Citrojim's Ka, Saxo and Bike Tales

[Citroenmad]

The later Michelin Energy Savers are good Jim, I have fitted them on a few of our cars now and im impressed. The XM TD and eldest C5 wear then, they are good and suit those cars well as they do seem to give a better ride than their previous tyres. I did have the older style Energy E3As on the Activa, though they really were poor in the wet, probably age more than anything though.

It must really be a struggle getting up in the morning Richard, knowing you have such a chore of a job to face when you do Here we are in wet, damp and miserable England driving our ancient Citroens to work and back and your on a speed boat in a very glamorous location. No doubt with a RR Ghost awaiting your return

[DickieG]

It must really be a struggle getting up in the morning Richard, knowing you have such a chore of a job to face when you do Here we are in wet, damp and miserable England driving our ancient Citroëns to work and back and your on a speed boat in a very glamorous location. No doubt with a RR Ghost awaiting your return

Well yes and here it is

[CitroJim]

Gosh Richard, talk about living the dream What does Dawn think about your new lifestyle? Hope she's out there with you keeping you in order!!!

Roller looks a bit tasty

Chris, pleased I didn't make a terrible faux-pas by fitting the Energy Savers to the Activa!

[Northern_Mike]

...If only life could be like Richard's running flash cars around european dream locations for a buck......a million miles away from where i am at the moment

Nah, it's all a fabrication. DG is just a fifteen year old boy living in a council flat with his Mum, telling humungous fibs on the internet.

Oh no I've been found out

It's a tough life

Git.

[Deanxm]

Exellent Richard

D

[Deanxm]

didnt notice the tyres Jim they got lost in the other posts, a lot wont agree with energy savers on an activa your right, but to be honest you get used to the tyres your on so it doesnt matter at all and energy's ar nice tyres, at a good price it would seem.

D

[Citroenmad]

Ive often gone with Michelins and when I have tried other brands Ive often wished I had gone with Michelins. They give a good ride which complements the Citroens, they are usually quiet, grip well in all conditions and last a good while too.

The front tyres on my Activa need replacing soon, after about 5 drives they are really starting to thin out on the edges. No idea what to get, ideally Pirelli P7s to match the rears but they are no longer available.

I don't find Michelins develop cracks quite as early as some other brands. Saying that, my dad has owned the Traction for about 31 years, he has never bought a tyre for it, still on quite possibly its original Michelin tyres! Its a bit of a worrying thought so 4 brand new Michelin Xs and inner tubes are awaiting fitting. You gets what you pays for!

[DickieG]

Can i have your autograph Richard .... looks like your destined for stardom with those shades on

Now tell me that living the lifestyle of the 'affluenti' wont change you ... you'll always be the same Richard we're used to on the forum ... go on, tell me, bet you can't

I have had to think quite hard as to whether I can justify spending any of my time communicating with 'commoners'

[vince]

Lol, i like that one

That looks like Monaco harbour?......

Im green with envy

[DickieG]

That looks like Monaco harbour?......

Yes it is Vince, beautiful place.

I see one of the mods has given me a new name tag

[CitroJim]

I see one of the mods has given me a new name tag

Wasn't me although I must admit I rather like it

Great to see you the other day Richard and that proves your comment above is wrong... You are still quite happy to mix with us commoners! And they don't get much commoner than me

Little to report on the car front. I've been taking it very easy these past couple of weeks and it seems to be helping

I ran down to Somerset in the V6 today to see Dad and had a great day out I had occasion to park in a small car park in Langport and saw to my astonishment two other Xantias and one BX also parked there. Only one Xantia spot on the road though. A Blue S2 came flying past me doing about 90 on the A303...

Been thoroughly enjoying the Activa this past week and the new Michelin Energy Savers seem a great tyre for both the car and the way I drive

[CitroJim]

Not a lot to report unfortunately. All the fleet is going well, new V6 is doing a fine job as my daily although this amounts to few miles at the moment and Activa is a fantastic weekend fun car. I've not seen Rattiva for a couple of weeks as she's on loan to Paul, the owner of Old V6 which is still in the hands of the specialists trying to determine the cause of her high emissions. The latest suspect is the cat as this was replaced along with the rest of the exhaust a while back and it's a pathetically tiny little thing that looks barely up to the job. We should know next week when they refit her original cat.

Meanwhile Paul is loving Rattiva and has been somewhat taken aback by just how good the 110 HDi is; even a ratty one like Rattiva.

Very slowly over the past couple of weeks I have had both heads off Chris570s blown-up V6 engine. All I can say is what a lovely piece of engineering the ES9J4 V6 is. It is truly a work of engineering art and comes apart beautifully. In short it really is a beautiful engine

The head gaskets are laminated steel jobs and both seem to have failed very gently indeed. Both heads are very slightly warped and just out of tolerance. A light skim will be needed if the engine is to run again. Apart from that the engine at 172,000 miles is in fine condition. There's still honing marks visible in the bores and all four cams show not a trace of wear. So, the conclusion is that even at 200,000 miles an ES9J4 still has plenty of life left in it if it has been cared for, especially in the cooling department.

As to why the head gaskets failed I cannot be certain but when I drained the blocks I found a load of debris in them and I suspect from looking at steel components in contact with the coolant that it spent a while without good anti-freeze, suggesting the cooling system had been neglected at some point. I know for certain the radiator was in very poor condition and leaking. I'm wondering if before the gearbox failed the car had suffered a spell of overheating and possibly low coolant levels from the leaking rad. I know that the ES9J4 needs a reason to pop head gaskets and the only ones I'm aware of that have failed are as a result of coolant loss and they appear to go very quickly under such conditions. The moral is that if you have a V6 do take great care of the cooling system.

I found plenty of evidence of K-Seal in the blocks and this is never a good idea in a V6. Cooling problems could also have hastened the failure of the gearbox as they don't like running hot at all and a cooling system additive like K-Seal and all the other assorted debris found in the blocks may well have partially choked the transmission cooler as happened on Old V6. Next time I see Chris I'll do a flow test on his transmission cooler.

I've not taken pictures of the V6 engine in bits but will try to do that tomorrow and post them up.

[CitroJim]

Rattiva II has today returned to her former owner Activa Mike and a text message just received suggests he's happy with her

I enjoyed a very good rapport with this car and I hope Mike will be as happy. The 110 HDi Exclusive is a brilliant car and no doubt about it.

She's gone to pastures new to make room for my latest arrival. A well-known MK1 Xantia V6 formerly owned by Mike (xantia_v6). It's a car I've known for a very long time and have had not a little involvement with over the past few years.

She's now got 194,000 miles under her and needs just a tad of TLC. She needs a new back box as a priority and then a good service and spruce up. Very little else needs doing bar trace the cause of an intermittent ABS sensor and airbag light. She also needs a new expansion tank as the present one is split.

I have a new back box all ready to fit. Interestingly, Mike fitted an identical new back box to his new V6 and found it a tad noisy. I'd noted in the past that the new back box fitted to my Old V6, now Paul's (pavlosv6) was similarly a bit louder. Investigation shows all three back boxes have a manufacturing fault whereby one tailpipe is open directly to the inlet and is not baffled, only wrapped in rockwool around a perforated pipe. The standard (quiet) back box is much more heavily baffled on both tailpipes.

The resultant sound is a bit 'sporty' and sounds good although it could get a bit wearing on a long trip perhaps. I now know a V6 with a missing back box is very loud indeed but pleasantly loud...

More updates on the new arrival (still awaiting a name - suggestions?) as it happens...

Once quietened down and serviced she'll be my new daily driver...

[bxzx16v]

I look forward to pics of the V6 Jim

Mark

[CitroJim]

I look forward to pics of the V6 Jim

Mark

When I've washed her Mark She'll scrub up well I reckon...