MOT time - Considering bailing out

[Cpt_Spalding]

1998 1.9TD Estate In for MOT today. What I know beforehand...

1. Needs new exhaust, mid & rear.

2. LHM leak at some kind of valve in front of the anti-sink sphere.

3. I'm sure I have warped brake discs somewhere (friends have confirmed by the feel of the braking).

4. 125K miles & still on original clutch.

5. Sinks right down at start-up, but pumps back up after a few seconds. (Accum & anti-sink already done) Could be the leak, could be rear spheres .

6. Air bag light on constantly (a sensor I believe).

I like the car but beginning to feel it's costing me too much. Bought in haste I fear (repent at leisure n'est pas?)

I'll wait & see what the damage is later today, but I've already got my eye on a replacement. Can't believe I'm looking at another Xantia.

This one's N reg TD hatch, 104K, FSH, timing belt done @ 92K, front & rear spheres @ 84K, new heater matrix at 75K, 9 mth tax, MOT to Apr & owner's garage reckons it will need a new front reg plate & the front
offside brake disc and pipe replacing to pass. All for £500

Can anyone recommend me a good psychiatrist in the Glasgow area?

[Cpt_Spalding]

It failed alright.

1. O/s front (rear bush) suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush

2. O/s rear brake pipe excessively corroded

3. Needs new exhaust (this much I knew).

4. N/s rear exhaust emits an excessive level of metered smoke for a turbo charged engine.

5. O/s front (looks like) touter silly (bad fax) has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.

On top of that I have at least one LHM leak & a couple of minor advisories.

Can anyone offer any hints on item nos 1 & 4?

I doubt I could tackle 2 or 5 myself but would be glad of any advice on the rest.

[jgra1]

5 = outer sill



4 = probably injector cleaner direct into fuel pump , and some into tank, then oil and air and fuel filters and a good full thottle blast

2 may not be to bad a job

1 quite easy

hmm shame to get rid of a 10 year old car.

others will be along to help more than more (in a rush )

John

[jgra1]

5 = outer sill



4 = probably injector cleaner direct into fuel pump , and some into tank, then oil and air and fuel filters and a good full thottle blast

2 may not be to bad a job

1 quite easy

hmm shame to get rid of a 10 year old car.

others will be along to help more than more (in a rush )

John

[CitroJim]

5 is a bit strange/difficult as is 2. Corrosion on the sills and brake pipes is a very rare occurrance and usually as a result of repaired accident damage at some point in its life.

5 will need the attention of a welder. 2 though is easy, just replace the pipe. Cheap enough to buy one from Citroen and pre-formed.

4: If John's suggestions fails (which I doubt ) you need to observe the smoke and see the colour. If it's blue it's burning oil and if black or grey you have poor combustion. Black is usually a lack of air or bad injectors whilst grey is unburned fuel from low compression. Oil burning can be caused by bad rings (unusual) or valve stem seals or badly worn stems. To fully diagnose, we need to have lots of details of how much it smokes and under what circumstances. Don't forget if the vehicle has not run much recently, it may just need a good "Italian Tuneup" to clear the smoke. It is remarkable how much soot can gather in the silencer, make smoke and fool the MOT tester

1 is very straightforward.

Wheter or not to proceed depends on the prognosis of 5 and 4 mainly, both could be expensive to put right. It very much depends on the overall condition of the rest of the car. Seems a shame to scrap a car with all that service history and a recent heater matrix!

[Cpt_Spalding]

Seems a shame to scrap a car with all that service history and a recent heater matrix!

lol. The one with the history & heater matrix is the replacement I've got my eye on.

In addition to what's listed wrong on mine, it also needs track rod ends & one or two other things I think. he told me the details over the phone then faxed the sheets through, however the 1st page came out blank.

I remembered him saying track rod ends later.

If I hadn;t fallen out with my sister tonight I could have kept the estate for spares in her driveway for a while.

Still to get the full sp & costs on the failure before I go eating humble pie there.

[RichardW]

I've changed the rear brake pipes on a Xantia. Not nice The O/S one is the worst too, as it is the long one that is threaded all the way in behind the height corrector and antisink gear. They're not too bad if you fit Copper ones, but it took me a long time to persuade the old pipe fittings and bleed nipples out of the calipers, and to get the old pipe stubs out of the K splitter under the car.

TBH I'd go with your original suggestion and bail out of this one - there's a good weekend's work there, and a few £00 in parts. As you have seen you can buy one with a decent MOT for less time and effort..... Needing welding on the sill is a bad sign - Xantias hardly ever rust - and the outer sills are galvanised, so god only knows why this one has rusted.

[Cpt_Spalding]

Confirmed.

The testing station said £1000 but they could about do it as a favour for £750. Too much.

Nearly dead already. Home now & a huge pool of LHM under the car. Power steering near packed in too no doubt due to lack of LHM. Didn't get the other Xant. felt a bit nervous after this one.

Read in Honest John that he rates the Primera & the Mondeo so looked for one of those & ended up with a Mondeo.

So, the Xant estate is now available for spares or repair (spares realistically). Will advertise local. It does have a few pretty new bits on it. Steering rack (just before me), Accum & antisink spheres, front height adjuster, handbrake cables, good engine, gearbox & pretty well shod really.

Sad to leave the forum. I'm sure the Xantia is a good car, but like Honest John says, got to find a good one. I didn't & darn did it cost me.

Good luck all.