A couple of Xantia niggles

[c.morewood]

Occasionally when restarting the Xant after a short stop, refuelling or a stop at the shop. I turn the key and she either doesn't start or takes just that bit longer. This is associated with the dash dial needles gong all the way round ( like a low battery start) and the radio loosing its code. It doens't happen often and is just a little annoying having to reset the code. Any ideas? The Batttery terminals (they've been replaced)are fine and the battery is fully charged. Maybe a short at the ignition switch?

The other niggle is a bit more worrying.
I've noticed for a while that when pulling away in 1st I get a sensation through the steering like a badly out of balance wheel. It doesn't last long as I tend to short shift into second where there's no sign of it. Its slightly worse, I think, when turning a corner and accelerating in 1st.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Chris

[Lighty]

It is certainly a voltage issue, check your replacement battery terminals as the screw on repair ones are not easy to make good. Engine earth, ie on the gearbox sometimes fail.
The shaking gear stick sounds like a driveshaft inner joint, check for even small amounts of free play.

[c.morewood]

Spot on Lighty!! The negative lead battery to gearbox was failing. Now backed up with another.
The gear stick itsself isn't shaking ... more like the whole car, but of course I only feel it through the steering wheel.
I had wondered if one of the engine mounts was failing and allowing the engine to move when under the high torque of 1st gear and that was making the driveshaft off center and creating the vibration?
Thanks,
Chris

[c.morewood]

In addition to the out of balance feeling accelerating hard below 20mph in 1st gear, I'm also getting a clunk at the end of a period of braking, so
I'm going to give the engine mounts a change first of all as they aren't too expensive and I'm pretty sure I can do them myself. And being 240k miles old they could probably do with replacing!!

I found this on e bay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Engine-Mount- ... 5339485065" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Will they fit both rear and bottom mounts?

Does anyone have any tips on changing Xantia rear and bottom mounts.
Any advice gratefully accepted.

Chris

[citroenxm]

Bottom mount would need to come off the engine to work on it easyer. its not hard to do but you do need to take the whole drivers drive shaft out first and hope the half shaft bearing comes out easyilly enough.. theres just four bolts hopding it on to thr back of the block... the engine will swing back a bit but wont go far...do the bottom one first then work on the top ones.. have a jack to support the engine when dooing the upper ones.. remember on a 110 theres also the small tourque link mount bolted to the syspension turret at the top that also breaks easilly and can cause a knock on engine rock too..

[87chopper10]

Try the middle and rear bushes on the wishbone. I had the same problem with the steering, I only fixed after a bad blowout. Might need re-tracking after though.

[c.morewood]

Thanks guys.. both the wishbone bushes are new .. But just in case I checked them today and the are still fine with minimal play.. the top engine bush was replaced about 4 months ago .. that was completely shot. I'll try the rear bush first and see if that makes a difference.
I swapped wheels today (swapped corners) and that seems to have minimised the movement.
Thanks again,
Chris

[c.morewood]

I had a look underneath today whilst changing the gearbox oil... I measured it correctly this time...It looks like the bottom mount has a good bit of play in it and needs replacing.. this could be the reason for some gear changes not completing (noticeable after turning corners and braking)
I was wondering if it was possible to get the bush off in situ without removing the drive shaft... It looks do able with a press or something like a large G-clamp.
Has anyone tried this?
Also whilst under there I noticed some oil on the large hose, I believe its the intercooler hose running alongside the sump, The oil is not coming from the sump, oil filter or gearbox and it is engine oil. Could this be a sign of a split hose?
I don't usually go above 2500 RPM but I was overtaking a truck up a fairly steep hill yesterday and couldn't get over 3000 RPM in 4th. I've been thinking she was a bit down on power lately but the MPG has been good so I wasn't worried.

Chris

[c.morewood]

Just to keep you up to date on the original post.. The power issue was a broken earthwire from the gearbox to the battery. Fixed by running another in parallel.
The " badly balanced wheel whilst turning feeling" was in fact the rear engine mount it was completely shot.. the replacement of which has cured a few problems .. not wanting to go into 3rd gear.. a clunk when stopping ..and the car generally feels like its handling better.
And yes it is possible, but not easy to replace the mount in situ. I had to drill out the old rubber to remove the center and very carefully hammer one edge of the remainging metal with a cold chisel and a bolster.. i now have no strength left in my arms!! Meanwhile the new mount was in the freezer.
I greased the before assembly and managed to get the mount halfway before I had to resort to heating the aluminium body to allow me to drift it most of the rest of the way, finishing the final 5mm with a G clamp... not too large though as there's limited space in there.
Hope this helps someone