Whenever you are aware of unusual symptoms on your vehicle, you are right to be preoccupied, because a car represents a big annual budget and surprising malfunctions don’t lower the costs. So what if you feel like you have a leaking injector on your Citroen C5? You probably figured it out thanks to black/oily drips along your engine unit, or a troubled idle, or unconventional black smoke. These three signs of illness are the main symptoms of a leaking injector. As this troubles can bring about more significant engine concerns on your car, we thought we would publish this article content to help you confirm the failure of a leaking injector and treat it properly. To achieve this, we will first check out the case of gasoline injectors and then at those of diesel injectors Citroen C5.
Leaking injector on my petrol Citroen C5
It is fundamental to know that the injectors on petrol and diesel engines are distinct, in reality, the difference in combustion between these two kind of engines makes the injection distinct. The main difference lies in the pressure undergone by the injectors, on a petrol engine it will vary between 3.5 bars for indirect injection and 120 bars for indirect injection.
Leaking injector on a petrol Citroen C5: The different leaks
It should be noted that injector leaks on a Citroen C5 equipped with a petrol engine are pretty infrequent. This is because of the much lower pressure in the petrol intake systems. Even so, there are two kind of leaks:
- Leakage from the top of the injector:
It is conceivable that you have a leak from the top of the injector, this is the portion that is linked to the fuel rail, an O-ring will be involved in this. - Leak injector of the lower part:
Finally, you may suffer a leak coming from the lower part of the injector of your car, this one will come from the junction with the engine and not with the rail as seen previously.
Leaking injector on my diesel Citroen C5
Unlike petrol engines, which have spark combustion, diesel engines run on compression. This combustion system produces very high pressure in the engine, as do the injectors. On these models, the pressure is more than 10 times higher than on the direct injection of car petrol engines, reaching 1800 to 2000 bars.
Leaking injector on diesel Citroen C5: The different leaks
In the case of leaking diesel injectors on your Citroen C5, there are three several kind of leaks:
- Leakage from the injector inlet:
In this instance, it is an inlet pipe that will deform with time, generally the leak will be at the clamping point. - Injector return leakage:
As its name indicates, this leakage relates to the management of the fuel return in the injector, this time the injector that leaks on your Citroen C5 will be a consequence of an O-ring or its plastic tip that leaks. - Injector base leak:
This injection leak is one of the most bothersome, it is the junction between the engine and the injector nose that leaks at a copper seal, you should experience an air noise and a compression loss. - If after examining you have oil leaking but it does not come from your injectors, we recommend you to read this article content on the existence of oil leaking on your Citroen C5.
Leaking injector on my Citroen C5, how to fix the leak
And to finish, we’re going to check out how to fix a leaking injector on your car. Regularly a leak is associated, as we have seen previously, to a worn seal as a result of the pressures endured. But think that the pressure in the circuit is gigantic, specifically on diesel engines. So you will have to take some precautions:
- Lower the pressure before any work is carried out…
- Masking you to avoid the risk of fuel spillage
- NEVER work on a running diesel engine injector.
Regarding the repair part of your leak, it will oftentimes be limited to swapping the seals that have failed:
- Discover the source of the leak
- Take apart the injector in question
- Replace the corresponding seal kit
- Reassemble the set up and tighten with a torque wrench in respect with the manufacturer’s standards.
In all cases, these interventions are not necessarily difficult, but if you have the slightest uncertainty in the treatment of your injector that leaks on your Citroen C5, we recommend you to get closer to your motor mechanic to avoid any bad manipulation that could critically harm the condition of your Citroen C5.
To find more tips on the Citroen C5, take a look at the Citroen C5 category.
