French Car Forum

i have just driven both my xantias (obviously not at the same time :lol: ) and was surprised at just how heavy/hard the clutch is on the 1.9td compared to the 1.9n/a( which i still think has a heavy clutch anyway).
as i have no real history for the td regarding clutch/gearbox im interested in hearing some opinions on wether or not to get the...

Hi Chaps

Had the car laid up for a week with the battery disconnected whilst I did various jobs on it. It's a 1999 Xantia 2.0i Exclusive Auto and when I came to power it up again it started first time but the gearlever was stuck in Park.

I can get it out of Park via the screwdriver trick of easing out the detent and moving the gearlever back,...

Past couple of mornings my Xantia has still started great, but misses for about 10 seconds unless you add a little revage, its then normal. On some mornings it still starts well? I'm thinking a glow plug or two is starting to die and intermittantly works?

Gareth

Hi everyone
this is my first post on here and I hope you can give me some help.
Bought this car recently and it's my second Xantia.As far as I know all 7 spheres are new(less than 1000 miles)but whilst the rear suspension seems as soft as it should be the front most certainly is not.I've changed the LHM and cleaned the filters.The car does sink a...

Hi all,
I have made a big boo boo!!!
I was drinlling a hole throught the bulkhead, measured distances to make sure i was clear of anything and wham i hit some wires (temp sensor and central locking now not working!!!).
Sooo, I now have to remove the dash because I can get my fingers to the point where the wiring is but thats all.
My car is a...

Hi all, :)

The interior fan hasn’t known what speed it was doing of recently, changing speeds by itself, and now has gone to a low speed for good, even when turned off.
The air conditioning also still works on the fan’s ‘off’ position.
The wiper of the speed regulator has fallen out, and also a wave washer.
How does that stay in place ? :?...

I need the code for the radio as the previous owner cannot help. I went to local Citroen dealer and (like Halfords) they could not find my registration on their database. I gave the VIN and still no joy.

I do have a Clarion Radio Decoder program that requires a four-digit number to provide the code but don't know what or where that number is....

What with the rising price of veg oil in Tesco, typicaly 95p per litre, I am thinking of having a go at cleaning old used cooking oil from the chippy's.

Now the problem is that the last time I was going to have a go at this, I toddled off to the local takeaway and got my hands on a 5 gallon drum of used oil (he was only too pleased to get rid of...

I understand the ZX's can either be fitted with Girling or Bendix brakes.

I know my car has Girling front calipers, so would it figure that it has a Girling setup (drums) at the rear.

According to a Citroen dealer using my chassis number it could be fitted with either, so how would I find out without taking it apart?

It has a Bendix master...

Hi all

From what I know there are a few sphere manufacturers,

Lizarte, Alko, IBFS (i could be wring here just from memory, anyway I'm thinking of a belgian firm) and no doubt more,

is there any concensus on which ones to get? of course there is always genuine citroen but i wouldnt be surprised if citroen outsource manufacture to one of the...

About a month ago I had my windscreen replaced. I told the windscreen people that I thought my old one was 'ATHERMIC' . And would it be replaced 'Like for Like' and they said it would.I was a little suspicious when I saw on my receipt 'LAMINATED WINDSCREEN CLEAR'. I'm even more suspicious now I have used my Tom-Tom and travelled 80 miles with good...

I had my system gassed in the summer of 2006, however last summer on our annual trip to Devon the A/C was non-existent. I have noticed a lot of frothing in the receiver dryer, so I assume that the system is empty. Any advice would be appreciated.

I bought some radweld as my radiator is leaking a bit. It says on the bottle to heat up the coolant and pour the radweld into the radiator. Does this mean just pour it into the coolant system where you normally would top it up or does this mean pour it into the radiator itself? If so how do u pour it into the actual radiator on the xantia 1.9td?

Today I also gave my old 1.9TD an LHM change. The old stuff had been in for three years and was looking a bit yellow.

When I first bought the car it had Hydraflush in it and I changed it for LHM shortly afterward. I cannot recall cleaning the filters when I last changed it.

Today I did clean the filters but really I needn't have bothered. They...

Bleed it into a clear jar in case it is full of nasties, which you can filter out before returning it to the reservoir.

I would double check the belt tension first.

Due to the much hyped fuel shortages proposed by the media and the resulting panic buying,it does make me feel good to waft past the queues of HDIs and TDCIs at the local filling station to go straight to Lidls and chuck in 30 ltrs or so of veg,knowing that I'll be safe come what may.

Good old Xantia! Not used Veg oil for a few months now but it...

I don't post a great deal on this forum, I do however browse it and have found some very interesting/helpful topics that have helped me bring my car up to my perfectionist standards lol
With that in mind, I thought some might appreciate some of these pics :)

Pics at 1st location:

Pics at 2nd location:...

Today I have been putting a new cambelt and water pump on my very early (1993) 1.9TD Xantia.

I last did the same job over three years ago when I first got the car.

I'd forgotten just how easy and straightforward the job is on an early one with no aircon and those wonderful clip-on cambelt covers :D The whole job was a joy and a pleasure from...

I just noticed this morning that my brakes grinding once or twice at low speeds when i braked. The disks were changed last year when the brake pads were changed for the same reason.

Is it ok to just stick new pads on and leave the disks. They have not be grinding for days may be two or three grinds in total so they surly will be ok?

I know if i...

Good evening to you Citroen owners.
As pay day and MOT day looms, it is now time to sort out the AX.
It has just had a wheel bearing done, the exhaust is being fixed tomorrow.
Leaving the suspension parts to do. Because of the bouncy front end, along with the clunking noises, I have decided to replace the coils springs, shocks and the strut...

Hi all, driving home last night my car wouldnt get over 70mph. Same on way into work today. Any ideas, its been fine before that and usually can get upto 100mph with no effort.

I have noticed that on a run my 1.9td Xantia estate does about 80mpg with a 50/50 mix of veggie oil and diesel.

I have installed a stadayne fuel heater to heat up the fuel lines in colder weather and only use a mix of 15litres of oil/30 litres diesel in weather with temperatures lower tha 10 degree C, so far so good five years and no probs yet, I...

Hi, I have a problem with my xantia hdi where it takes ages to warm up. I can drive for a good 10 minutes sometimes even on the motorway and its still not up to temperature. I'm worried that the thermostat is opening too quickly??? The bitron sensor seems to be shot or iffy because often when I start up the red coolant light and stop light will...

Hi guys, just a quickie,
can I use veggie oil in my xantia mkII hdi 90?
some people say yes, some say no!!!
I have used it for many years in my old 1.9td, but this is a diferent set up. Bosch injector and stuff...
Paul

Has anyone had any experience with AA Gold Warranty?

Since the C5 is more expensive to repair (ie. less likely to fix things myself) I'm seriously thinking about the AA warranty (£395 for 2 years). I believe that the 3 year old car I am picking up on Saturday has already developed sticky door locks (driver's door failed to unlock on 1 out of 10...

Issue number 687 :lol:

The clues:
The coolant is under more pressure than my last Xantia. It also sounds like it's mildly venting through the pressure relief valve cap. The temp sender generally reads 70degrees while driving above 20/30mph. Left to idle it will slowly move up to about 89 and if pushed, go to about 99 where the fan brings it...

Obviously we laymen can get a little muddled when it comes to parts naming conventions. I'm trying to locate the part number for the sphere that's responsible for the ticking sound. From this forum I have learnt it is generally called the accumulator sphere though Citroen seem to call it something else and that's where I'm having difficulty....

My much-travelled Xantia TD has parked me at the side of the road once too often, so it's departing this life and a much newer C5 HDI 2.0 16v joins the fleet at the weekend.

I was just looking at the likely tyre replacement costs for the new toy. 215/55/16W. Ouch. Does anyone know *why* the C5 runs on W-rated tyres? I thought that Citroen...

Hi all

My xantia estate - ***** NO ***** SUNROOF - has got puddles of water under the rear seats! where could the leak be coming from?

bye all

Mike:

Hydronet 2000 (or eqivalent brandwise) is available form the Frog equivalent of Halfrauds (NORAUTO) at €45 Euros/5L I understand... I will take a shufty next time I am there.

Hi guys

Yesterday the fuel gauge in my ZX suddenly went to the off position. I tried banging the dashboard (in case there was a faulty contact) but it didn't work.

So, as the speedo drive is also broken, I was blind and without any idea of fuel remaining. I filled up and started thinking. Faulty wiring was my first guess.

Today, started it and...

Oh goodness, will it ever end?

This morning I went to start the Xantia, no central locking, no ignition lights, no radio, I thought must be some main fuse.

Nope the battery is so dead shorting it with a wire produces no spark, multimeter next -

0.03 V !!!!!!

I have never seen a battery so dead, normally if the lights are left on say the...

I would be grateful for advice on what Anti-freeze to use in a 2003, 1.5D. I got a user manual with the car, but it is very scarce on information. I am wondering if the old (tried & tested) Elhyl- Glycol mixed with distilled water should be used or the Citroen coolant. Also anybody know what fluid to use for the power steering.

Although registered, I've never subscribed to any services and I cannot see what exactly I would be getting for my money. But does anyone know if they can supply radio codes? The reason I ask is that looking at the local dealers' screen, this is where they go when they input my VIN or Registration.

I'm interested in finding a wifes shopping car as small / economical as possible but it MUST be able to fit three pre-teen kids in the back. We have MPV , but if for any reason it breaks down we need the ability to alternate to the small car.

Years ago when we only had two kids, we bought a new VW Lupo. I remember at the time there was a std VW...

Hi All,

Looking round the car prior to the MOT, I have found that the offside CV joint gaiter (long shaft) has perished round the ligarex clip on the shaft.
Obviously grease is leaking so it will have to be replaced.
On this particular shaft, it has still got the heavy cast metal tri ax can and not the later pressed tin one.
With this type of...

It seems to follow me :? There's a noise coming from that area that sounds rather familiar. I notice the AA were called in 2002 and reported a noisy A/C clutch. The A/C has never worked for the previous owner and doesn't work now. Any tips or suggestions for intial checks, I can't see anything unusual in that area?

Hi,
I'm was having trouble starting my Xantia, with 3 of the glow plugs recently replaced I suspected air in the fuel. When I loosened the fuel feed and squeezed the prime bulb, bubbly fuel came out. When I re-tightened the fuel line and squeezed the bulb, diesel came pouring out round the clamp on the bulb.
Could this be the problem? or can...

I've made too many unsuccessful attempts to decode my radio cassette and it's now locked out. According the handbook, it requires one hour of being on continously. Countdown restarts if turned off and I don't normally drive for that length of time so when I read my handbook I was pleased to learn that it can be turned on without the key - it will...

At key-on before starting, the LCD odometer shows the car is due a service (0 miles). I understand it can be reset but to what, exactly?And how is it reset, I think I recall someone mentioning, holding down the reset button, turning on ignition and wait for a fanfare or some other indication it's happened?

Hi folks,
When I first bought my Xantia the windscreen washers worked very well,but over the last month or two their performance has degraded somewhat.

Whats happening is as you operate the stalk on the steering column to give the screen a quick wash and wipe,the wiper's operate but it takes an age for the water to come through the jets.When it...

Hi all

Here I go again. Can someone tell me whether the fuel filter from a ZX 1.9D is the same as the one for the Xantia 1.9td. The housing looks the same and I would assume they are the same, but you never know with the French.

Cheers

As Jim and Dickie know, when I tried to start the car with a flat battery, the rev counter needle flipped right around the other side and had stayed there since. I was advised a small wire through the trip counter button hole can bring it back round but I abandoned that idea as I realised I was scratching the dial face in my attempts. I managed to...

Hi guys,

I just wanted to say thank you or all the help I've had off you all running my four citroens.

Unfortunately I will be moving to a Nissan Micra for cheaper motoring, tax, tyres, petrol, fuel efficiency.

My ZX is going to drain my wallet in June, tax and mot (+work) practically writes it off, tyres, windscreen, rear suspension bushes,...

Hi, I have had the terrible pleasure of stipping down the dashboard to get the grey plastic strip of the facia above the stereo just to change a bulb next to the clock so it will illuminate at night, unfortunately even with a tested bulb once I put it all back again the dam light still refused to work

has anybody had a similar experience with...

There are, what I suspect as being, nail varnish dabs on the paintwork of this car that I'd like to remove if possible. Acetone is known as a good solvent but will it adversely affect the underlaying paintwork? Using a fingernail (excuse the pun) I can chip away the majority of each dab but it does leave some residue behind. It wouldn't bother me...

Hi Folks,
Does grease have a shelf life? I ask that because I have been using copper grease for several years and its 18 years old.Does it still hold all its properties after all this time.I know some you would probably say...go buy some fresh grease...but I still have a lot of this stuff left to last ages and hope its still effective.
I'm just...

Now we have got to winter I have a problem with my Xantia cabin ventilation heating. I get plenty of heat from the central fascia vents but a minimal amount of heat from the dash, side fascia and footwell vents.

I hope it's not the matrix but I am at a loss to diagnose the problem.

Hi Guys,

Similar to rlatarche post of today's date I am having similar problems.

Car has been going great for the last 20k I have owned it now problems at also started on the button.

Coolant changed 3 months ago by Citroen dealer. Oil changed on the button by Citroen every 6,000 miles.

Last week, suddenly over night starting is now rough....