Bad news, good news, bad news, etc….. Rather long.

[rory_perrett]

As it’s a rather damp Sunday in Blighty and before the British Grand Prix gets underway I though I would beg your indulgence and regale you with my tale of my recent Citroen escapades.

BADS NEWS – A couple or so weeks ago I was out in my trusty 1998 2.1TD Xantia Exclusive nicely run in as it is coming up to 230k miles when the classic happened, I stopped at a roundabout and the Audi Q7 behind didn’t! This is the nightmare of all us dedicated old Citroen fans, the first thing that flashes through you mind is the insurance company will want to write it off for a broken back light and cracked bumper. With less than ¼ of a tank of diesel in the thing I’m thinking I’ll get a sub £500 offer. With foreboding I get out of the car and see the damage to the Audi – headlight, bumper, bonnet, wing and no doubt more. Mind racing, that looks like £3 grand + to fix goodness only knows what the back of the Xantia is like. Well I get round the back and it’s a smashed out light cluster on the near side, panel under the light pushed in and the bumper corner is a bit damaged. Fortunately the guy had hit the near side corner.

GOOD NEWS – Guy is most apologetic (not something you should do) and tells me he works for the local Audi dealer and that I should give is boss a ring and they will sort it. Phone said gentleman that afternoon, apologies once again followed by a “Don’t worry about it sir we will put it through our bodyshop and get it sorted for you.” Service was fantastic, took the car away and left me a brand new Golf Tdi courtesy car (still would have it instead of my Xantia), kept ringing to apologise when a part was late in from Citroen and returned the car to me looking better than new.

BAD NEWS – Two days later the auxiliary belt jumped across towards the engine stripped chunks off itself some of which I assume got into the cam cover (again) and the cam belt jumped a tooth. This happen 2 years ago so I knew what it was but before I could pull in an stop the engine it jumped a few more and pistons going up met valves coming down and the engine went bang. Gutted just doesn’t come in to it.

GOOD NEWS – Dropped on a X reg 2000 Xantia Exclusive Hdi with half the mileage of my 2.1, even the heated seats still work.

Not sure what to do now with the 2.1. Last time I did the job, engine and gearbox out, head off, etc. In hindsight I suspect I would have got away with just replacing the broken cam followers but did the four valves that had hit the pistons as well even though there was no sign of bending. Took the opportunity to change the clutch that had done 190k and the steering rack. I suspect I really need to replace the auxiliary belt tensioner this time if I’m serious about fixing it. Not sure I really want to take the engine out again, (which you really have to do to get the head off the engine), but if it is the same as last time I could just replace the cam followers, reset the timing and hope for the best.

So what do I think of the Hdi in contrast. The car rides better, just shows how much the ride on my 2.1 has deteriorated although it was still better than any other car I drive at the moment. Although it is supposed to be the same power output the engine has totally different characteristics, whether I will get use to them in time I don’t know but right now I prefer the 2.1, it just seems to have so much more grunt. Might be something to do with the gear ratios, I think the Hdi has taller gearing. It has come with a few other problems that will no doubt get fixed in time. A noisy anti roll bar link that is now fixed. The classic out of alignment rear calliper due to corrosion (not had this on our other 2 Xanias) and the main one which is a tendency for the engine to accelerate all on its own up to about 2200rpm before dropping back to idle (sometimes a fast idle circa 1100rpm). I assume this is a faulty sensor somewhere that will be a devil to find as it’s only an intermittent fault. Oh yes and a completely erratic fuel gauge.

One thing I’ve noticed, it has the strangest shaped suspension sphere fitted as the centre sphere at the back, sort of flying saucer shaped, not seen one like that before.

What of the 2.1 do I fix or do I strip it for bits and wave it a fond farewell? In just over 5 years of ownership it has taken me nearly 110k miles at a cost of £18,079.75p all in, which is 16.5p per mile, and averaged 47mpg. To do that its drunk 2332.8 gals of diesel which cost me £9,284.55p. (Just a slightly sobering thought that would be nearly £14,000 at today’s diesel price). I’ve spent £2,839.29p on repairs and maintenance which is nearly as much as the £2,900 the car cost me in the first place, leaving £3,055.91p as the cost of tax, insurance and MOT fees. Who says owning a Citroen is expensive?

This now our 3rd Xantia, its going to be a sad day when there are no more to be had – perhaps another good reason to fix the 2.1.

Regards

Rory

[andmcit]

A difficult call Rory.

An Exclusive is the one to keep on the road and a hard thing to find these
days and as you say there aren't going to be many about as well sorted.
I guess it depends on sentiment and your commitment to the original car
that has served you so well and whether you can put the gun to it's head.

You've now gone and made the leap into the purchase of another car
already so that hurdle has been made which is probably the hardest part.
New, or different isn't necessarily better though and the original car has
earned respect and as it's well fettled (high mileage notwithstanding) a
very difficult thing to dispose of, just like a pair of comfy old slippers!

Incidentally, the pancake sphere is a C5 sphere which did get tried out on
the last Xantiae by Citroen so nothing dodgy or wrong here!!

Andrew

[CitroJim]

You've just suffered my worst two Xantia nightmares there Rory..

I love my 2.1 so much I'd be inconsolable if that happened. Some twit running into the back is an ever present risk. Still, glad you have another nice Xantia I worry too when there's none left. I've often debated what I'd be happy with from the currently available crop of cars and the answer is nothing

2.1s are relatively rare and still very sought after and after having the bodywork sorted out, it's really a no-brainer to repair it rather than scrap it. You know what the score is and it'll just be broken followers. because the valves are perpendicular to the pistons, you'll be very unlucky to have done further damage. Shame the engine has to come out but it'll be easier, on balance, than trying to do the job in-situ although I belive, with a hefty dose of Malcom's percy-whatist, I believe it can but I'd not like to try. A 1.9TD head-job is challange enough for me...

You might just try getting away with replacing the followers this time before going for a full head job. You never know

So paranoid am I about aux and cam belts that I check mine very regularly.

Interesting you say the HDi is taller geared. The 2.1TD is rather tall in the gears and significantly more so than most. That must account, in part, for the better reported fuel economy of the HDi.

I've seen one of those spheres. Grey ones. They're C5 ones I believe and will be fitted to a Xantia by way of an adaptor.

That was interesting on the costs. It's rather sobering just how much it all costs when laid out like that...

[reblack68]

My HDi (now offloaded because I couldn't live with the S2 shortcomings) showed 30mph for every 1000RPM, although I suspect the true speed was a little lower.

Given the choice I'd rather have the 2.1, simply because it's available in the S1 Xantia.