Xantia LHM renewal

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
DaveW
Posts: 189
Joined: 16 Feb 2004, 21:57
Location: Wales UK
My Cars:

Xantia LHM renewal

Post by DaveW »

I'm renewing the LHM and cleaning the filters - or at least trying to - on a 16v, X reg. Xantia.

Depressurised the system, unclipped all the pipes from the side of the tank and disconnected the returns/vents (thin plastic pipes) and the top clip but there doesn't seem to be enough free movement to lift out the centre section prior to removing the tank, as described in the Haynes manual.

Looks like yet another Haynes procedure that was never actually done before being written up !

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

It was such a simple job on the old BX's .... :(

Dave
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

When I ran a Xantia I could never get the filter housing out of the tank without removing all the pipework first - in spite of what Haynes said. But if you've removed the hoses and taken off the spring clip, the block should just lift straight up, bringing the two filters with it.
DaveW
Posts: 189
Joined: 16 Feb 2004, 21:57
Location: Wales UK
My Cars:

Post by DaveW »

Thanks for the reply John.

I have only unclipped the pipes from the plastic retaining clips on the side of the tank, not taken them off where they are clipped to the centre section.
If they are removed then it should lift out. I was just hoping that the Haynes was correct and I could avoid having to undo all of those naff pipe clips and replace them with jubilee's.

Looks like this is the next step though as your reply confirms what I had been thinking.

Dave.
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

Syphon the bulk of the oil out then you can tilt the tank over and get the pipe block out, have a container ready to drop the block into so as not to make a msess from dripping oil.

Dave
mezuk04
Posts: 1125
Joined: 03 Sep 2004, 19:15
Location: Nottinghamshire, England
My Cars:

Post by mezuk04 »

unclip everything and get it all out of way, lifting the central filters is a bit tight but can be done (theres not a lot of free movement to lift it out nice and straight), syphon as much as you can out (my 1st attempt and i did it like a pro :lol: ) and then lift the container/tank/reservoir straight up, mine needed a bit of force and eventually it unclipped itself
Volkswagen Golf 59' 1.6TD S :(
Online
User avatar
Mandrake
Posts: 8614
Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
Location: North Lanarkshire, UK
My Cars:
x 664

Re: Xantia LHM renewal

Post by Mandrake »

DaveW wrote:I'm renewing the LHM and cleaning the filters - or at least trying to - on a 16v, X reg. Xantia.

Depressurised the system, unclipped all the pipes from the side of the tank and disconnected the returns/vents (thin plastic pipes) and the top clip but there doesn't seem to be enough free movement to lift out the centre section prior to removing the tank, as described in the Haynes manual.

Looks like yet another Haynes procedure that was never actually done before being written up !

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

It was such a simple job on the old BX's .... :(

Dave
I did an LHM change on mine a few weeks ago, so here is what I can relate:

Like you, I found that the BOL claimed that the centre section could be lifted out with the pipes still attached but its not true! At least not without extreme difficulty and possibility of damaging one of the hoses. The way the hoses are routed around the back makes it very close to impossible IMHO, and potentially very messy.

What I did is buy a bunch of suitable screw type (jubilee?) clips, unclip all the hoses, (noting where they came from) block each one with a suitable bolt, then you can freely lift the centre section out.

I can't actually remember whether I unbolted the main tank and lifted it out while the centre was still in, or whether I removed the centre, syphoned some oil out into a bucket and then lifted the main tank out. Probably the latter, as you need to tilt the tank to get it out, and thats a lot easier if its not full of oil.

Once you have everything out, you can give it a good clean in petrol. By the way, there is another very good reason for taking the centre section out completely - all the filters are housed in the centre section, and the centre section housing itself should also be cleaned, as it will have silt buildup stuck to the walls of it if its anything like mine was, and this can't be done while its still attached to the hoses on the car, so just bite the bullet and disconnect the hoses :) It will make the overall job much easier, and you'll be able to do a more thorough job.

To reassemble I put the empty tank in place without the centre and bolted it in, then poured in about 4 litres, then fitted the centre section and reconnected all the hoses using the new screw clips.

Then open the bleed screw, and run the engine for about 3 minutes, look in the tank with a torch and you should see a bit of frothing - this is the air being bled from the pump circuit. Wait until this stops before closing the bleed screw.

Now set the suspension to high, and watch the level guage dropping and top up the LHM as necessary, you will need about another litre.

After that you might want to consider bleeding the brakes. If your old oil was quite clean there is probably no need, but if it was quite dirty, or (as in my case) someone previous had put in the wrong kind of oil completely then bleed the brakes, and throw away the old stuff, and top up the tank with new oil.

You'll need a bit of extra oil to do this though, as you need to bleed close to half a litre of oil from the brake circuits in total.

While you're at it you should check the hose going from the tank to the pump is tight at the pump end as well, and replace the clip if necessary - my pump inlet hose was loose at BOTH ends due to the original crimp clips being loose.

Regards,
Simon
Last edited by Mandrake on 10 Dec 2005, 21:05, edited 1 time in total.
Simon

1997 Xantia S1 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive in Silex Grey
2016 Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh in White

2011 Peugeot Ion Full Electric in Silver
1977 G Special 1129cc LHD
1978 CX 2400
1997 Xantia S1 2.0i Auto VSX
1998 Xantia S2 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive
DaveW
Posts: 189
Joined: 16 Feb 2004, 21:57
Location: Wales UK
My Cars:

Post by DaveW »

Thanks everyone for the very detailed and helpful replies.

I have already popped down to the local filling station earlier this evening and picked up some jubilee clips so I'll most likely continue with that plan.
It is the pipework that goes behind the tank that made me think it wasn't possible to lift the centre out - another Haynes 'special' procedure !

I'm familiar with cleaning the filters and brake bleeding, having owned and serviced/repaired a couple of BX's in the past, but thanks for the reminders.

Dave.
JohnD
(Donor 2022)
Posts: 2632
Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
Location: Epsom, Surrey
My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1
x 72
Contact:

Post by JohnD »

On the old Andyspares forum this topic has been covered many times with some members saying that the filter unit can be lifted out with pipework still attached, whilst others, myself included, saying it can't be done. Is it possible that earlier Xantias had a reservoir design that did allow the filters to be lifted with pipes attached. whilst the later models wouldn't? My Russek manual mentions a steel reservoir but on my 2.1 Xantia the reservoir is plastic, and is secured by a large spigot on the base, which prevents it being tilted for removal.
User avatar
Clogzz
Posts: 2115
Joined: 15 May 2005, 18:04
Location: Australia
My Cars:
x 36
Contact:

Post by Clogzz »

JohnD wrote:Is it possible that earlier Xantias had a reservoir design that did allow the filters to be lifted with pipes attached, whilst the later models wouldn't?
Very possible, certainly worked for me.
It may also be a question of what model has other hoses or pipes that are restricting the movement of the pipe block.
Dave Burns wrote:Syphon the bulk of the oil out then you can tilt the tank over and get the pipe block out, have a container ready to drop the block into so as not to make a mess from dripping oil.
I've been able to loosen and tilt the tank before taking the centre out by twisting it towards the engine.
I did that because the Haynes book said that's how it's done, and I didn't know about it being called the BoL back then.
First time that I took the tank out, it had small scraps of metal in it, possibly since manufacture, that I cleaned out.
Second time, about 35,000 km later, did it again, and it was all clean inside.
So, haven't done it since, syphoned the LHM out only.
Last edited by Clogzz on 11 Dec 2005, 12:15, edited 1 time in total.
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

The tank can easily be taken out without disconnecting any pipes using the method I describe in my earlier post, the tanks are all the same and with the same spiggot on the underside, though I am refering to the 1.9TD instalation, though why any other engine models should present problems is beyond me.


Dave
Post Reply