A few xantia questions and info on my ownership maintanance.

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
xantia1
Posts: 18
Joined: 07 Mar 2012, 16:36
Location: Co Durham +North Yorkshire
My Cars:
x 2

A few xantia questions and info on my ownership maintanance.

Post by xantia1 »

Hi all, just posted in the new member area, I have just found this foum, I have a few xantia mk1 questions to ask that i will list for ease and hopfully can be answered. A little, lot!! of history on my xantia, I bought my 94 td sx 8 years ago from a friend who had a starting fault for £180, took ages to start in the morning but was fine once started, Sound familier? he had spent £800 on a s/h pump and lots of work but still the same..anyhow, i fixed a joined/repaired pipe, altho it wasnt leaking mind, and all was well, this car had 157,000 miles on then, I think i put 3 new abs sensors on it, cam belt and full service and all was good. the main thing I will say tho from experience is keep the car hot and with fresh coolant , i have replaced the thermostat every time the needle stays slightly below 80odeg c at normal running, as the fuel consumption drops a lot, I was getting about 470 to 500 miles a tank at first then i replaced the stat, the car from that day has never deviated from the 680 ish mark per tank, every tank and it is driven very hard over 8 years and the car has now done just short of 280,000 miles. In that time has only let me down, i.e wouldnt start once, i turned the key and only had position 1 lights on, so no fuel pump stop valve power, fortunatly had some speaker wire and put a supply to the fuel stop valve and off we went. It is now due its 4th cam belt in my ownership, 7th set of front tyres, so it is time to sort out some long term issues and other items that need attention due to its hard and long life. the car has been maintained by me and no expence spared in my experience with the car it seems to eat front end suspension and brake pads, ie drop links, wishbone bushes, track rod ends and ball joints, but it does get driven very hard over demanding roads. I have put only 1 front and rear height correctors on , one high pressure pipe on the car, 3 sets of spheres all round which is a testiment to the citroen suspension system that people are scared of!!!!. never had a rear end issue at all with brakes or arms, tyres seem to last forever there also. At 220000 I replaced the clutch and headgasket as it had the dreaded front oil leak, +a few of the above items again. last big spend had strut top mounts, all new discs and pads wheel bearings, flexi hoses,6 spheres,new door as it had rotted away, uj on the column, drivers door window meter, etc etc etc etc. that was about 48,000 miles ago. the car has also been running on waste veg oil filtered to 1 micron for the past 65000 miles, the only problem i have encountered with this is the tank pick up gause gets cloged up quite frequently. So, I have just sorned it again and have moved back down to driving my low mileage (235,000) mile v70 tdi. :cry: i can now go through the xantia and keep it in tip top condition hut only if i can sort these issues...if you are still awake I will ask the points.

1.The front suspension is not right, been like it now for about 3 years, if you bounce the suspension it is very hard at light pressure but moves fluidly with more pressure, On the road that equates to terrible at slow speeds and over speed bumps, over fast B roads isnt too bad because of the extra load, as above, it has been like this through a sphere change, new top mounts and all the suspension work twice now, makes no difference, on lowering the car, at the front, one side starts to drop very very slighty first and also the front has recently started to grown, when lifting and lowering it does so in surges rather than fluidly like the rear, so the spheres are 2years old, but was the same when replaced, the top mounts 2 years old, again the same when replaces, new height corrector 6 months ago, still the same. I have lived with it for a ling time now, but if i am going to keep it going i want these issues sorted...Any ideas??

2 the car is now 18 years old and this winter has taken its toll, most bits are easy but others are not, so, I am on the look out for white mk1 body pannels.

3 my key fob packed a few years ago,if i found a second hand one can you re programme them or do you need to go to citroen? it is the infra red with the red light and two button type again, if anyone knows where there is one.

4 last but not least, the rear height corrector is leaking, I have wiped it off to see if it is a pipe seal first, but if not, can you get the internal seals seperatly?

sorry for the long post.. any help greatly appreciated.
300,000 mile Xantia 1.9td sx (now scraped)
red_dwarfers
(Donor 2020)
Posts: 2504
Joined: 29 May 2008, 15:59
Location: Zomerzet UK
My Cars:
x 54

Re: A few Xantia questions and info on my ownership maintana

Post by red_dwarfers »

The only one I can answer with any confidence is the groaning front struts. These aren't lubricated by deliberate internal leakage like the back struts so you'll need to pull down the gaitors and stick some grease on them. As for choice of grease, I used Moly. It does the job but I'm not sure if there is any particular type that is more suitable.

There is a way of getting the car to learn new plips, might be worth doing a search to find that one.
Kev

'19 C4 Cactus 130 Flair
lexi
(Donor 2020)
Posts: 2803
Joined: 17 Apr 2008, 17:51
Location: Scotland
My Cars:
x 138

Re: A few Xantia questions and info on my ownership maintana

Post by lexi »

What a good Xantia story . Xantias I have found are all slightly different on suspension. Some are just better than others on suspension seemingly no matter what you do.
Citroen C5 1.6 HDI 110bhp Estate 06 plate

French Mistresses gone.
Citroen C5 HDI Mk 1 hatchback
Vel Satis 3.5 v6
ZX 1.9D Est.
ZX 1.9DHatch
Xantia 1.9td est.
Xantia 2.0 hdi Est.
Xantia V6 MK1
Xantia V6 MK 2
Stepto1
Posts: 349
Joined: 10 Oct 2010, 22:37
Location: Plymouth/Nottingham
My Cars:

Re: A few Xantia questions and info on my ownership maintana

Post by Stepto1 »

My 1.9TD is running really cool. Could this explain 37mpg at 85mph?
Xantia SX 1.9TD Gone to the breakers
Xantia LX 2.0HDI Taxed and MOT'd at last!
Xantia 1.8 16V SX On loan to brother-in-law
Sportrack off road toy
Series One Land Rover
Thundercat race boat
lexi
(Donor 2020)
Posts: 2803
Joined: 17 Apr 2008, 17:51
Location: Scotland
My Cars:
x 138

Re: A few Xantia questions and info on my ownership maintana

Post by lexi »

I would say that is about right mpg for that speed. You have it nearly flat out and overall they give about 42mpg.
Try a new T/stat anyway.
Citroen C5 1.6 HDI 110bhp Estate 06 plate

French Mistresses gone.
Citroen C5 HDI Mk 1 hatchback
Vel Satis 3.5 v6
ZX 1.9D Est.
ZX 1.9DHatch
Xantia 1.9td est.
Xantia 2.0 hdi Est.
Xantia V6 MK1
Xantia V6 MK 2
xantia1
Posts: 18
Joined: 07 Mar 2012, 16:36
Location: Co Durham +North Yorkshire
My Cars:
x 2

Re: A few Xantia questions and info on my ownership maintana

Post by xantia1 »

Thanks for the replys, I have had a look around for the key plip info and have found what I think I need to know, now I need to source a new or second hand key fob, I am going to try the strut lubeing, I think I will remove them and have a look anyhow as I will be dimantleing most of it to do the ball joints etc and want to but new ABS reluctor rings on due to the new MOT rules and regs. Regarding fuel consumption that I typed about, I drive mainly on B roads these days, and most of the high miles have been done on these or to be precise the famously named Helmsley TT b1257 road ,,in the Motor bike world that is, But to add to that I always get the tracking done at every bush or suspension and front tyre change which is about 20,000 to 23,000 miles and always have run on 185 michellin energy tyres with the corect tyre pressures (33psi) front, maybe all that seems a bit over the top, but to keep high mile'ers and 18 year old cars going when were doing nearly a 1000 miles aweek is the only way. and that is was getting me 680 miles per tank, I will work out the MPG on that, I know the tank full to the top is not far off 70 litres or so with all the filler neck pipes and when the light comes on I can get about 120 normally before i fill up or 140 miles if i am feeling brave, or stupid!! i know when I was doing a road and motorways It would easy do over the 700 miles. works out about 44ish which sounds about right, My V70 2.5 tdi volvo is crap prob 30-34 same conditions and maintainance stratergy, and its noisy, and its hard and bouncier than that bouncy castle i once hired!!!! I am also going to check the rear height corrector leak so see if it internal or not this afternoon..so,thanks for the input so far guys... Going for another look around on the forum for a few minutes..
300,000 mile Xantia 1.9td sx (now scraped)
Post Reply