Citroenmads Citroen blog.

[bxzx16v]

Hope you get the xantia sorted soon Chris , when's the C5's replacement arrive

Mark

[ragger]

Bad luck, Chris. If I can give you a hand with anything, let me know.

Not sure how you feel about personalised number plates but I saw one today that made me think of you:

C5 MAD.

It was on a C5 too and not a new one.

Rob

[Citroenmad]

That's why I could not see myself having a xantia or xm. Even good ones are going to be more likely to break due to age and I wouldn't have the skills, or the ability to try to learn them now, which would leave me having to find someone I trust, and then paying for them to find and fix these issues. It just wouldn't be good. I hope you trace the leak and get it fixed without too much bother. Leave the activa resting while the gritters are out and enjoy the bug while you can.

I've not got any closer to finding the leak yet, I need to remove the LHM tank. I've had two suspension leaks on C5s, which were not all that old at the time. Its just how it goes really and I can;t see the Xantias leak being caused by rust as its a very rust free car and where its leaking from doesn't look corroded. It might be down to wear and tear, I'll see once I get the tank off and see where the leak is. It'll be looked at and repaired at my earliest opportunity, I want it back on the road

Hope you get the xantia sorted soon Chris , when's the C5's replacement arrive

Mark

Well, it was never going to be directly replaced as having three large cars make little sense to me. However, I have got something else which I collected today ...

Bad luck, Chris. If I can give you a hand with anything, let me know.

Not sure how you feel about personalised number plates but I saw one today that made me think of you:

C5 MAD.

It was on a C5 too and not a new one.

Rob

Thanks Rob,

That is a great number plate, for a C5 and would have suited me if I still had one.

More on the 'new' car once the pictures upload

[Citroenmad]

After a few weeks thinking what I really want from another car, I have decided. I don't really need anything large as the Xantia estate is ideal for carrying people and luggage any distance I would like in total comfort. However, its been playing on my mind that it is a car I would like to keep nice and relitively low mileage. I tend to do about 400 miles a week of mostly motorway driving with a good bit of town use too, my morning commute often inclues a 40 minute, often inch by inch, crawl into the City Centre after 30 minutes on the motorway, it can be hard going. To protect my Xantia from my daily grind and the winter weather I set about looking for a smaller car which would be good on fuel, cheap to tax and insure, something I wouldn't notice the running costs of. Hopefully I have found just that car.

I have looked at quite a few C4s now, while I do really like them I've found to find a nice diesel one which hasn't got a worn interior (the seats don't seem to last well?) or has not done huge mileage it was more than I really wanted to spend, £3500 was my budget, or there abouts. I worry about the turbo on an unknown to me 1.6HDi. I also thought its not really that much smaller than a Xantia and would I use that for most of my driving instead of the Xantias - which is one reason why I sold my C5, so I would get more use out of them. I have really enjoyed hooning around in the C1 these past few weeks as I've had almost sole use of it. I do very much like C1s and was considering one of those, however I would like a better ride quality if possible.

So that was settled, my choice would be a small car, as small as you like as I have the Xantias for other uses. A car to get me to work and uni is what I want and something which I like, otherwise it won't last, I'll be bored and will be sold. Ideally I wanted something with low insurance, £20-£30 a year tax and great economy, ideal for my commuting and cheap to have around. Always a bonus!

I have looked at a lot of cars these past few weeks and either found over priced absolute tat or things which would do the job but didn't do much for me. My knowledge for PSA cars and my trust in their engines kept me looking at what was on offer there but I was looking at other things too. However, today I seem to have stumbled upon the perfect, to use Jims excellent term, 'Puddle Jumper'

Its a 2004 53 reg C2 1.4HDi SX with 87,000 miles in Oriental Blue with what I think is a great interior, Blue Atomic velour. It has almost a years tax (£20 a year!) and almost a years MOT. It has just been serviced, having had new front (budget) tyres and brake discs and pads. It has very good Michelins on the rear. There are a few marks here and there and a couple of things to do, mainly there is a noisy top mount on the front suspension and the AC needs a regas.

I went along thinking it would be rubbish, however its really not bad at all. All original, came with both remote locking keys, handbooks etc. For what it was up for I really couldn't have walked away, even if it is a little older than I had been thinking of. I even got some money knocked off that price too and so far I cant fault the car other than the slightly noisy top mount, which is £25 for the part and will take me an hour or two to fit, but is not an immediate problem. During my testing and running about today it has averaged over 62mpg

Here it is anyway:


The seats have no wear at all, and the interior is in great conditon.

Being an SX it has trip computer, steering wheel audio controls, air con, electric mirrors, front fog lights and the folding rear seats which also slide on only the SX spec. The rear seats also tilt up like an MPV, creating a quite large load bay, although the front seats do need to be further forward for this.

Its great, a car I can throw anywhere, not worry about it getting scratched or bumped and should be super cheap to run. Its also good fun to drive, handles decently and rides far better than you might imagine a tiny wheel based car to manage. I've only been in a VTS C2 previously which had extremely firmly damped suspension, to the point it was annoying. This is much more supple without being rolly polly. Im impressed with the refinement, for a little car its very good. The diesel engine is not very noticeable and at cruising pace not at all audioable. It sits at 80 very comfortably and does 2,500rpm at 70. Its also good at other motorway speeds. It drives like a far bigger car and the long dash and invisible bonnet add to this feel Its only when I turn around and almost can touch the back window that I notice its not However, in the front there is more than enough room for me, I can get a very comfortable dirivng position which in a small car I sometimes find difficult.

Hopefully it will prove reliable and it'll be around for a good while to take up the miles and daily grind. I might well get some C2 VTR alloy wheels for it with time. It'll go in to have the timing belt done and air con serviced in a month or two, once it has proven itself. The C2 has been a hit so far here, everyone seems to like it and I lost it to my dad this evening

The C3 Picasso is also a very well recieved car here, more on that another time!

[daviemck2006]

That looks a nice little car. I've had a few runs in c2's, but petrol. I like the colour, outside and inside. The 1.4hdi should be reliable and be nippy enough in the c2. I would think unless you really do drive it like you stole it that you would better 60mpg all the time. The seats would be better than the c1, lets be honest, a park bench is not fer off a c1 for seat comfort

[Citroenmad]

It does go quite well and I can imagine it'll do 65mpg with my average driving and useage.

The seats would be better than the c1, lets be honest, a park bench is not fer off a c1 for seat comfort

Your not wrong there and refinement is in another class too!

[bxzx16v]

That looks a little cracker Chris , it certainly looks at home with the C3 Picasso .

Mark

[Fake Concern]

That looks nice! I really like the split tailgate, wish I had that. You are right about the work seats on a C4, I looked at loads of them & that put me off most. Have fun with it.

[R9UKE]

Great looking car, Chris. Stunning colour! MUCH better than a C1

I chose a C2 as a replacement for my aunts Vel Satis on her cost cutting jive. Really enjoyed driving it, the light steering and comfy seats especially. The 5 hour motorway drive in a 1.1 petrol, on the other hand....

Hers has sliding and folding rear seats and its only an LX. Was that an option then?

[CitroJim]

Chris, anti-sink valve under the LHM reservoir is a good bet for the leak. Easy to fix too, just an O ring...

Else that, a perished return pipe...

True Davie, with Hydraulic Citroens there's always something to be doing on them... You soon acquire the skills though and by and large it's nothing very difficult.

Chris. that C2 looks lovely in that colour.. I adore those seats.. Another car that puts a smile on one's face. Cheeky little thing isn’t it!!!

[Citroenmad]

That looks a little cracker Chris , it certainly looks at home with the C3 Picasso .

Mark

It isn't bad Mark, they do make a decent couple

That looks nice! I really like the split tailgate, wish I had that. You are right about the work seats on a C4, I looked at loads of them & that put me off most. Have fun with it.

The split tailgate is a pretty useful feature and the fact the parcel tray is attached to the boot lid is great, makes loading very easy.

Yes, I saw some C4s with holes in the base and backrest edges and others with very thin material there. Some spec levels seem to have much more hard wearing materials.

Great looking car, Chris. Stunning colour! MUCH better than a C1

I chose a C2 as a replacement for my aunts Vel Satis on her cost cutting jive. Really enjoyed driving it, the light steering and comfy seats especially. The 5 hour motorway drive in a 1.1 petrol, on the other hand....

Hers has sliding and folding rear seats and its only an LX. Was that an option then?

I would have to agree, but they both have their merrits.

For a small car its really quite impressive and it is good fun too. I've enjoyed my commute with it today, very refined for its size, great HDi engine, fun handlight, light and reasonably precise steering and its used very little fuel. Just what I wanted

I think it might hav ebeen standard on the LX at some point actually or it was optional. The blurb I have says standard on the SX and optional on the LX, Furio and VTR.

Chris, anti-sink valve under the LHM reservoir is a good bet for the leak. Easy to fix too, just an O ring...

Else that, a perished return pipe...

True Davie, with Hydraulic Citroëns there's always something to be doing on them... You soon acquire the skills though and by and large it's nothing very difficult.

Chris. that C2 looks lovely in that colour.. I adore those seats.. Another car that puts a smile on one's face. Cheeky little thing isn’t it!!!

Thanks for those tips Jim, it does seem very possible to be the anti-sink valve. It'll be where I start looking

Thanks Jim, its a good looking little thing. And yes, it does put a smile on my face, I can see me having this C2 a good while!


I've been using it today and it has impressed. I had to transport a few large-ish boxes to somewhere but had to pick up two people on the way. I was amased that the stuff went in the boot without having to play with the rear seats and my passengers found it comfortable too. Not a car you would want to spend a long journey in the back of if your tall but fine for short trips. The front however is spacious, I'm looking forward to testing it on a long run.

[Citroenmad]

Well its been an interesting week or so with my cars.

I've had the C2 for over a week now, which I was using daily as planned. It was welcome as my HDi Xantia developed an LHM leak. However, the C2 only lasted in daily service for a few days, I don't think the C2 is to be. I have grounds to return the car with a full refund, I just hope the garage is helpful with that matter. Suffice to say I have not been able to use the C2 much. I just hope returning the car is an easy process without hassle but I'm not holding out much hope on that. If they persist in not offering a refund but offer a repair then I'll have this done and sell the car. I'll see what happens when the garage is open again on Tuesday.

Not to worry, my Activa has came to the rescue and has been my transport since I found the problem with the C2. I have to say, using the Activa daily is not a chore, at all

Its been quite a car filled weekend. I set off early yesterday on a 250 mile round trip to collect a replacement tailgate for the C5 estate. The original met with the front of a Jeep and was deemed not repairable but fortunately that was the only damage, it missed the bumper. I found one in the right colour, it came fully equipped with badges, rear screen etc, so it was ready to bolt on. I took the C5 estate for the run, I always found it more responsive than my 138 C5 HDi and the gearbox is more slick too. It does drive well and C5s are great for eating up motorway miles. It passed onto 100,000 miles on my way back home.

When I got home we set about replacing the tailgate, which is reasonably straight forward but the panel is far from light, it took three of us to get the old one off and the new one in place. Then we had to sort out the wiring, which took quite a while too but we got there. The C5 estate is back to its normal self again

Today I spent some more time looking for the LHM leak on my HDi Xantia and I'm pleased to say it is now fixed. As is often the way it was not obvious where the leak was coming from, as LHM was everywhere. My Exclusive also has its undertray still, which probably hid the leak as it was not dripping on the garage floor until it got worse. I thought the Leak was from the anti sink valve area, so I took out the LHM tank and inspected that area. It wasn't from there, it was wet but it didn't seem to be the source of the problem. I checked all of the top hoses which seemed fine. After cleaning everything up as best I could and blowing the area clean with a compressor airline, I refitted the tank and had it back up on the ramps.

Again it was difficult to see the source and the leak was on the return side. It seemed to be dripping off the air pipework on the underside of the engine, which seemed odd. When I was looking last week, I had noticed a the LHM brake return plastic pipe was against the air ducting pipework. So I removed the pipe and it is the offending sources. It has worn through from touching on the plastic piping, leaving quite a hole.

The LHM return pipe seemed a little short to me, there is not much give in it and not enough to get it away from the intake pipework. So instead of replacing the pipe with a new one I cut out the small worn section, found some tubing which would be a very tight fit on the original pipe and made it slightly longer. To ensure better protection I have double skinned it with a bit of rubber tubing which fits over the extended pipe very well. Not that the pipes will come apart, its only a return and they are pretty well snug. With the extra length the LHM pipe is now not touching the plastic intake pipe.

So my HDi Xantia is now back on the road and as good as ever, what a simple fix

Here is the offending pipe, you can see it touching the larger air intake piping:


The worn section:


Here is my repair, it looks slack there but that rubber tube covers a slightly larger pipe which made the extension:


And a couple of my two blue's from today:



It is a real shame about the C2, as I really do like the car and I have already set about improving this one. I might well look out for another one once this one is sorted out but it will have to be petrol. I quite like the 1.6 GTs, they look great with the white wheels with a blue or red body colour but we shall see.

For now I'm very pleased to have my Xantias and don't really need anything else

I'm not sure what I'm taking to the X-Rally yet, its evenly split between the two at the moment. I've got quite a few miles to do in the HDi Xantia the following week, so I might well bring the Activa.

[daviemck2006]

Thats a shame the c2 is not as good as expected. That's probably why it was sold. If you bought from a dealer, after just a week they should take back and give a full refund as car is unfit for purpose. Different for me with my private deal. It's a pity cos it's a nice wee car. If they fix it would it not be worth giving it a chance? Having said that getting a pup as both of us have does put you off a bit. I'm a wee bit off the c4 because of the extra money having to spend on it, had I to pay the biggie (roof) I think it would have been gone already, but I'm hoping it comes good.

[CitroJim]

Interesting on the C2 Chris... I'll be interested to hear more of the reasons on Sunday...

Great news on the HDi LHM leak and what an unusual cause... Good work on finding and fixing it. Excellent..

[bxzx16v]

I'm sorry to hear of problems with the C2 Chris , I hope you manage to sort things out with it . It's good to see the xantia sorted , I nearly had a similar problem with the Zx with a water pipe that was sagging and ONLY just being rubbed away , I managed to catch it before it failed and a couple of tie wraps cured it .

Mark