Troublesome xantia

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xantia78
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Troublesome xantia

Post by xantia78 »

Evening all.
I recently aquired a 98 xantia estate 1.9 td, my first citroen & much better than expected! I'm having a few problems though that i'm hoping somebody could shed some light on.
1- It developed a knocking noise which took to be drop links, so i changed them, that didnt cure it so i changed the lower ball joints and its still there!
Its more of a clonking noise which happens on acceleration an de-celeration and is worse in the wet.

2- There is a hissing noise when the turbo comes in under load in 4th & 5th, like a very high pressure air leak but i cant find any splits in the hoses. Is this normal?

3- The n/side driveshaft seal has gone and is chucking oil everywhere. What are they like to change? Why was it so instant?

Lastly, the brakes seem to bind on the front and even though i've wound the caliper pistons back in its still binding, on a left hand corner at slow speeds it makes a rythmic rubbing noise which i'm assuming is the binding.

Thanks in hopeful advance.
deian
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Post by deian »

Hi,

I would say 3 and 1 could be related problems. Have you checked the obvious stuff such as wheel bolts. Other than that, it could be a bush in the lower arm, a new arm would probably eliminate that problem.

Driveshaft should be as straightforward as any other car if you've done other ones.

As for the hissing noise,it could be a leak somewhere, I doubt the turbo is damaged/tired, the ones on those engines are quite hardy. I remember having a similar problem on an xantia 2.1td that I had, I did something to it (on purpose), and the turbo noise was hissing rather than whizzing, can't remember what I did to it now. When I remember I will let you know, unless someone on here posts a solution.

Is your air filter clean? and all the clips tight? If it pulls ok, and doesn't lack power I wouldn't worry too much. They will hiss at high revs though.
xantia78
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Post by xantia78 »

I did have the wheel nuts slacken themselves about wks 2 ago,it made a hell of a noise, the wheel had been in place for about 1500miles and suddenly just came undone! Never known that before.

Got to say i've never attempted driveshafts before. How long do you reckon it'll take? The balljoints were a total s**t, and i had to make up a tool to fit the new ones

The airbox is all tight and clipped, filter is new, it does lose a bit of pull when its hissing but if i ease right off for a minute or so it stops, its just when getting up to speed.
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reblack68
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Post by reblack68 »

My HDi used to hiss if you booted it. We came to the conclusion that it was the innards of the cat moving around and blocking the exhaust. Apparently that's not uncommon with catalytic converters.

If it's the cat on your car you can buy a front pipe for an older car and lose the cat altogether.
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CitroJim
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Post by CitroJim »

Welcome to the forum :D

Yes, lower balljoints can be fun :lol: Well done for doing them. A good tool for removing them is a good cold chisel and large hammer :lol: You do need the special tool to replace them though.

The driveshaft seal is a doddle to replace after the driveshaft is out. Dig the old one out and drive in a new one with a soft drift, keeping everything nicely square. The seals are different on each side. Check whilst you are there that the final drive bearings are good and one has not broken up. If the bearings are badly worn, the shaft will flap around and the seal won't hold the oil in. Thankfully, it's a rare event for final drive bearings to fail.

Make sure you refill the 'box with 75W/80 oil only. They don't like any other grade.

The driveshafts are easy enough as said. the N/S is easier as it does not have an intermediate bearing. The biggest difficulty is to get the hub nut undone. they can be seriously tight. best method is to crack them off before you jack up and have the wheel off. The hub nut socket will fit through the wheel centre hole (on a steelie). You may need a long length of scaffold pole and a breakfast of four Weetabix. If that fails, drive to your nearest tyre place and get them to use their giant rattle gun on them.

On the N/S you may just be able to pull the driveshaft sufficiently far out of the way to replace the seal without removing the driveshaft from the hub. This won't be possible on the other side though.

The O/S shaft intermediate bearing is held in its housing by two "hockey sticks". Undo the two 11mm nuts about three quarters of the way up their threads until you can push and rotate the hockey sticks through 90 degrees. The driveshaft and bearing will now drive out of the intermediate bearing housing. It may be tight and some hammer and cold chisel persuasion on the driveshaft collar by the bearing may be needed to shift it.

Your caliper biding problem may well be partially seized handbrake cables or incorrectly adjusted handbrake cables. The outers of the cables split where they rub through the cable guide rings and let in the damp. They then corrode and seize partially. Good news is that although it looks a pig-dog of a job to do, handbrake cable replacement is a doddle :D
Jim

Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
xantia78
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Post by xantia78 »

Thankyou to everyone! Citrojim in particular, the blow by blow account helped alot.
I didn't need to take the shaft out of the hub in the end and the whole seal change took about half an hour.
While i was there i decided to change the discs and pads, the handbrake cable runs freely so i put the binding down to very worn and warped discs.
I was quoted £202 for a budget set fitted, a trip to GSF got me brembo discs and a set of pads for about £60!
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