French Car Forum

just wondering how easy it will be to inspect the cam belt on the xantia....i know the engine mount needs taking off but is it just the top of the bracket? & does anything else need undoing apart from the belt cover???

Hi all
My Xantia has been parked for the last month, and just thought I would take it for a spin this morning.
Started OK, drove a little, wanted some heat, turned on the heat....woosh, big cloud of....steam i guess....indside the car!
Could this be the heater matrix, or is it just a hose that has come off?
The car isn`t wet on the floor.
Hope...

Hi!
Once again, i'm bothering all of you
My C5 is mad again.
Now, everytime i pull the windscreen handle for the squirters, the wiper blades give the usual 3 passes, but it's the rear squirter that works! The rear is functioning correctly when told to, though
Can i fix this, or do i have to wait a week to schedule at the stealer, as usual?
Is...

Hi, I have (possibly) BE1 gearbox in my 88 1.6 BX. It is not equipped with draining, checking and filling openings. The only way to change the gearbox oil is to drain the oil completely via opening on the differential, then it can only be filled with the gearbox oil through reverse switch opening.
My research brought up three values of the volume...

Hi guys ive got 95 citroen zx and noticed a staining around the power steering fluid tank. I removed the tank to find some serious rust. My screw driver went straight through. After some more prodding im left with quite a big hole in the inner wing i.e. i can see the top of my right front wheel. Ive checked the other side under the wheel arch and...

Hi you guys, I wondered if anybody has come across a problem with the drivers side window regulator/electric winder mechanism. I have a year 2000 (W) reg 2.0L hdi hatchback that I only just purchased. The previous owner fitted a new electric window winder but it stops every inch or three both going up and down.Also it clunks when it gets to about...

Hi I am after a little advice if anyone can help.
Went to Sainsburys to do a little shopping, when I came out the rear of my Xantia TD Estate was almost on the floor!!
When started the front would raise but not the back.
I tried all the different height settings to no avail. The front is fine. In the end I was towed home by the RAC.
It just has...

Guys, i remember something about the cruise control being fitted to a berlingo.
The enlightened mechanics around here, haven't the faintest idea wether it is possible or not.
After seeing an italian article regarding the fitment of the CC to a 307, where they say that all is needed is to fit the control stick and tell the BSi that CC is present, i...

It was looking like I'd repaired or replaced everything needing attention on my Volcane, over the last month, much to the consternation of my bank account
Yesterday a friend asked if the top of my rear wheels were supposed to lean in slightly /--\ !!
So, my question is..... Can the rear axle from a 306 D Turbo or GTI type variant be used as a...

Following some tinkering last night (new 16v rear spheres, two second hand rear calipers, fixing an earthing problem on the rear lights) I'm pleased to announce that I submitted the BX for an MOT this morning and got a first time pass with no advices.
Six months rent now on the screen.
Thanks to everyone who was involved last weekend for their...

Hi guys, doing my usual checks today I decided to put it on minimum height, something I must say I never bother doing, just to see if it went down okay. The front went down nicely but the rear stayed put, I waited for a couple of minutes and no change. I checked it on the other settings and it rises and falls as it should, but the rear wont drop...

Hello. The Footwell in the rear passenger seat behind the driver keeps getting wet on my 2000 Xantia Estate. I'm pretty sure its not down to water getting in through the door or rear door. The Boot carpet is dry. Could it be something to do with the rear wash water hose? Is this easy to get to to check?

Just bought a very nice 98 1.9 td Xant........
85'000 miles With every single bill since 2000 heeeooooge service history
nearly new spheres
cambelt at seventy two thousand
4 recent tyres
Hydraflush about 18 months ago
Can someone tell what the digital readout is for above the radio by the hazard switch, Haven't seen one before but then again...

Hi all,
I've got a 2.oi 8v ZX. I was talking to someone and they said that they 16v has better ratios for acceleration? Does anyone know if this is true?
IF so could someone post the actual ratios of them.
Many thanks.
Ste

I have a 98 xsara 1.9TD. Recently the locking went a bit weird. at times it would lock fine with the plip and the lock, and other times the doors outomatically re-opened.
for the last few days when the doors re-opened the drivers door stayed locked and had to open with the key.
i had a look at the hinge area and saw a broken wire and a few that...

OK Since my last post about Transmission problems, I've replaced all the bearings on the Drive shafts (wheel and intermediate bearings).
But this bearing noise is still there, so it points to the Gearbox. The noise is speed related and no matter whether you are in gear or neutral (coasting) and it stays at the same pitch whether you power on or...

Does somebody know what is the torque rating of the 2.0L 8 valve petrol engine on the ZX? I remember that there was a site with all the specs but I couldn't find it again.

A colleague at work has a 1.8 petrol Xantia, 1997 or so vintage that just cuts out with a mind of its own. No particular circumstances, it can do it driving at any speed and will even do it sat idling at the lights.
Somewhat annoying and dangerous, but all he has to do is to flick the ignition off and then on again to fire it up again.
Anyone with...

Please. Anyone tell me where button (N) is? Page 89 in the C5 Executive handbook. It don't tell where (N) is?
No key. No picture. Someone's found it?
Citroen Customer Service won't say. 'Drive to a dealer'. What? 60 miles, there and back, to find out what button (N) is!
Oh my God, I'm so fed up with the manual.
If you reply, and I really hope you...

Yet another problem with this bloody Xantia (1.9TD 1997). It recently came to my attention that the two radiator fans don't work. I've checked the fuses in the engine fusebox but all seems well. Any hints on where else I can direct my fault-finding?

hello, my GF's 93 1.0 AX has a faulty fuel gauge. Namely its reading empty all the time.
What areas should I be checking? Gonna remove the sender and earth the gauge to see if thats at fault, but after that dont know where to look!
any help would be great.

Hi to all,
On some xantia models, at low engines speeds, there is a humming/vibrating noise. This noise seems to com from the brake calipers.
I heard that there is a citroen special operation - consisting of the placement of some elements on the calipers that are not originally fitted with the car.
Has anybody ever gone through such a process?

Had a word with a mobile aircon guy today, regards my noisy-leaking-breaking-up compressor. It's got green gunk underneath it I assumed was the refridgerant. I'm told it's actually oil integral to the compressor, and if it's leaked out, it's beyond repair. I'm also told a seperate magnetic clutch may cost up to £200, the price of a full compressor...

Hi there
Last night I changed the oil in the BX. I put it high, switched the engine off, jacked it up and put axle stands underneath. Perfectly normal straightforward oil change ensued. The car was on stands for about 20 mins, with back section still in high position. Then I took the stands away and left the car still in high with engine switched...

After serious valeting of my AX I took it for a spin.
Something caught my eye when I started up.
It was the handbrake on sign. I haven't seen this sign for over 2 years!
When I parked and put the handbrake on the light did not come back on.
Has anyone any suggestions?
I was told at the MOT last year the handbrake cable is slightly frayed and...

Cleaning out BX Reservoir
Having located the blocked orifice in my height corrector valve (it was one of the dia 6mm damping discs), I now think it would be a good idea to clean out the reservoir. Some simple questions, like
How is the black cap tremoved from the top of the reservoir ?
How is the filter removed ?

.....hardcore Citroenears but this is my latest 'mod'

What a surprise...
- CX 2.5 GTi (84 on) 140HP, 206Nm, 201Km/h
- Xantia 2.0HDi Upgraded (1999-2001) 136HP, 293Nm, 202Km/h
Never imagined the CX GTi was so slow.

Righty O....
After the car sat on the driveway for a couple of days with the battery lead disconnected, i have gone to start the car up, only to be welcome with a very irratic idle.... as in very quickly going from high revs (i dont have a tachometer so i cant say the values i also dont have a specialist amp meter) to low revs, although when first...

Maybe a learned Xantia-ist can impart some information to me. Did the Xantia Estate ever come in the guise of a 2.0 petrol turbo estate? I have been in contact with a number of sellers on the Net, assuring me that their cars were 2.0 petrol turbo estates, one even said his was a 16V version, but they were all too far for a cursory glance.
I have...

I feel very sorry for you BX lovers to have to see this.... but someone had to let you know.....

taken from

Driving my Activa Turbo yesterday, after a long journey, I noticed it was down on power and lacked its usual acceleration. I put it down to a duff spark plug and went to change them today.
Out of curiosity, I attempted to start the engine, which refused to fire and sounded like a bag of nails. I presume that the cambelt is at fault and has given...

I have a problem with my car xantia 19.TD 98, every time I give it a bit of welly between 30-70mph when I come to a standstill I get this horrible smell of oil being burnt/cooked. I've looked under the bonnet and cannot physically see any smoke however I have localised the smell to the back of the engine bay. Does anyone have any suggestions as to...

I had this part fitted to my 2.1 Xantia when I was in Spain. It's directly under the LHM reservoir. Anybody know what it is?

as i did my usual quick check under the bonnet of my R reg xantia td (you know make sure the engine hasnt split in half...that sort of thing) i noticed that what looked like like little breather hoses had come off at the back bulkhead.
they were between the LHM container and the engine and seemed to connect to a couple of relays and the end of...

I have changed the front brake pads and disks recently but the brake pedal still has a space (it feels loose) so when i apply the brakes i find it halp applied already and that doesn't give a good feeling of braking, any ideas?? thanks

The best car in the 20th century...
Only for exposition - not to be touched!

I seem to have a leak from the top of my hydraulic pump you can see a small amount of LHM leaking through the threads of the connecting bit?. will it be a new pump or could it just be a washer?>

Hi All
Took the engine covers off my HDi Xantia for the first time for a few weeks, and found that I've had a minor leak on the union carrying fuel into No.2 injector; the little cups in the head casting under the injectors were full of diesel. Impossible to say how long the problem has been present.
I was 200 miles from home, so I dropped into...

Having just paid out a worryingly large sum to have a hydraulic pump fitted to the V6 I was more than horrified today to see smoke/steam from under the bonnet coupled with a whirring noise. A quick inspection in the dark leads me to believe the water pump may have given up as the smell is anti freeze like and the smoke/steam and noise is coming...

Hi,
Can any one confirm if the new C6 has hydractive suspension or not as the Citroen website does not go into any detail.

As a newbi to citroens i would like to extend a warning to others carrying out repairs on the suspension system.
Do not force the anti-roll bar in any direction under any circumstances. You will almost definitly damage the front height controller that is attached to it! (like i did 'cause i didnt know it was there !) I was trying to refit a front...

Ladies and Gentlemen, please give your important contribution to this debate, letting your experience and knowledge constitute the ultimate guide to automatic and manual gearboxes.
Reliability, conection with HP suspension, etc.
Your statement is very important in a era when manual transmissions start to fade out...

Hello, my BX14 (TU engine) was bubbling in the radiator, so I changed the head gasket this weekend, but still getting bubbles in the collant. Damn !
Maybe the head needs skimming, but I noticed the new gasket (from local factor, not Citroën) had the coloured protruding lines on the opposite side (top) from the one I took off. Could this be a...

Put the Xantia (1.9TD 1997) up high this evening to see if it was me leaving little spots of oil on the road. In doing so discovered something else worrying. An occasional loud rattling started as the car went up, from the front. Looking underneath it, at the aircon compresser, the front of its flywheel was sort of rotating, loose enough to be...

Hi
I was just down looking at my Xantia from `95, and it has started to bobble on the left rear wing (the thing(s) that sit next to the tailgate), in the corner where the lights sit. But isn`t that piece made of fiber glass...?
If it is, how can it rust/bobble?
How can i fix it?

A friend of mine has recently bought a ZX 2.0 petrol and he feels that the car has too much understeer . He is thinking of trying disconnecting the antiroll bar by removing the links that go betweeen the bar and the shock absorbers to tame the understeer. Is this safe?