Jon, is the Xsara growing on you then?

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bencowell
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Jon, is the Xsara growing on you then?

Post by bencowell »

Mate,
The Xsara just grows on you. Parents felt cold towards a Xsara and they bought a 206 instead. 8 months later I bought my Xsara, dad then would have changed his 206 for a Xsara. (All cars were 1.4's)
I think your Xsara needs some love and attention (with the right foot) and it will thank you for it.
There isn't much you can do to a Xsara, you could add cruise control, together with your tuning box you will have a great motorway cruising machine.
Enjoy it and remember you will get more smiles per mile.
Jon

Post by Jon »

Hm, I don't know what to do with it really Ben. It really is like having a brand new car, despite being registered in November 2000 it had only done 8340 miles when I got it at the beginning of this month. I've already put 1500 miles on top of that. It really does smoke a lot when booted which suggests a period of idleness, slow speeds and a coked up exhaust.
Its not a bad car, its just it does not have the acceleration and nimbleness of my previous ZX TD's. I could not honestly say that I will learn to love it. Certainly the 195/55/15 V rated tyres are overkill on a 90BHP diesel, and its hard to unstick. Safe, yes, very, but rather detached and lacking in fun.
To be honest, one of the reasons that I bought this car was due to the safety factor, multiple airbags, ABS, 3 star NCAP rated etc etc because I'm on the road for over 800 miles a week and want to come home each night to little girls of 1 and 3 respectively.
I don't actually hate it as my previous post suggested, I'm pretty neutral about it right now, but I'm learning to like it. Its not a ZX, a BX or a GSA, all of which I have enjoyed, its more modern solid and heavy.
Anyway, took the top cover off this afternoon to fit the Dragon box. Failed. the instructions point to red connector on the commonrail, which is clearly shown in picture, and seems easy to access. Unfortunately, my car has 2 red connectors on the common rail, and I THINK its the one in the middle of the rail, underneath. Lacking Octopus arms and child like hands I was unable to reach it to disconnect it so gave up. I may be able to get to it from underneath if I remove the undertray. The Dragon instructions showed a version of the HDi with the Oil filler and fuel filter in a different position than my own,and lacking myriad pipes; with easy access. Doh.
bencowell
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Post by bencowell »

Jon, another thought. If the oil has been changed 3 times and the car only done 10k miles, then the engine won't be bedded in properly.
What I'd do myself is to change for some 5w40 Total Quartz 9000 (From GSF of course), and drive like a nutter for a bit to try and loosen up the engine a bit. Ok, not like a nutter, but enthusiastically.
From what you say about the Dragon, the fitting instructions are nothing like the East Coast Racing box which I have. My box fits easily by just unclipping the wiring from the injector, piggy-backing the wires through the Powerbox and then 2 wires to the battery.
I'd also try changing the tyre pressures, maybe a couple of pounds more will liven up the handling. In the C5 I find that the dealer always reduces my tyre pressures to 1 psi below recommendation, I increase them to 1 psi above, it livens up the steering.
Are your tyres the same size as the originals?
I'm determined to make you like your new car.
Jon

Post by Jon »

I do try and like it, honest. Todays best quote is from Mrs W who took the Xsara to work this morning, leaving me the Blingo with the car seats in case I wanted to take the Girls somewhere.... "Your car is heavy, it feels heavy, and I've hurt my arm opening the door!!"
Changed pollen filter today, will look at Dragon box install again tomorrow with a clearer head ( just in from local hostelry)> :-)
Tyres are the originals, why 90 BHP Xsara needs 195/55/15 V rated tyres is beyond me.
bencowell
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Post by bencowell »

Jon, get the car down to an A road, use the loud pedal more, then you will see why wide tyres are good. It will corner like its on rails.
I have 195/65R15 on the C5, they are huge tyres, but the C5 is a good few hundred kilos heavier. Also, my tyres lasted 21,000 miles before I was at the "sod it, there's only a little more tread to use" and changed them cos replacements were only £60 each at Costco.
You can send me a pic of the connectors if you have a digital cam and I will give you my thoughts. Are you sure the box you have is for the correct injectors? I believe there are Bosch and Siemens injectors on the HDI.
Jon

Post by Jon »

Cheers mate, yes its definately the right box for the Bosch system which I have on the Xsara, otherwise I would have stuck in on the Blingo for a real hoot, but that has the Siemens Tecafiltre system.
I'm going to look at it again tomorrow and try and fit the thing.
What I'm still trying to understand is why the 90 BHP Blingo is a rev crazy beast that brings a grin to the faces of drivers and passengers alike, but the Xsara is a rice pudding.
bencowell
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Post by bencowell »

Simple really,
The Berlingo engine is run in properly. On paper the B'lingo is about the same speed as the Xsara, with the Xsara better handling, the Xsara should feel much better, although the B'lingo is already tuned.
I go back to what I said before about injector cleaner and good oil for the engine.
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Post by RichardW »

When we got our Xantia TD at 72k it had been 3 years as a lease car (but only covered 30k), then 4 years as a motability car (again at 10k/year). It was ponderous to say the least! Coming from a well run in BX TD it was a bit of a shock, and I thought what have I done?? However, after about 10k of loud pedal action (Never say to wife give the engine a good ragging to loosen it up....!) it was much better, and continued to improve over the next 10k - result, one properly run in Xantia TD, but not until it got to 90k!!!!
It still seems slow after a spin in the ZX though....!!
Jon

Post by Jon »

Ok,
Todays latest on the Xsara, still could not get red connector off common rail bar, even after removing the breather pipe for more access, gave up! Good news though, whilst I had all the plastic covers off found that throttle cable was really slack, still in the running in position, pulled it out a bit and put the clip back on, result! More power! Car was not getting full throttle before!
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Jon
Fitted Dragon to my 90 BHP Xantia - total b4stard to fit, it is the middle red connector, it is a twunt to get to and i had to employ a pair of long spencer wells forcepts which i "aquired" many moons ago from the operating theatre at Wythenshawe.... (like very long locking needle nose pliers)
Made a difference though, the Xant moves like the wind and has bags of torque for my towing use.
My suggestion, either employ the services of your 3 year old.... or fins some theatre forcepts (long ones) and get it fitted as you will be pleasantly surprised!
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Jon - another thought do you want me to post pics of my Dragon install?
If i get chance in teh next half hour i will do so, if not email me (jmrmcr @ hotmail . com )
ta.
marty.
Jon

Post by Jon »

Yep by all means post picture!
I was planning to mount the actual box in the plastic battery tray, theres plenty of room behinfd the battery, and it is completely protected from the elements there and invisible too once the top cover is re-fitted.
Now, it I could just get that pesky red connection off...........
[:(!]
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Fitting the Dragon HDI Tuning box to the 90 BHP Xantia (etc)[:D]
This applies to the Bosch engine only, and drivers of the 110 or Siemens system engines have it easy as they have more room to play with than us 90 Bosch engine ones.
Pic 1 – take off the cover (if anyone has a spare plastic retaining clip can they please email me as I lost one during the photo shoot).[:I]
Image
Pic 2 – The engine… the Fuel injection sensor plug you want (red) is the one circled, buried at the bottom of the injector rail and inaccessible to anyone with hands bigger than a 3 year old. I used a long pair of Spencer Wells Forceps from an operating theatre, you may be able to achieve the same effect with either a pair of needle nosed pliers or a small child’s hand.[}:)]
Image
Pic 3 – Piggy back…. Connect the red plug on your DRAGON lead T piece into the yellow car socket (very very very difficult and fiddly – see above), then connect the red plug from the CAR into the YELLOW DRAGON socket from the T piece.[:(!]
Image
Image
Pic 4 – Find a place to hide it! . …. There isn’t a lot of cable so I routed mine round the air box and placed it between the air box and the battery. Its supposed to get a fair air flow as can become hot in use, I cant say its been a problem with mine, hence protecting it from moisture by keeping it in a poly bag. It’s also very accessible to alter the setting on. And as the French would say, “what the blazes have you done that for? It was fine as it left the factory…”
All that remains is to set it up as per instructions, ive left mine set to a 15 to 20 % gain, and im very happy with it.[:D][:D][:D]
Image
Hope this helps, if not mail me and i will try and help, if all else fails contact me and i will snail mail you the forceps ( though i will want em back!)... Marty
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

BTW - fitted my air box with a K & N jobbie on ebay, not really noticed any extra ponies, but the fit and forget air filter may save a few bob over the years, another eBay special!
Jon

Post by Jon »

Thanks for that, great. Yes, my 90BHP Xsara has exactly the same layout, now I will have to devise some means of disconnecting the red plug, lacking those medical forceps. I did manage to gain some access earlier by removing the breather hose from the cam cover, but my hand was at such an acute angle I could not muster the strength to unclip it! Will make another concerted effort this week, even if I have to make some sort of tool.
If all else fails I will give up and swop the box for the Siemens Tecafiltre type and put it on the Blingo instead. I'm determined to get it on the Xsara though.....
Maybe I'll have to have a loan of the Forceps! Dragon don't tell you all this, "its a simple 5 minute job" Yeah, right. [:(]
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