but whenever I've changed my oil I've simply wiped the oil filler assembly down with a rag, popped a new cartridge on, then bolted the assembly back in. My focus has always been on three things: the new filter, the new gasket on the closing plate and the new washer on the sump plug.

It wasn't until I began the engine rebuild that I had cause to actually stop and consider (by which I mean 'clean') just how many pieces there are in that oil assembly. Lots! Here they all are:

Oil Filter Components......

In the picture:

Top row:

• Bolt
• New flat copper washer
• Pre-filter Plate
• Pre-filter
• Pre-filter 'O' ring
• Large Cup
• Spring
• Flat washer
• Ring Seal (small 'O' ring)
• Small Cup

Bottom Row:

• Sump Plug (with new copper washer)
• Cover plate
• Fixing Bolts and washers
• New 'Purflux' Filter
• New Filter Gasket

Phew!

You should really replace the copper washer on the bolt each time - which means pulling the assembly apart. And it wouldn't hurt to check the large and small rubber 'O' rings on the pre-filter and by the small cup. These go very hard and brittle over time so, before you go snapping them out in pieces (yes - that brittle), make sure you buy your replacements first! The other thing that goes missing is the small cup right on the end of the assembly.

All those parts can be bought from the usual suppliers and Citroen Classics have produced a video showing you how it all fits back together:

Citroen Classics - Oil Filter assembly

Anyway, having got the sump back on my car, I was finally able to fit the oil filter and it's cover - and that all important sump plug. Mustn't forget that.

Engine Rebuild (Part 7) - Studs and Inlet Manifold

With the head in place I went round and put in new studs for the inlet and exhaust manifolds, plus two replacements for the water pump housing. When the time comes, I've got new copper nuts for the exhaust manifold and locking nuts for the water heater pipe.

The cylinder head is odd in that some stud holes are 'blind' i.e have an end to them, whereas others are drilled right through into the water way. Ideally I would have used some kind of thread lock to prevent the studs from working loose, but with some stud holes open to the water way, it was more important that they were sealed again leaks. In the end I used Hylomar Blue on all the studs. 

Exhaust Manifold Studs Fitted.....

My thoughts turned to the inlet manifold.The inlet manifold had looked a mess.....

Mount Point for Clutch Re-engagenment Control 

When I'd first got the car going back in November 2014, I'd found a water leak under the manifold. It was impossible to get down there and find out why and where - especially in the gloom of the barn. I assumed it was a burst hose - maybe frost damaged. When the cylinder head was pulled in October 2015 I was able to look more closely and found the problem was actually a rusted-out core plug.

Silted Up Coolant Nozzle and Rusted Core Plug - 27 October 2015

I initially tinkered with the manifold earlier in 2017 and found that the little metal breather inlet (that takes a pipe off the sump breather tube) was completely blocked. I took advice and was assured that it was meant to be hollow. I eventually cleared out all the impacted silt with a small twist drill.Whatever it was meant to do - it hadn't been doing it for some time.

Cleaning the Breather Tube - 15 July 2017

I turned my attention to the core plug. Using a socket that fitted neatly within it, I tapped the rusted core plug into the manifold. I couldn't find a reference for it in the parts books, but It seemed to be coming up as 30mm diameter. I ordered a replacement from Ebay - for just a few pence. It wasn't quite as heavy duty as the original, but it was the best I could find.

Dead Core Plug

Having discovered the joys of vapour blasting in summer 2017, I put the inlet manifold through the process. It came out looking fantastic. 

Nice and Clean Inside - Excess Petrol Drain Hole

I fitted the new core plug. I smeared a little Hylomar Blue around the circumference and gently tapped it into place using a socket inside the cup of the plug. It seemed to fit quite nicely so I was happy with my choice of 30mm. Just to be sure, and using a screwdriver as a chisel, I bent over the three tangs that stop the plug popping out too readily.

The three gaskets for the inlet manifold are part of the engine gasket set and I soon had the manifold fitted and torqued-up. I'd ordered a new hose that runs between the water pump housing and the manifold and did a test fit.

Inlet Manifold Fitted

New Core Plug Fitted

Core Plug, Water Hose and Petrol Drain Nozzle

Engine Rebuild (Part 6) - Cylinder Head and Rockers

Putting the cylinder head on also means refitting the inlet valve rocker assembly as this is held in place by some of the cylinder head bolts.

Succinct assembly and fitting instructions for the rockers can be found at step 33 in Operation D.100-3 of Section 2 of Volume 2 of workshop manual 814.

When a cylinder head is removed, the inlet valve rocker assembly comes off in one long tangled, oily lump. 

DX2 Rockers on the DS - 27 October 2015 

The DX rockers had stayed that way since Adie first removed the head the day Richard and I went to pick the engine up back in November 2015.

Inlet Rocker Assembly

Now preparing for reassembly, and with frequent references to the workshop manual diagrams and part listings, all the parts were dismantled and accounted-for. The cylinder head bolts were difficult to with draw from the rocker mounts as the rubber oil seals on the base of the mounts had hardened. I ended up hacking the seals off with a Stanley knife.

Exhaust Rockers

Everything was present and correct and so was washed in Jizer. The long rocker shaft is hollow so that it can carry and distribute oil. I made sure the oilways were clear. Similarly, I made sure that the oil distribution hole on each rocker was unobstructed.

Inlet Rocker Shaft

After rinsing and drying with compressed air, I then subjected everything to a clean in the ultrasonic cleaner. This removed the last stubborn remnants of oil and dirt. As they were now thoroughly de-greased, parts were given a spray with WD40 to prevent flash-rusting.

I similarly took apart the rocker assembly from the DX2 engine – partly out of curiosity as it had looked so tired and worn, but also in case I needed donor parts.

Removing the DX2 Rockers - 10 September 2017

The exhaust rockers are lined with a (bronze?) bush with a lubricating hole. One difference I did notice between the two assemblies was that the exhaust rockers from the DX2 had an extra ‘tick’ shaped groove etched into the surface of the bush – presumably to aid oil distribution. The DX exhaust rockers didn’t have this.

DX2 Exhaust Rocker: Groovy

As I had expected, the parts from the DX assembly were in a better condition than those from the DX2 engine. Both long rocker shafts showed noticeable signs of wear, and this might also mean that the rockers were also worn. To replace the rocker shaft and four inlet rockers would have cost something in the region of £250 - and it was money I simply didn’t have. So the DX shaft (that was in better condition anyway) got re-used.

I reassembled the parts on the shaft checking the diagram in the repair manual and accounting for all the parts. 

Inlet Rocker Shaft: Ready For The Refit - 14 November 2017

Two important considerations: firstly, the rocker shaft has to be orientated so that the lubrication holes along it’s length are facing down and towards the valves. The shaft is also ended. Details of this are in Operation D.100-3 in the manuals. Secondly, the small support at the end of the shaft has to be fitted so that it’s bevelled edge faces ‘inward’ towards the rockers: this is to make room for the push rod to move past it. New oil seals for the base of the rocker mount towers were included in the engine gasket set I’d bought (I’d wondered what they were for!) and were subsequently fitted. The relevant cylinder head bolts were slipped into place…..

The cylinder bolt holes were blown out with compressed air and the engine block deck was checked for any lumps or grit that would prevent the head gasket sealing properly. The surface was a little pitted, and I had, several days before, dressed these imperfections with a little Hylotite Red. After it had cured a little, I used a Stanley knife blade to remove any excess.

With the tappets already in the block (don’t forget those!) the head gasket was put in position and the head ceremonially lowered. I was careful to make sure it sat correctly on it’s locating pins.

The cylinder head bolt threads were lightly lubricated. The push rods were put in their respective locations before the rocker/ cylinder head bolt assembly was lowered in place. The washers and springs were carefully jiggled into place to make sure that they sat either side of each bar cradle. The cups on the ends of the pushrods were aligned to the rockers, and the rocker ‘fingers’ aligned to the valve stems. Working my way up and down the row of cylinder head bolts, I gradually took up any slack on the bolts (without actually tightening them) to bring the shaft down into position on the many cradles. As I did this, I turned the engine - trying to seek the optimum position that meant that no single push rod was being put under undue pressure. I didn’t want to risk one bending.

Fitting the Inlet Rockers - 14 November 2017

I lubricated and fitted the remaining cylinder head bolts on the exhaust vale side. Studying the re-tightening order in the workshop manual, all bolt tops were numbered-up with a Sharpie – just to avoid confusion. As per the manual, I did a cycle of an initial tightening, followed by a final tightening. In fact I think I did it over four cycles – gradually increasing the torque each time. As I reached the higher/ final torque levels I held my breath – dreading a ‘ping’ as the block cracked or a bolt sheared. There were no problems and I could breath again. The rocker shaft lubrication pipe oil between the head and block was fitted with the new copper banjo washers that came in the engine gasket set.

With the cylinder head and inlet rockers fitted, the DX was starting to look like a working engine.

Getting There: 14 November 2017

Pleased with progress I put a message and photo up to the D Section Group on Facebook.

Then I suffered a setback…. I had refitted the exhaust rockers on their cradles and was torquing them up. The last nut wouldn’t reach the correct torque and I suspected the stud was turning in the head. I didn’t want it working loose when everything was assembled, so I removed it and added a little chemical metal. When I went back to finish the torquing the stud snapped! It must have been going ‘elastic’ – not turning?

Anyway, the only way I could get any mole grips on the broken end of the stud was to remove the whole of the inlet rocker assembly I’d previously fitted – that meant undoing half the cylinder head bolts….with the associated risk of one of those snapping too…..

I managed to get the stud out and replace it. As the threads in the hole were not at fault, the majority of the chemical metal I had added had been squeezed out when I put the stud back in  – so it wasn’t bound too tightly.

As I had to remove the head bolts on the inlet side, and on taking advice, I went the whole hog and removed them all – for fear of warping the head otherwise. Similarly, I decided I didn’t want to risk re-using the head gasket again, so sourced another from Citroen Classics – together with a couple of replacement banjo washers for the rocker oil feed pipe.

The gasket cheered me up as it was a NOS Citroen head gasket – rather than a Glaser brand one. Psychologically, and even though it wasn't that old, I just liked the idea of the connection that it represented to the past. So much so that I took a photo:

In short, I had to go back and refit the head and rockers from scratch! Having started fitting the rocker assembly in mid November, it wasn’t until the end of December that I finally had all the rockers back on. Not a bad way to end the year though.

Exhaust Rockers - Finally Fitted.....

Fuel Pump Strip Down and Rebuild

My fuel pump looked a mess......

Fuel Pump - 7 June 2015

Even though modern, reproduction fuel pumps are readily available, I was keen to try to retain my original and distinctive 'SEV-Marchal' pump. I had re-plated the top cover back in 2015, but have only just got to the point where I need to be refurbishing and refitting the fuel pump. Instructions for rebuilding can be found at Operation DX. 173-3, which can be found in section 2 of volume 2 of Citroen workshop manual 814.

Orientation of the Two Pump Valves

The upper and lower body were unscrewed. The seal under the domed top cover was very, very carefully prized off the pump body and feed tube using the edge of a stanley knife blade, allowing access to the two valves within the chambers. These are orientated in opposite directions and I took a reference photo. Despite what step five in the Workshop manual suggests, I was able to remove the valves. I planned to use a socket to drift the valves out, but found a socket too chunky for what looked to be quite delicate valves. Searching around I found that the 22mm end of a copper plumbing pipe reducer was a good fit for the diameter of the chambers. The valves were then easily removed. The key is to put your chosen tool in the dished side of the valve, so that the sharp edges of the valves are pulled - rather than pushed - through.

Moving on to the bottom half of the body, the cam that operates the pump was released by carefully removing one of the tiny locking circlips from it's groove in the cams spindle. The cam was then unhooked from the base of the operating rod inside the lower body, allowing it to be pulled out -  freeing the spring within. There were also two spacer washers that fit inside the body on the spindle.

Soldered Bolt on Diaphragm

The bolt holding the diaphragm assembly together is locked with solder. I suspect that this is to set and maintain the correct operating force (pumping force) on the diaphragm spring. With this in mind, I marked the orientation of the bolt to the diaphragm before unsoldering it, and made a note of how many turns it took to separate the bolt from the operating rod.  (Note: In Step 3 of Operation 173-3, the diaphragm and attached rod are removed as one - without removing the soldered bolt).

The small black rubber cup at the cam end of the operating rod was as hard as rock. In fact at first I wasn't even sure it was rubber. It was the workshop manual that confirmed it was. These parts aren't obtainable as spares and so it was make or break. I left the rod and cup soaking in a mixture of wintergreen oil and isopropanol alcohol for a couple of days*.

Wintergreen oil is the smell you get in Deep Heat. It is a very strong smell. People tend to either love it, or loath it. I left my parts soaking in the green house so that I didn't stink up the workshop! Personally I like it - but not in these quantities and strengths. I accidentally getting some of my mixture on my hands: the smell travelled everywhere with me. I poured some in a saucer. Despite washing it thoroughly first, dishwashing the saucer caused the whole dishwasher load to stink!

Miracle of miracles, after a couple of days the rubber cup began to soften with no signs of swelling. I left it a few more days but didn't want to push my luck. The pump diaphragm was showing signs of fatigue. Removing the metal plates that sandwich it, I gave it a bath in my wintergreen mix. Again, this had the effect of softening it.

Components of My SEV-Marchal Fuel Pump - 16 December 2017

With the valves removed and the rubber parts salvaged, the two halves of the body were taken away for vapour blasting - as was the metal spacer plate that fits between pump and engine. All the parts were then carefully cleaned before re-assembly.

The diaphragm sandwich was reassembled and the bolt tightened as per the note made during removal and then re-soldered. Reassembling the cam on the operating lever was fiddly because of the need to also align the spindle spacers in the body. I VERY carefully teased the circlip back on the end of the spindle and, after cleaning the end with alcohol, sealed it on with a small blob of Araldite.  The valves were refitted - again using the copper water pipe reducer - and the body re-assembled. 

Rather nervously I followed the instructions in step 12 of Operation DX.173-3 and tested the pump by emerging it in petrol and putting it under a little pressure to check for leaks. It passed muster. After draining, the spindle and cam were lightly lubricated with clean engine oil and I fitted the pump to the car. The smell of wintergreen oil dissipated (after about a week!).

Fuel Pump Fitted

* CAUTION: there are different compounds of rubber and there is a danger that some may react badly to soaking in wintergreen oil and/ or alcohol. This may take the form of swelling (growing alarmingly in size) or the surface dissolving (black sludge rubbing off on your fingers). If you are tempted to try this but cannot afford to risk ruining a piece, then you would be better off finding another way.