French Car Forum

Thanks John. Having crossed on a 3 day P&O for a reasonable £68 several times this year, I had to go via Dover because the difference for the proposed nine days was over £300.

That reminds me of many years ago when a colleage in the motor trade asked me to weld up a GSA for the MOT, promising handsome payment as he didn't fancy the job.
Stuck it up on the ramp, got the grinder out, cleaned it all up and was just finishing a lovely seam weld on the last of 5 plates when I felt heat, sudden heat.
Out from under the car to...

As posted on the Citroen forum; makes an interesting read & gives some idea where thw Cits & Pugs could be heading with combined technology in the future,
Alan S

Normandy and back via the Portsmouth vomit comet to Cherbourg. 384 miles and 54 to the gallon. Obviously the culprit was the bends and hills and traffic. I had been hoping for 60. Of course I didn't want to miss the boat back which involved regular running at 80 Mph +/- a certain tolerance so I'm happy with that. I'm happy with the new rear arm...

Sounds like you got your life back Mark, I love my cars dearly but I've come to the conclusion that if it aint broke don't fix it. I used to spend my whole life doing preventative maintenance, then I became too busy and discovered the if essential jobs were done on time ish that they were not any less reliable and I had time for sitting in the...

John,
The link no go mate.
Alan

So, what about the GS?
Economy ain't one of their strong points though!

Sounds like bank robbers will drive old bangers and businessmen will become targeted criminals!

The discount cards come with certain clubs and organisations and constitute group buying (give a thousand members discount and guess where they will shop!!). As far as i know they all give a 10% discount at GSF.
(and for that reason i started following the PGAC, and have now joined)

GS underpowered?
I remember my dad towing a friend from the Peak district to Leeds with our GSA. It was only when they got to their destination that they found the handbrake was on on the car being towed.
Sadly, yes the rustbucket allegation is true. And they can be awkward to work on.

I thought John was joking, but yes, its true!

Heres what Haynes say
Following in the footsteps of the parent Man Manual, The Baby Manual is written for men and covers from conception to 2 years, all models, from 2001 on.
Taking delivery of a new baby is even more exciting than taking delivery of a new car (at least for most people). It can also...

Tough on crime, tough on the causes of Crime .
Cheers Tone

Click on this link

then scroll down to the bottom & take his peck between water or air cooled versions.
Alan S

Hi Paul
I had a 1992 XM for a couple of years, during which time I had to replace every rubber coolant hose at an average cost of £40 each. Jubilee clips extra.
Citroen seem to have had a problem producing durable rubber. I also had to replace the fuel hose, LHM return hoses, and the rubber engine mount blocks were from a bad batch of hard rubber...

I am sceptical, Jon. This could be a it of black propaganda, a misunderstanding in the translation or a dodgy garage where they didn't like Brits. I would like to see this confirmed if it can be, having a vested interest, so to speak. BTW tyres in France are not appreciably cheaper than in the UK it appears.

hmmm..let me see..
1983 Ford Escort 1.3 laser. -
Many, Many years ago. That car was an embarassment to ford...and thats saying something.
Two blown engines !
1. very dodgy fitted gearbox, meant that each gear was at a severe angle. This resulting in a gear change from 4th to 1st, at 70mph, and before I could dip the clutch - Bang, Clatter,...

Here's an update....starting soon.
Alan S

Nice site.
Worth a visit to to look at the piccs of Jags, Mk1 Cortina and Mini's giving it some.
Hopefully the circuit will be saved though.

Alan
Yes I like it!
Remember, He who laughs last.............has only just got the joke!
Jamie

According to Top Gear magazine it will be on sale in the UK at the end of this year. I assume they get their info direct from Citroen.
Looks very nice too.

evening all,
i've now the proud owner of one the andyspares stickers on my white xantia, but a swear i'm the only one in suffolk who has got one on their car,
as i see loads of citroens around, whilst driving to work etc.....
is it just me or am i going mad
has anybody else noticed this as well??
dom

One of the stupid things about this is that if they had rushed the patient to the kidney instead of the kidney to the patient. At the same speed but in a (bigger) less safe vehicle. Then they would not have been prosecuted because of the way this particular authority have chosen to read the rule book.

Many times members, when giving advice have added warnings on these forums about getting under cars without putting in adequate support in addition to a jack. It seems that it can't be repeated too often. A sad, sad story.

Lovely! Do you have many like that in Oz???

And I'm pleased with myself doing 500 miles a day through France on a Motorway, in air conditioned turbo-diesel comfort. These guys are doing 600+ in the bush. In a 2CV. Respect!

perhaps more importantly Jon has on numerous occasions found out highly technical details about GSF stock which might not otherwise be available, making him OUR inside man!!

Just do a search on Lexus and all will be revealed!
Jamie

My story is not as good as that one!!
I have one word that can sum it up.... Cheap !!
Natasha

Who remembers Dutton kit cars of the 80's? When I saw the picture of the Bourlingueur I thought they were back again. The Sierra, I think they called it. If I remember rightly, Tim Dutton had a Court case with Ford over the name. Since Dutton launched his kit just ahead of the Ford car, the outcome of the case was that it had to be called a Dutton...

very good vanny, by the way i'm blonde
dom

Dom - Try www.fulda.co.uk

hello
can anyone give me ball park figures on how much it costs to fix a xantia 2.0 8v cylinder head gasket,also is it common for it to break like the one on mine did in middle of the 2 inner cylinders.whats the most common reason cylinder head gasket go,s.
steve

Theres plenty of top Citroen deals on the net just now, many from Citroen dealers
Youn could try (Windmill Hill, Swindon)
or (Broads Motor Group, Citroen deals on line)
Certainly C5's are plenty cheap, we just bought a 2.2HDi Auto estate SX from Slip End Garage Luton at an amazing deal off list with 0% APR too, for my bosses' Dad.
I've also...

Tom,
Being from a foreign land, I gotta know; what's a bloody Bikermauler?
My guess is possibly a 4WD (which we affectionately refer to as **** tanks) or a Volvo which we relate to as grey headed gentlemen driving at about 50KPH in the right hand lane on a duel carriageway with a 100 KPH speed limit totally oblivious to all the carnage they...

hey Alan, is this you then?

What a superb turnout, for a country with so few Citroens imported theres a great variety of old and new. Who's is that wildly painted D model?

I'm sure someone with much more knowledge will give you a more setailed answer but i beleive it has to do with front/rear weight distribution. I believe the ideal is 50%/50% but this is not always the case. Perhaps the xantia and c5 have differing ratios.
Of course it is more complex than this. I suppose it is to do with the transfer of weight...

Only making the mistake of taking my Xantia to a Citroen Franchised Dealer for an MOT.
Came out with a list of faults, basically indicating the car had been in an almighty smash, and needed welding at the front ( which the contracted MOT garrage would do ).
Needless to say, I took it to a recommended MOT station, and he said all fine except the...

Slap him! They are exactly the same engine just a duffrent interior, wheels and bumpers.

Just stumbled across this as I was browsing around.
Very interesting to read the specifications particularly of the motor; it seems that in 1912 this car had a 16 valve twin cam motor.
Now THAT'S what you call advanced design. 80 years before they were considered a new development.
For anyone interested in the exotic & classical cars both old &...

B+E trailer licence
What's this? Something I should know about for general trailing, or is it some specialist thingy?

Where did the Avatar go? I feel lost and slightly naked without half a tonne of steel to hide behind will they return or is it a space/bandwidth saver?

Doesn't matter which to you or I, but if you were assembleing these things you would be glad of the Torx headed bolt, it stays in position on the tool used to drive it, stick a bolt in a socket and turn the socket horizontal and you will get my drift, the bolt lobs over and wobbles about in the socket.
Anyone doing it him or her self with a...

Looks like a useful piece of software, I assume that you have to use it as your email client instead of Outlook or whatever.
I use Incredimail XE here, if you have lots of email you can preview it before it even gets to your inbox, and delete it there and then.
However, although senders can be blocked its by name only, so this is ineffective as...

My thanks too to all those who made this work. An old friend has returned!

Cards on the table, I am one of these bloated bourgeoisie that has a three year old car, bought new. My citroen was bought 10 years old because it was bigger and scruffier and Frencher as I needed a builder's truck for work on a house in France. I could have bought something newer and replaced the modern but I like old bangers. I enjoy tidying...

Chap I work with had a BX diesel. The wiring caught fire a month ago while parked on his drive (electrical short to the block) and wrote it off with:
249,975 on the clock.
So close......he was warming it up to drive to work in the icy spell we had last month. That journey would have taken him past 1/4 million miles.

The 306 TD does seem quite short geared compared to a Xantia, thus feeling faster. The 306 is also a very light car, compare a 406 TD to a 306 and the 406 feels very sedate in comparison. I think the urge you talk about refers to how quick it zips up the revs, again short gearing and light weight give the 306 a big advantage. My Xantia pulls...

I would say the 405 sits between the BX and the Xantia.
The BX is a bit lighter so the same engine will give you a bit more performance. The Xantia is a more modern car but a lot heavier.
The suspension takes a little getting used to if you have never driven one before but after a while you won't want to go back to springs and dampers.
If you've...

Anders,
That's a very comprehensive site as far as Citroens go, but I had a bit of problems with the spelling.
Alan S

Got this a while ago from the uk.rec.car.* forums and though it was genious!
Still makes me laugh out loud!