Hydrolock!

[ben19td]

Hi guys, managed to hydrolock my 1.9td 406 this morning, I turned the engine off quickly so am hopeful that the internal damage will be minimal, looks like the air filter bore the brunt of it, but before I try and start it again I think I should remove either the glow plugs or injectors and spin the engine over.

The question is, which are best to remove, the injectors are easier to get at so would be my first choice, but I wanted to check in with some experts before I do it.

Any advice would be welcome, many thanks, Ben

[Welly]

Bummer!

I'm not sure if the injectors sit in the combustion chamber on the XUD? so you might not get a clear path to the open there?

Glow plugs can snap off in the head and that's the last thing you need right now but soaking with WD40 helps a lot.

See what some others say, I'm no expert in clearing water from cylinders.

[gumby6371]

Not sure whether removal will help but having faffed around with injectors and plugs on my old 1.9's for fuel leak reasons I can say that you're best off replacing the seals if the injectors come out (cheap enough from the stealers) and you'll need a deep 27mm socket and a decent length breaker bar, injector 2 from the cam belt end needs a specialist socket due to the sensor wire.
The 2 right hand plugs are easy to remove, the next one over is a pig and the far left one is a bitch. Thumb pressure with a small ring spanner was enough to loosen mine then a length of leak off pipe to unscrew and refit does the trick avoiding cross threading. Refitting the wire is a bit faffy due to the little nuts wanting to fall in the engine bay but that could be due to my sausage fingers, masking tape in a small socket was best for me.

Good luck

[Rolebama]

During my time with the AA, we always removed glowplugs. After removing them, turn the engine over at least twice with a spanner on crankshaft nut before spinning on the key. Either remove and dry the filter before refitting or replace with a new one. The air filter trunking will also have water, so remove and dry as much as possible. Sorry if this seems a little grandmother/egg, but the system will hold quite a bit of water, and you don't want it happening again.

[ben19td]

Hi, thanks for the advice, as it happened I was very lucky and no water got into the engine, I replaced the air filter, checked for water in the trunking (there was none) and it started normally. A close shave by all accounts! The car is now up for sale on ebay, I've done a few hundred miles since the suspected hydrolock so I am 100% confident no damage was done.

[PeterN]

I have never had a problem removing glow plugs from an XUD but I think the Hdi's can be problematic.

Peter

[jasper5]

I have never had a problem removing glow plugs from an XUD but I think the Hdi's can be problematic.

Peter

HDi glowplug removal is a very simple, straightforward job