My first Activa

[Matt H]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking for a little while now, and though I should say hello and post up a few details of my very first Xantia, an Activa. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, in need of some of attention - however being sold with some Tax and an MoT until September, I figured it was worth a punt.

This was it in the barn when I picked it up:


My Dad bought it off eBay for an agreeably small amount of money, so I swapped it for my old Alfa 156 Sport Wagon, having always wanted an Activa. Despite the rock-solid suspension, dodgy ride height, nasty paint peel and a few other cosmetic issues, it actually wasn't in too much of a bad state.




This is not my first Citroen, but I have never attempted to perform any work on the hydraulic system before. So, with an eBay sphere removal tool in one hand, and a useful How To printout from this forum (Thanks by the way) in the other I gave it a go. Having bought all ten, I stopped at the four corner spheres and the main accumulator for now, as I'm a little wary about doing the rest. They seem somewhat less straight forward and difficult to access without a proper ramp.

The ride however has been significantly improved, which is a relief as I need to use it for getting to work and back. In fact, other than the still slightly-too-high ride height it drives surprisingly well. I do however know what a good Activa is supposed to feel like, and still have some way to go! There is a problem with the front height corrector, due to someone fitting an incorrect exhaust centre section, and mullering the front subframe to make it fit apparently.



There's a big list of things still to do, most of which is hinging on some parts I ordered from Citroen over six weeks ago... I did manage to change a dead front ABS sensor, which fixed the ABS fault (Again thanks for the pinout guide!). One of the biggie MoT fails out of the way. I'm still waiting on a strut top, all the various Activa bushes and a few other odds and sods from Citroen, before the car makes its way back up to BL Autos for some final fettling.

Niggles to sort out:

- Need a new colour coded driver's side mirror (is the outside temperature sensor in the driver's mirror, my display doesn't function?)
- Rev counter doesn't work. Not sure if this a common problem or not. Will it be the unit, or the wiring?
- Engine mount feels rather warn. Changed one of them, which helped, but it still isn't right.
- New tyres. Budget fronts grip fine, but seem to be wearing rather badly on the shoulders. Rear Dunlops look about 10 years old, and both have nails in them.
- Cosmetics. Not really sure what the game plan is, but it needs paint. Rather a lot of it. I'll get it driving right first!
- It needs an Activa badge for the rear. Anyone got a spare?

Well that's about it. There are other issues, but on the whole, I think it's a totally saveable prospect. Despite the poor cosmetics, there is a good car underneath. I'll do some proper pictures of it when I get a second, if anybody is interested.

Wish me luck!

[Northern_Mike]

Good luck Matt. Looks nice. If you dare to let us know where you are, there's the odd one of us who's had these before and might feel like popping over to help you with those spheres sometime...

Sent from my GT-I9505

[Hell Razor5543]

On my S2 Xantia the outside temperature sensor is in the nearside mirror.

[Matt H]

Thanks Mike. It does look quite nice. From ten feet I'm in Northamptonshire, in the Kettering/Wellingborough area.

The reason I thought it might be in the O/S mirror is that mine's had a non painted replacement at some point. Happy to be corrected though!

[CitroJim]

Welcome to the world of Activa ownership from a fellow owner of a red one Matt

Paint is a problem on red ones. I've just had to have my roof and bonnet resprayed to sort out some very bad lacquer peel..

Only red ones suffer...

That's a lovely looking Mandarin XM in the barn next to the Activa.

Rev counter failing on any Xantia is rare.

So are rear Activa badges too. In Rocking Horse poo territory. They were only ever offered as an optional extra during the first couple of years of Activa production.

Is yours a very early one with the black interior, including black headlining?

Any problems you find we will have seen them before, all bar the rev counter that is but that I'd almost put money on it being the instrument pod. I have a spare here I think and as you're not a million miles away from me you could always pop over here and we could look a bit further into it.

[Northern_Mike]

Activas are great, if a little thirsty. My missus was asking me today (or pleading with me) to get a car I wouldn't sell after a couple of months. The only two since the XM that have stayed in our house since 2006 are the Berlingo we have had for 3 years, and , oddly, my first Activa which I had for 14 months. That only went because my missus crashed it into a gatepost and wrote it off.

Maybe it's time to get another. I really did enjoy it just as much as I'm not enjoying the three-wheeler Morgan rep I drive around in at the moment.

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, Mike, Captain Slow has got his Activa up for sale!

[Northern_Mike]

I had noticed, but likely out my price range for now after DRK disasters.

[wurlycorner]

Welcome, nice to hear from another Activa owner and not a million miles away from me. Maybe when one of us gets completely driven to distraction by a particular problem on their we'll get to cry on each others shoulders one day!

I've just changed all the rear spheres in mine - if you have a look at the profile thread for my car (linked below in my signature bar) you'll see photo's of how I did it there. Access isn't too bad tbh, once you've removed the spare wheel tray and tie bar, provided you've got the back of the car up reasonably high on blocks.

I also did the front anti-sink sphere a year or so ago from underneath, without removing anything else to access it. Just reached up with a spanner to undo the pipe nut (easier blind from underneath than with semi-vision from above, I found!)

[wurlycorner]

Is yours a very early one with the black interior, including black headlining?

Mine has. Is that not common then? I assumed all Activa's were like that?

[CitroJim]

Is yours a very early one with the black interior, including black headlining?

Mine has. Is that not common then? I assumed all Activa's were like that?

No, only very early ones... Mine is one of the first of the S1.5s and it's rather greyer and lighter but looses something as a result..

My XM is all black inside. I rather like it.

[wurlycorner]

The black on the seats has faded a bit on mine

[Matt H]

Hi Jim. Very Interesting. I never thought that Activa badges were so rare! I just remember my Dad's old Activa having one, and thought they all had them. As you can see the interior is more of a very very dark grey colour, although the headlining seems pretty black to me, so the only real conclusion i can draw is that my experience with Xantias is pretty limited! Thanks for the offer of help diagnosing the rev counter. I may very well take you up on that at some point!

I took a few more pictures last week, hopefully these are a bit better! The funny ride height is worse in the pictures due to the car trying to level itself on the camber of the road, but as you can see the rear is way too high. It doesn't normally lean like this!









Just spent a fair amount of cash at the local Citroen dealer to get a few bits I needed, including a new strut top, so the plan is certainly to work my way through the problems and make this a nicer car for daily duties.

I have to ask though, if I had access to a full leather interior (Series 2 exclusive), should I put it in? Never been a stickler for originality, but it seems like a fair amount of effort, plus the car doesn't have air con!

[Sl4yer]

That looks too high at the rear regardless of any lean. Mine doesn't return from high without holding the lever past normal until it starts to move - yours might be similarly sticky.

I think the S2 seats are different from S1 seats, but no doubt someone will confirm shortly.

Red is definitely the best colour for these cars! Hope you enjoy it.

James

[CitroJim]

That looks too high at the rear regardless of any lean.

Yes, it does. A good test is barely one finger between top of tyre and wheelarch at the rear and three fingers at the front..

I see yours is starting to suffer the lacquer peel all Dantes' Red cars invariably do Matt. Otherwise it is looking very lovely indeed.