Distributor Chamber

[Tyred]

I have a 2008 1.6 HDi Lx van. Its been a good van for me in the most part until after 77k it started leaking water from what I am told by the mechanic is the distributor chamber at the front of the engine, he tells me it cools the oil?

3 months later the chamber started to leak again and was replaced under warranty.

Now almost 12 months on its started to leak yet again (van now at 161k). Mechanic tells me that at the time of the last replacement Citroen had never had one of these chambers returned as faulty before, not in the whole of the UK. He thinks that they will be reluctant to replace it under warranty again. Further he said that there must be something wrong with the engine if this keeps happening but could not suggest anything that might be causing it.

The van is going in for this repair next Friday. I was hoping someone here could give some insight as to what might be going on. If they refuse to replace it under warranty its over 100 quid in parts.

Any help gratefully received!

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OK I have done some searching around and found that this chamber looks like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OIL-COOLER-FOR...4d0a42c918

The water leaks down the outside of the engine and as far as I can tell has no oil in it, and there does not appear to be water in the oil.

[addo]

That is so odd, I am suspicious there's a fine crack in the block. Have the former heat exchangers been pressure tested?

[Tyred]

Not that I am aware addo. Its strange isn't it? No leaks for months and many miles then whammo. I'm no mechanic and rely heavily on the guy who looks after all our cars and I have no reason to doubt him. Never looked at the old ones myself but will do this time!

[addo]

Normally they are part stainless and never corrode other than on the water hose fittings.

Earlier era ones on the V6s were cast alloy in part and would fail internally, meaning that water was tainted by the oil. (This happens because coolant is at 14PSI, whereas the oil is at 60-70PSI.)

I really think there's more going on than parts failing. Statistically, yes it's possible, but at the same time it's long odds!

[Tyred]

I think your right. Its getting to the bottom of it thats the problem but I suppose thats why I pay a mechanic. Unfortunately he does not have much of a clue either! Apart from this the van runs well, pulls well, is economical, no smoke. Ah well lets see what happens when it goes in. At least it seems its not a common problem and I am not being fobbed off by Citroen.

[Tyred]

Just an update. Not really solved but I whacked in some Radweld and its stopped the leak. Been running like that for several thousand miles now and seems fine. What the underlying fault is, if any, is still a mystery !

[dumdum]

by pass the oil cooler and link the two water pipes together, voila problem solved in the short term while diagnostic work is carried out, i would suspect higher than usual pressure in the cooling system, maybe try a new rad cap (well - bottle cap in this case) plus a new oil cooler from warranty... if possible...

[Lighty]

I would imagine that the fault is the cooler at the base of the plastic oil filter housing.
What happens is that the turbo / dpf heat shield assembly breaks away from the engine block, and then moves backwards and forwards with the engine vibration etc.
This in turn wears a hole in the aluminium cooler, and hence the coolant leak.
We have changed at least 3, and it's a fairly time consuming job, ie Rad out and exhaust filter/dpf removed to gain access.

[Tyred]

I would imagine that the fault is the cooler at the base of the plastic oil filter housing.
What happens is that the turbo / dpf heat shield assembly breaks away from the engine block, and then moves backwards and forwards with the engine vibration etc.
This in turn wears a hole in the aluminium cooler, and hence the coolant leak.
We have changed at least 3, and it's a fairly time consuming job, ie Rad out and exhaust filter/dpf removed to gain access.

Its seems that this is exactly whats going on. The other day it started leaking again and on inspection the heat shield was indeed very loose and for the first time I could see that the bottom of the shield was rubbing right in amongst the fins of the cooler from where the water was leaking. Getting the garage to look at it. In the meantime a bit of bungie is keeping the heat shield well away and radweld has again put a seal to the leak.