hello

[david mcfall]

hello to the forum
i am a new convert to the xantia club and i can seriously say its one of the best cars ive owned.i bought a 1999 xantia 1.8 16v because i needed a car quick to get to and from work and wow what a car.its just the lx model but i think its reasonably trimmed.ive learned most of the basics from looking in on your forum(changing front spheres & accumulator sphere,drop links,bottom ball joints.just the basics.the car had 127000 on it when i bought it and has now done 132000.i have just a few questions i would like to put to the forum.the drivers door lock does not turn with the key,the ns lock works spot on locking all doors and boot i am wondering if its a new barrel or is there a fix to this problem.(i dont want a bunch of different keys).
ps a big thank you to jim who helped me with logging in problems,an absolute gentlemen

[myglaren]

Welcome to the forums David
I don't have the answers for you as my Xantia is long gone, more's the pity. Without question one of the best cars that I have owned, I think only the GS was better and then only marginally.

Jim certainly deserves the appellation but I think that that is the general tone of the board and one of it's great strengths, compared with many of the others out there. That and the help and advice given willingly, freely and with good spirit.

You have come to the right place.

[CitroJim]

Hi David and welcome again Myglaren is absolutely spot-on, you'll find this to be an extremely friendly and helpful place.

The lock barel problem is quite common and is down to wear. My old 1.9TD is getting near the point of having its drivers door lock fail in the same way. The key has to be pushed right home otherwise it spins around uselessly. I'm not at all sure if a repair can be effected in a satisfactory way but I have some lock barrels knocking around here and if this rain keeps up I shall have a play.

It is not so much of a problem as long as your remote locking plips work as this takes the load off the lock barrels. I'm surprised your boot has a key lock as it's a MK2. All MK2 Xantias I have seen (admittedly not an LX) have no key for the boot and rely entirely on central locking to lock it.

I've just looked on service.citroen.com and see a replacement lock barrel set to a specified combination comes out at £35 (Part No. 9170AZ) and there is a Lock Repair Kit (Part No. 9135E4) available for just over £7. I cannot see what is in the repair kit but it might be worth a shot perhaps? Mind you, the cost of a new lock barrel does not seem altogether excessive. Strangely, you can also get a replacement lock barrel with a random combination (Part No. 9170AY) which costs a whopping £70. I guess it comes complete with a couple of new keys for that price

[andmcit]

The lock barrel inside the door handle may simply not be working onto
the mechanism behind inside the door panel or it could simply just be a
knackered barrel. A closer look at the mechanism on the main motored
catch with an alternative working one handy may be the solution but it
IS a faff about...

An easier alternative that won't require your dismantling the door trim
is to pop the working nearside lock barrel out and swap it with the offside
one so that you can use it more easily all the time. It should take about
5 minutes and it'd prove if it's the actual barrel or more behind if it still
doesn't work.

It's easy enough to do. On the side of the door itself just near the striker
catch there is a small 4-5mm sized black grommet that you can access
the spring lugs on the side of the barrel that locates it inside the door
handle - it's fiddly at first but a long slim screwdriver can get pressed
into the access in the side of the handle freeing the tension on the
spring allowing the lock barrel to pop outwards from the door handle.

Fitting really is just a matter of alignment and popping it back into the
handle!

Andrew

[david mcfall]

thanks very much lads
your right citrojim there is no boot key,ill give andmcit advice a go tomorrow.i'll let you know how i get on.another prob is that the drivers door has dropped a touch and further investigation has found that there is a horrible piece of welding at the door side of the hinge(rather like chewing gum)and the hinge seems to have came away a bit.is the surrounding metal around the hinge/door able to take another blast of weld?would stick/mig be better.this monstrosity was done before i got the car

[CitroJim]

Is it a hatch or an estate you have David? The door hinge weld failing on an estate does occasionally happen but rarely on a hatch for some strange reason. It may be that the estates were not actually built by Citroen but by a coachbuilder called Heuliez. Maybe thier welding was not quite up to scratch. I keep a very careful eye on mine.

The estate we dismantled the other weekend had exactly this problem. It is said to be quite straightforward to resolve in the hands of an experienced welder although I have no personal experience, others on here have and hopefully they'll very soon advise.

It appears it has already been repaired once before although not well by the sound of it. Can you see the whole hinge flexing against the "A" pillar as you try to lift the door?

[david mcfall]

sorry citrojim its a hatch and yes the door is flexing.the welder who did that job must have put it on with a catapult.i wonder if taking the door right off,cleaning it all up and re-welding would be better or does the door need to stay attached?and to andmcit's advice i went on and set up an account with service.citroen.brilliant,i got a full breakdown of the door mechanism

[CitroJim]

I'd say the door needed to come right off to get good access to the hinge. In fcat, that might have been part of the problem why the first repair was not satisfactory; if they did not take the door off it would not be possible to weld right round the hinge.

As for the method, MIG should be OK in skilled hands but TIG would most likely be better. The worry is the heat build-up in the area. The dash and rather a lot of insulation are not far away and you really don't waht to have the dash out to do this job unless there are other reasons to go behind the dash, say for heater matrix replacement.

Arc (Stick) I'd not recommend for fear of blowing holes in the "A" piller. Arc is a bit of a blunt instrument on car bodies...

[Bren]

You may find that simply opening the door fully and welding down may be enough - aim more for the hinge - otherwise you will simply melt the thin metal around the hinge. I was annoyed when mine went as I had to take it to a local bodyshop - he charged me £40 and did a good job - the reason for my annoyance was I was a welder before a change of career and I only have a 130A arc welder at home which is not really suitable for car bodywork. I will be investing in a MIG very shortly.