Xantia 1.9TD Timing belt Cost?

PicassoPigeon · Post by **PicassoPigeon** » 09 Aug 2004, 17:41

Have phone a local indy cit and they gave a price of £200+vat for the timing belt, tensioner and water pump. Is this any good?
Is it best to stick with citroen garages or would it be a good idea to try else where?
We only have 3 near Plymouth that i know of, and 1 of those is rubbish[:(!], as they did an oil change for me but really only chaged the filter as the oil was still black when i got home, some 10 miles at most.[:(!]
Thanks.

Post by **RichardW** » 09 Aug 2004, 17:58

£200+VAT sounds about right to me. Belt alone would normally be around the £130 mark. I wouldn't go to a main dealer - try and find an independent Cit / Pug specialist.
As to the oil - it goes black VERY quickly in these engines - like about the time it takes to run the engine to get oil pressure and check there are no leaks[;)] If the filter was changed it's a pretty safe bet they dropped the oil as well.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 09 Aug 2004, 19:03

Diesel engines pick up a load of black gunge which can be cleaned out with nothing more than an oil change. Daily for three months. £200+vat is very reasonable for the work. After parts costs are accounted for, your independent is only charging you for about 3 hours labour which is certainly about right, but he'll be aware that it is a fiddly job so he must know what he's doing. I'd let him get on with it. A non specialist mender could well take longer and make a mess of it if he hasn't seen one before. Your man will at least know how to ensure that the fuel pump timing is not disturbed and believe me you wouldn't want it to be disturbed. Citroens are supposed to be eccentric but not deranged!

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 09 Aug 2004, 19:16

Do my oil every 3000 miles or six months, and it goes black straight away, literally by the time the engine has got hot, It's not worth the hassle for them to not change the oil I would imagine, Its the way diesels are i'm afraid.
£200 seems very reasonable for that amount of work.

PicassoPigeon · Post by **PicassoPigeon** » 09 Aug 2004, 19:17

The independent that i have spoken too has said that they have never changed a tensioner on a xantia before, should i still get it done or let them do it their own way.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 09 Aug 2004, 20:47

Ask if they have done a peugeot 405/406 - which is exactly the same engine.

P 2501 · Post by **P 2501** » 09 Aug 2004, 21:23

when i first got my car (1997 pug 306 xtdt) i had the oil changed by my local mechanic and i too thought they had ripped me off and not changed it cos it was totally black.But later i learned more about these engines and yes, this is totally normal.
I have since started doing oil changes at 3000 miles though, which is about every two months for me, and i have noticed that the oil is still golden-ish after about 50-100 miles so i think i am being a bit excessive with the frequency of my changes! i am going to extend it to about 4-5000 miles in the future.

np · Post by np » 10 Aug 2004, 01:47

Try a Puegeot main dealer.When i needed just the belt done,the 3 local indys quoted £175-£210 all in.Citroen,£365!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Local Puegeot main dealer £145 all in.Needless to say i went there.
That was about 18 mths ago in Bristol.
I changed my oil 3 weeks ago.Checked the level the next day after 20ms,black.

PicassoPigeon · Post by **PicassoPigeon** » 13 Aug 2004, 22:38

Cam belt done, £200 inc vat better than i thought. Guy told that the brake pads on the front are low, had a look on GSF web shop but there are so many what ones do i need, anybody have a part number.
Thanks
PS The independent Cit specialist who i said was rubbish about the oil change, well when i took that car to him i knew that i had a big oil leak and did not tell him, he did not tell me about it after the oil change and he should have seen it. The sump was cracked and oil was p.ing out with the car off.