First post here, so first of all hi to you all.
Just bought a 2000 2.0HDi Xantia, good old ebay, and there's a couple of problems need ironing out. Not had a Xantia before, but had 5 BX's in the past - 4 GTI's and a 17RD diesel, so I'm pretty familiar with most of Citroens little foibles.
Anyway, to my issues. First of all, there is no suspension at the rear - rock solid, but still reacts to the height change lever. If it was one of my old BX's, I would change the rear spheres, and that would (I'm sure) sort it. I've had a good read through the posts on the forum, & I understand these Xantia's are a little bit more complex - is there anywhere else I should be looking before I change the rear spheres - isn't there a rear centre sphere or something? At £20 a piece from GSF, it's not going to be dear.
Another issue is the cooling fans - I was stuck in traffic the other day, and the fans didn't cut in. Where is the switch? Haven't quite got round to buying a Haynes manual.
I've got a couple more little things, but they're a bit more simple - drivers door electric window doesn't work, I just need to get the door card off and find out why - and the nearside door mirror needs changing.
Look forward to your replies!
Returning to Citroens
Moderator: RichardW
Welcome to the forums 
Does the back go either all the way up or all the way down but not in between? If so it sounds exactly like the problem I had until it got sorted this weekend.
It could be the small plastic linkage rod on the height corrector that has popped off or broke. I bought a new one (as the old one might be worn and pop off again) and that has sorted my problem. The little rod is only about £2.20 from Citroen. Do a search on here for 'Height corrector Linkage' and that should throw up some threads on the subject. Also look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deiz92/page3/
Some pictures of the height corrector there (its at the back, ahead of the spare wheel in the centre)
Can't say about the fans personally, lots of knowledge on here so someone will be along shortly who does know.
Mirror is fairly simple. Though it is a door card off job, there are a couple of screws holding the door card on that hide by the hinges of the door armrest/storage bin (bit that hinges out) but am sure you'll soon find them. did mine last week, that was nearside too.
Hope some of that helps.
Does the back go either all the way up or all the way down but not in between? If so it sounds exactly like the problem I had until it got sorted this weekend.
It could be the small plastic linkage rod on the height corrector that has popped off or broke. I bought a new one (as the old one might be worn and pop off again) and that has sorted my problem. The little rod is only about £2.20 from Citroen. Do a search on here for 'Height corrector Linkage' and that should throw up some threads on the subject. Also look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deiz92/page3/
Some pictures of the height corrector there (its at the back, ahead of the spare wheel in the centre)
Can't say about the fans personally, lots of knowledge on here so someone will be along shortly who does know.
Mirror is fairly simple. Though it is a door card off job, there are a couple of screws holding the door card on that hide by the hinges of the door armrest/storage bin (bit that hinges out) but am sure you'll soon find them. did mine last week, that was nearside too.
Hope some of that helps.
Welcome back Ian -
Your Xantia is in no way more complex than the wellknown BX'es.
But different it is.
You no longer have the long control rod for the HC. Instead you have a complete unit with limiter for HC excursions and the HC itself build onto a bracket. The mechanism is then connected by a small plastic link. But the function is exactly the same as you already know so well.
Good thing is you can manually control the height. That instantly tells you the HC is working and is not stuck.
The solid suspension is truly shot wheel spheres, no matter an extra sphere or not.
If the front suspension sphere mounts have finger-thick pipes connected - then your HDI Xantia is hydractive - with an extra softness sphere pr axle.
For the rear axle this sphere is located under the rear on the HA control unit - identified by the finger thick piping leading to each sides wheel cylinders.
Now - if there are in fact 2 spheres down under the rear of the car - then that sphere with a single thin 3.5mm pipe will be the antisink sphere. The secret is to remove the 3.5mm pipe before trying to replace he sphere - to save the pipe.
Both the softness and the antisink sphere will look like an accumulator sphere not having the usual damper valve wellknown from the wheel suspension spheres.
On the BX you had the thermoswitch for fans contol low down in the RHS sidetank of the radiator - pointing towards engine.
On some Xantia models you still have it there, but I dont think its used on your HDI. Here it will be one of the sensors on the thermostat housing that controls 3 relays found behind a triangular cover between the fans.
Try some aerobics on the relays in ther sockets, to clean off any corrosion.
Otherwise prepare yourself for an adventure in Xantia electrics.
Your Xantia is in no way more complex than the wellknown BX'es.
But different it is.
You no longer have the long control rod for the HC. Instead you have a complete unit with limiter for HC excursions and the HC itself build onto a bracket. The mechanism is then connected by a small plastic link. But the function is exactly the same as you already know so well.
Good thing is you can manually control the height. That instantly tells you the HC is working and is not stuck.
The solid suspension is truly shot wheel spheres, no matter an extra sphere or not.
If the front suspension sphere mounts have finger-thick pipes connected - then your HDI Xantia is hydractive - with an extra softness sphere pr axle.
For the rear axle this sphere is located under the rear on the HA control unit - identified by the finger thick piping leading to each sides wheel cylinders.
Now - if there are in fact 2 spheres down under the rear of the car - then that sphere with a single thin 3.5mm pipe will be the antisink sphere. The secret is to remove the 3.5mm pipe before trying to replace he sphere - to save the pipe.
Both the softness and the antisink sphere will look like an accumulator sphere not having the usual damper valve wellknown from the wheel suspension spheres.
On the BX you had the thermoswitch for fans contol low down in the RHS sidetank of the radiator - pointing towards engine.
On some Xantia models you still have it there, but I dont think its used on your HDI. Here it will be one of the sensors on the thermostat housing that controls 3 relays found behind a triangular cover between the fans.
Try some aerobics on the relays in ther sockets, to clean off any corrosion.
Otherwise prepare yourself for an adventure in Xantia electrics.
Anders (DK) - '90 BX16Image
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Hi Ian and welcome back to green blooded Citroens
Just a short addition to the suspsension, you'll only have the added complexity of Hydractive suspension if your new car is an Exclusive. If yours is Hydractive, let us know as there are electrovalves that control the hard/soft switching and they do give (easily fixed) problems.
The fans are a little complex. they are controlled from the brown Bitron sensor on the thermostat housing via a Bitron controller stashed down under the LH headlamp. This in turn controls a trio relays that hide in the top triange between the fans. On low speed, the relays switch to put the fans in series with each other and on fast speed the relays switch the fans to be wired parallel. The relays carry a lot of current and the contacts burn.
An easy test is to disconnect the Bitron sensor with the ignition on and the fans should then run at top speed. This is a failsafe to counteract possible failure of the Bitron sensor which tends to fail open-circuit.
For a lot of further information on this (it is a very common problem on late Xantias), look for posts by our electrical and cooling fan specialist, Clogzz, he has done some excellently informative posts and has posted pictures of the relay contact that often burns and the necessary wiring diagrams.
Just a short addition to the suspsension, you'll only have the added complexity of Hydractive suspension if your new car is an Exclusive. If yours is Hydractive, let us know as there are electrovalves that control the hard/soft switching and they do give (easily fixed) problems.
The fans are a little complex. they are controlled from the brown Bitron sensor on the thermostat housing via a Bitron controller stashed down under the LH headlamp. This in turn controls a trio relays that hide in the top triange between the fans. On low speed, the relays switch to put the fans in series with each other and on fast speed the relays switch the fans to be wired parallel. The relays carry a lot of current and the contacts burn.
An easy test is to disconnect the Bitron sensor with the ignition on and the fans should then run at top speed. This is a failsafe to counteract possible failure of the Bitron sensor which tends to fail open-circuit.
For a lot of further information on this (it is a very common problem on late Xantias), look for posts by our electrical and cooling fan specialist, Clogzz, he has done some excellently informative posts and has posted pictures of the relay contact that often burns and the necessary wiring diagrams.
Jim
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Guys,
Thanks for all the helpful replies.
Model is a Forte, and there is only one small bore pipe to the spheres, so I guess I can take it that it's not Hydractive.
Had a quick look this morning (at 4:30 - checked in for a flight to Ireland at 5:30!) and couldn't see a sensor on the radiator, so it must be on the thermostat housing, although I must say I couldn't see one on there when I looked before the weekend. Can I assume that the thermostat housing can be easily located by following the top hose from the radiator?
Really must get myself a Haynes!
The drivers door electic window has gone up in priority too, it dropped down a little on my short drive to Gatwick this morning, and can be easily pushed up back into place, so it's not exactly secure.
Ian
Thanks for all the helpful replies.
Model is a Forte, and there is only one small bore pipe to the spheres, so I guess I can take it that it's not Hydractive.
Had a quick look this morning (at 4:30 - checked in for a flight to Ireland at 5:30!) and couldn't see a sensor on the radiator, so it must be on the thermostat housing, although I must say I couldn't see one on there when I looked before the weekend. Can I assume that the thermostat housing can be easily located by following the top hose from the radiator?
Really must get myself a Haynes!
The drivers door electic window has gone up in priority too, it dropped down a little on my short drive to Gatwick this morning, and can be easily pushed up back into place, so it's not exactly secure.
Ian
Thanks again, Jim.posts by … Clogzz
As you will have found out, the cooling fans are the most important parts of a car here.
Welcome to our playpen, Ian.thermostat housing
Never seen the HDI engine’s thermostat housing or temperature sensors, but these topics deal with fan faults:
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=24125
http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=24234
http://www.peugeotlogic.com/workshop/ws ... fanop1.htm
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
Just to wrap this thread up a bit for the benefit of future viewers (there's nothing worse than finding your snag on a forum search and not knowing if the suggested fixes worked!)
Replaced the rear suspension spheres last night, no issues, suspension now works great. Last time I replaced the spheres on my BX must have been 20 years ago, so it was a case of re-learning. Suspension on high, axle stands in, crack the spheres, release the pressure, & remove. I used a Halfords chain wrench (pictured) which did the job admirably.
It has a half inch drive, and with a 12 inch extension you can use a big breaker bar just behind the rear wheel - gives you plenty of room.
Now drives lovely.
Had the door card off to look at the drivers window, and as per other threads, the plastic fixture which is clipped to the window had broken, where the cables connect. But, the cables had all wrapped around the pulley and got themselves and the pulley in a right state, so it'll be off to the breaker for a nes assembly when time permits.
Replacing the nearside door mirror was no problem, didn't even need to take the door card off (the new mirror had been removed and the wires cut, so I just in-line crimped them together, and fed the extra wires down the hole).
Next job is the leaking fuel filter housing - shouldn't be a big job.
I think we'll end up with a good car in a couple of weeks!
Replaced the rear suspension spheres last night, no issues, suspension now works great. Last time I replaced the spheres on my BX must have been 20 years ago, so it was a case of re-learning. Suspension on high, axle stands in, crack the spheres, release the pressure, & remove. I used a Halfords chain wrench (pictured) which did the job admirably.
It has a half inch drive, and with a 12 inch extension you can use a big breaker bar just behind the rear wheel - gives you plenty of room.
Now drives lovely.
Had the door card off to look at the drivers window, and as per other threads, the plastic fixture which is clipped to the window had broken, where the cables connect. But, the cables had all wrapped around the pulley and got themselves and the pulley in a right state, so it'll be off to the breaker for a nes assembly when time permits.
Replacing the nearside door mirror was no problem, didn't even need to take the door card off (the new mirror had been removed and the wires cut, so I just in-line crimped them together, and fed the extra wires down the hole).
Next job is the leaking fuel filter housing - shouldn't be a big job.
I think we'll end up with a good car in a couple of weeks!