Hello Forum!
I found this forum recently whilst in a desparate search for decent info on changing ZX rear subframe rubber bushes. The usual Haynes problem where several pages are devoted to extracting one tiny trim screw in one area, but only one line of text is given for removing and replacing the whole rear subframe! (okay, I exaggerate a bit). Thanks to the technical info bit on this forum I managed to complete the job hassle free.[:D]
I now have a couple of questions relating to my ZX which some people may be able to shed light on:
1) At the same time as changing the rear subframe mounts (the front ones were badly perished and the metallic parts crumbling, the rears had completely 'de-bonded'!) I also had to have two new rear tyres (was still on original 1994 Michelin's after 72000 miles!) fitted a couple of days later without any 'proper' driving in between to see what effect just changing the mounts had had on the handling. Before the change of mounts and tyres I thought that the handling was very good - safe and predictable with just a bit of gradual benign understeer. Since changing the mounts and tyres, I have noticed that the handling is much more 'lively'. This is good in that I now need to use smaller steering wheel movements than before when cornering, and the car tucks into quick corners really nicely and just keeps on gripping!. However, I seem to get more 'oversteer' (or maybe just me 'overcorrecting'?) than before, and the car seems more twitchy in a straight line than before, especially on bumpy roads. Is this just because this is how it should feel with new rubber mounts and tyres and I had just got used to the worn tyres and slack mounts? Or could there be a problem with the new mounts (I am pretty sure they are correctly installed) or with the new tyres which are Michelin Exalto's (with a directional tread) on standard 16V alloys. Tyre pressure are all bob on. Front tyres have plenty of tread and are Michelin MXV3's. Local specialist has advised that I change the front track rod ends within the next 1000 miles as they have a little play in them. Could this be the cause? Anyone have any experience with different tyres? or new mounts compared to old. I don't really push the car that hard - I need to make it last !!
2) My second query relates to the ignition system (I think). Over the past couple of years (I have owned the car since it was 2.5 years old) VERY occasionally I have noticed a split second hesitation whilst accelerating, not necessarily immediately after depressing throttle, and sometimes almost on a trailing throttle, i.e. just cruising along. Recently it has done this slightly more frequently, Perhaps once every 100 miles or so, and the duration of the hesitation has lasted longer, maybe only still about 1 second long at the most though. It now feels like it is dropping to three cylinders. Within the past couple of days, at the end of a 200 mile motorway trip I pulled up outside home to have it suddenly decide to idle very lumpily, again, as if on three cylinders. I put the car into the garage and the next morning started it again, expecting the 'anomoly' to cure itself as it has done previously, but nope, still on three cylinders! (I assumed) That evening I took off the top cover and ran the engine (still idling roughly) and sequentially removed the spark plug cap/coil assemblies. When I got to No.2 cylinder, the engine note and speed did not change, whereas it had dropped significantly when No.1 was removed. I repeated this a couple of times to confirm that this was the suspect one and suddenly it kicked in again and ran perfectly. Is failure of the individual coils on the 16V engine a common occurence? Could it fail gradually over time (as seems to be the case). The spark plugs all had the same appearance, which to my mind was a little more 'red' than I'm used to compared to the normal 'light brown' colour you get. Any ideas anyone? I also very occasionally have trouble starting from hot and cold, requiring many turns of the starter before it kicks in compared to the usual rapid burst into life. Spark plugs are nearly new Bosch multi-spark jobbies.
Apologies for the length of this query. I haven't yet got used to being concise in chat forums !! [:I]
ZX 2.0 16V Queries
Moderator: RichardW
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Jon
Brief reply!
1)Assuming mounts all fitted Ok, tyre pressures good, wheels not about to fall off I can only offer a couple of comments. i)Give the new tyres a bit of time to scuff off, I use Michelins myself myself and find that when fitted they are a bit slippy for the first few hundred miles until they get a bit scuffed. )ii Definately get the track rod ends changed, its one of those things on a ZX where a small amount of play makes a difference to the handling and feel of the car. On my ZX upon collecting it I found the handling pretty "interesting" and a quick check found excess play in the O/S track rod end. Sorting that out improved matters no end.
2) ZX 16v coils used to be a notorious problem, have to be careful because if one coil goes down the car can backfire and destroy the catalyst. Citroen recommend that they are changed as a set of four! Most people take the sensible route of just replacing the faulty item, £32 & VAT from GSF.
1)Assuming mounts all fitted Ok, tyre pressures good, wheels not about to fall off I can only offer a couple of comments. i)Give the new tyres a bit of time to scuff off, I use Michelins myself myself and find that when fitted they are a bit slippy for the first few hundred miles until they get a bit scuffed. )ii Definately get the track rod ends changed, its one of those things on a ZX where a small amount of play makes a difference to the handling and feel of the car. On my ZX upon collecting it I found the handling pretty "interesting" and a quick check found excess play in the O/S track rod end. Sorting that out improved matters no end.
2) ZX 16v coils used to be a notorious problem, have to be careful because if one coil goes down the car can backfire and destroy the catalyst. Citroen recommend that they are changed as a set of four! Most people take the sensible route of just replacing the faulty item, £32 & VAT from GSF.
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furyspyder
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Many thanks for the prompt reply !
1) Tyres/Mounts: I did about 400 miles last weekend - mixture of motorway and fast 'A' road and rear tyres still have a new 'sheen' to them! Will wait for them to wear a bit more. Are ZX's known to be light on rear tyres? I'll do the track rod ends too (or get them done - time permitting).
2) Ignition problem: You said that ZX 16V coils 'used to be a notorious problem'. Does that mean that they sorted the problem on later cars? Mine is a facelift model, late '94. Do the symptoms I higlighted point to a faulty coil? Do they go gradually or do they 'let go' suddenly? What about the spark plug colouration - Is 'reddy-brown' acceptable? I'm sure it was normally always much lighter.
Thanks again.
1) Tyres/Mounts: I did about 400 miles last weekend - mixture of motorway and fast 'A' road and rear tyres still have a new 'sheen' to them! Will wait for them to wear a bit more. Are ZX's known to be light on rear tyres? I'll do the track rod ends too (or get them done - time permitting).
2) Ignition problem: You said that ZX 16V coils 'used to be a notorious problem'. Does that mean that they sorted the problem on later cars? Mine is a facelift model, late '94. Do the symptoms I higlighted point to a faulty coil? Do they go gradually or do they 'let go' suddenly? What about the spark plug colouration - Is 'reddy-brown' acceptable? I'm sure it was normally always much lighter.
Thanks again.