Xantia - coolant leak in passenger footwell

[KatAstrophe]

Hi all, New to Citroens and new to here but have been reading through the forums and you all seem really helpful

I have just purchased a 1998 Xantia 1.9SD Temptation 2 and it has quite a large puddle (above carpet level) in the passenger footwell and the blower (de-mister) doesn't work.

I've read lots and lots today and from what I can gather it could be one of several things (the fluid is greasy so think is coolant rather than water & the coolant level was very low) - it could be the heater matrix or a leak in the pipes or a tank (can't remember what it was called!).

I appreciate that there are lots of topics on this subject but I was wondering if someone could help me by answering the following:

Is the leak and the u/s blower likely to be connected?

Is there any way to check if it is the matrix before I take the dash out?

Is it worth trying Forte Stop Leak (or equivalent) before doing anything major?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions, please don't ask me the obvious question of 'why did I buy a car with a foot spa included'!

Many thanks all
Kat

[rory_perrett]

The non working blower and the leak could be connected, but probably aren't

If you looked around the forum you know the heater matrix is a problem. Forte Stop leak is worth a try, if it works its £12-£15 well spent. If it doesn't then you've just addeed that to the cost of replacing the matrix. How much coolant are you loosing?

Rory

[KatAstrophe]

Thanks for the reply, I only picked the car up last night and have topped up the coolant today. I won't be running it until Monday (road tax) but will keep an eye on puddle to see if it's got worse - will it still leak if it's not under pressure?

I notice there are two fuse boxes, do you know which one has the fuse for the blower?

Thank you:-)

[swiss_steve]

Hiya,

I don't want to ruin your day, but I'm afraid you've got to brace yourself to a new heater matrix, and that a complete dashboard out job - big, big job!

The pressure in the system will gradually increase as the engine gets warmer (natural expansion of water as a coefficient of temperature), and you simply can't reduce the heater system pressure by turning off the heater, because the coolant always passes through the matrix as with the rest of the car's cooling system.

Good luck!

Steve

[Xaccers]

Matrix isn't that bad a job, it's just rather long so if there's two of you doing it give yourselves a whole weekend with early starts.
Hardest part has to be pulling the heater pipes out of the matrix from the engine bay.
Quite often they crack at the elbows which is a real PITA.

[rory_perrett]

The fuses for the fan are in the fusebox under the dashboard to the right of the steering column. Fuse F5 is the main supply to the fan (I think)

Thread here http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=41266" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is about my latest fun and games with the Xantia Ventilation system

Rory

[falling-out-with-my-car]

I have had water close to the front seat floor bracket in the passenger footwell and along the side of the exaust tunnel lately but very small amounts of what appears to be clean water (it is not greasy) and it doesnt smell of anti-freeze (curry) the expansion bottle levels are also not dropping either in my S2 xanita.
I have resealed the bottom of the winscreen close to the edge of the plastic surround and still cannot stop the water getting in I have checked the door seal to I believe the rain is getting in somewhere and we have had a lot of heavy rain this year but I am not able to find out where it is comming in, my next stop will be Fort'e stop leak if I cannot find this clean water leak I am bracing myself for the possibility that it may well be the heater matrix. I always drive with the air blower running it has become a bit of a habbit running it on Auto I am wondering if it is drawing in rain water somehow trickling down the bulkhead, this is not a puddle as such just a damp carpet not soaking wet as in the above situation. I dried it all out once but after about a week it returned again. The worrying part is that the actual bulkhead directly below the heater fan seems to be dry but there is so much sound prooffing to pull up from the bulkhead there could be water flow behind it. fortunately I won't be phaffing around with the airbag system as I have turned it off.
Regards Nigel.

[Clogzz]

still leak if it's not under pressure?

You can test for that by running the car with the coolant cap left loose, as I always do.