Teething problems!

[LeWaftBarge]

Afternoon all!

A month ago, I took the plunge and bought a 2000 plate Xantia HDi LX. I'd previously promised never to enter French car ownership after owning a 406 that started off fine, then degenerated into a pile of faults within three months, ended by a conrod making a break for freedom and exiting stage left.

This car seemed like a billy bargain. New MOT, 83k on the clock and generally very nice condition. Vitally the air con worked, and in dark metallic grey it looked fantastic. I bought it and set about going home.

Upon passing a fuel station, I figured it'd be a good time to brim the tank and see what I get to a tank. Started filling up (it was on fumes) and I then started brimming it to the point where I can see the level in the filler neck. I remember wondering to myself how large the tank was in this bloody thing, as we had passed 70 litres.

Well it turned out my car was anxious at the prospect of a new owner and did a wee of Shell's finest on the forecourt. Whoops!

Looking underneath the car it seems to come from the top of the tank. Is this a case of me being a retard by trying to brim it to a visible level, or is there something more sinister afoot?

Also, I have followed the procedure to read the LHM level, but I'm fairly certain the float is stuck. Any way to ascertain for certain, or a removal procedure? The steering very occasionally goes stiff very momentarily too, could these be related?

One final question, is there a sticky for jobs that must be done on buying a new one, such as essential jobs to prevent future despair? Couldn't see anything at a glance.

(On the plus side, I'm getting 51mpg at the moment, and that's including the fuel I leave behind on the floor!)

Cheers, hope to be a helpful member of this forum!

Glenn.

[jgra1]

good economy

my hdi in the C5 has easily does 47 fully loaded at speed.

re first problem.. up with the back seat base cushion (the double seat cushion) lift carpet and the plastic panel of it's fixings and pop the big rubber thing off and get the torch on her

she shouldnt be weeing anyplace..

John

[LeWaftBarge]

Cheers John, I'll be popping that off soon to do that!

I forgot, I didn't show the ol' girl off, where are my manners?





She still scrubs up nicely got a DAB radio fitted to her which works through the steering controls and immediately changed the front brake discs and pads too. This month shall see her serviced and I'll find out what the cambelt is like. There's rumours it's had a change but I can't find any supporting paperwork, as usual!

[jgra1]

hmm a DAB.. interesting... that's an upgrade that I woud like..

Same colour as my 3rd xant.. quite like it..

[LeWaftBarge]

I would hold off DAB for a while until they increase the signal strength a tiny bit more. It's all well and good in the city but in rural Wiltshire where the other half lives I find myself singing along to renditions of songs sung by the lovechild of Stephen Hawking and a Dalek.

So yeah, signal quality is on the way, but not quite there yet!

[citronut]

she looks very noce,

the citro blood level indicators do not get stick even though there are some members on here that think they can/do,

all the ones i have looked at with the float hard up into the top of the sight glass have just been over full,

you cant check the level by looking into the tank, as when correct quantity in there and car fully up on high, it should only be about half the tank full if that,

you do know to check the citro blood level, you need to put her fully up on high, on level ground before reading the level indicator

[LeWaftBarge]

Yeah, that was where mistake number two rears its ugly head. I may have put 2l of the fluid in the system the second day I bought it thinking it was empty causing it to overflow. There doesn't seem to be any lasting damage though so I guess I got lucky, I'll drain the system down and start again!

[Mandrake]

There shouldn't be any damage from overfilling, the only real consequence is oil running down through the engine bay making a big mess...

I would just set the suspension to high and leave the engine idling, give it about 3 minutes before checking the level, if its still too high just syphon some oil out of the tank into a container using a clear plastic hose until the level is correct. As Malcolm says, the correct level when the suspension is right up is very low in the tank, I'd say only about 1/4 full. (the float has a long stalk that reaches down near the bottom...)

[Hell Razor5543]

As you mentioned brakes, I would suggest you have a look at the rear brakes from directly above. What you what to see would look a bit like this [- (on the NSR, [ being the calliper, while - is the disk). What you DON'T want to see is \- (again, on the NSR, \ is calliper and - is still the disk).

The Xantia and C5 rear brakes have a corrosion issue caused by dissimilar metals reacting. The hard material pushes the calliper off alignment. The following post covers it in better detail;

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=38467" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LeWaftBarge]

This is all top info, I'll be a busy chap soon! Thanks for the warm welcome too, some owners forums are really clique-y, I think I'll fit in here just fine!

[Hell Razor5543]

Welcome aboard.

The attitude of THIS forum is like that of a proper English pub, where people go to have a drink and chat with friends. Every so often somebody asks for help in the hope somebody will have an answer (preferably one that will work, but sometimes suggesting they wait until so-and-so turns up). There are members who really know about certain things (CitroJim, for example, knows auto boxes even though he says he doesn't). The forum was set up to help those with French cars keep them running properly.

I personally cannot stand those forums that treat newbies as less than pond scum who should take their car to a garage to fit a tyre valve cap.

[Northern_Mike]

This is all top info, I'll be a busy chap soon! Thanks for the warm welcome too, some owners forums are really clique-y, I think I'll fit in here just fine!

Welcome. This place is nice. I've been on plenty of forums and this is the best and most polite. I've met some members in person and they're all nice chaps.

There's always good advice and helpful people about.

I asked a simple question on a certain Japanese car forum and got ridiculed and told off. The ensuing argument got me banned. Morons.

This sounds crazy, but I almost want to buy yet another Citroen that breaks more often just so I can participate here. Great bunch.

[addo]

I personally cannot stand those forums that treat newbies as less than pond scum who should take their car to a garage to fit a tyre valve cap.

And for showing attitude like that, you can $%^%$*I&^*&^)$#%^&(^%&%$^*&^%^%$#W%#$^$%...

[LeWaftBarge]

Well I've had a gander underneath the seats and found this:



So the leak certainly appears to be coming from that area, the return pipeline doesn't clip in fully but doesn't seem to be my issue. There seems to be a bit of vertical play in the tank unit, so I think a seal change might be in order. Is it simply a case of swapping them over, or do I need to glue it in place?

Aside from that, running like a charm!

[Hell Razor5543]

She looks very nice. Cleaner looking than mine (Gracie, but she won't thank me for saying that), but she looks like she might be a bit high at the front. When she is parked on level ground, and the height is set to normal, how many fingers can you get between the wheel and arch? The engine has to be running.

Do you know which HDi engine is fitted? There are two options; 90HP (without the intercooler) and 110HP (with the intercooler). Both are good, but the 110 is better.

There is a Citroen rally at the end of the month. Any chance of seeing you both there?

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 24&t=44759" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;