Elmas Xantia V6 and Musical Stuff

[CitroJim]

I love ll sorts of food Elma, I'm a foodie up there with Jay Raynor... I cook and bake for pleasure and only eat home cooked food unless it's a very special occasion and I eat out.. Even then I'm very choosy.

I love Japanese cooking so because it's Christmas and a special occasion the girls and I are going to have a meal in a fairly traditional Sushi Bar on Tuesday. I adore sushi - raw fish has such a gorgeous texture...

In fact I enjoy just about all Asian cooking... I do a very mean curry!

I love all sorts of mushrooms. Anything edible I'll go for, especially shiitake

To post a link with a word as the link such as this Edible Mushrooms do this:

Click the URL button and a pair of url tags will appear. To show how it works I've had to put spaces in it but remove the spaces and it'll work

[ u r l = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_mushroom" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ] Edible Mushrooms [ / u r l ]

Have a play and use the preview button to check it's good before committing it to a post...

[myglaren]

Elma,
if you do go into mushroom farming, let me know if you decide to grow Karl Johan Svamp then I'd like to know - it's years since I had any but they were delicious.

[elma]

Maybe I'll have a little Citroen opening fair at the farm, theres an H van restorer nearby who is a decent guy I'm sure he'd bring a couple down. I've been dreaming about having one for the business to go to the farmers markets in. It's not that uncommon to see an H van on the road around Llandudno nowadays which is totally down to him.

Myglaren they shouldn't be difficult to grow, I'll get some going as soon as I can. Interesting name you know them by, where is that from? It was totally unfamiliar to me although I know the mushrooms. It'll take me a little while as the prep for each species takes weeks of incubation, I'll get some spores in and give you a shout when they are almost ready.

My Xantia has decided to behave better now I know about the key wiggling. The fan and heater can be coaxed into life, I will still modify them with a relay though. I don't like this problem I thought I knew most of the Xantia ones and was fairly immune to them, I'm half expecting to find the clutch on the floor at 19.30 when I need to go out with half a clip in the footwell.

Whats the list of common problems? I don't want any more surprises.
I know about already:

Heater fans and screen failing.
Clutch pedal floorhugging.
Rear arms leaning.
Strut tops failing.
Rear caliper corrosion.
Water building up in the dome around the remote sensor.
Front Door Hinges, I've had fun with that one already.

Thats about it isn't it?

[CitroJim]

Whats the list of common problems? I don't want any more surprises.
I know about already:

Heater fans and screen failing.
Clutch pedal floorhugging.
Rear arms leaning.
Strut tops failing.
Rear caliper corrosion.
Water building up in the dome around the remote sensor.
Front Door Hinges, I've had fun with that one already.

Thats about it isn't it?

Yep, that's a good list

Just add to that rusty sill tops in the rear door shuts on the double-skinned flange...

Although to be fair it's more an S2 problem than it is an S1...

[elma]

Just add to that rusty sill tops in the rear door shuts on the double-skinned flange...

Although to be fair it's more an S2 problem than it is an S1...

I got that on the N/S, haven't really shown that side of the car on here yet but if you look at the pics on the top of page 1 it's had a bit of a scrape. Will be needing a new rear door, the black trim from the same door, a bit of panel smoothing to the rear wheel arch and probably a paint. The front doors caught it a bit as well, but not enough to bother me. This is why the original mirror was broken I suspect. I've been totally ignoring that side of things as "cosmetic" until I get the mechanical bits in order. Hopefully a 1994 scrap car the same colour will come up so I can get the badgeless grill as well. May not work though, I put an M reg 1.9td SX door on a N reg 1.9td years ago and it was about 6mm smaller. I still drove it like that but there was an annoying gap, like I said I had fun with the door hinge problem.

Just remembered the height corrector clips and the electrovalve diodes.

[myglaren]

Myglaren they shouldn't be difficult to grow, I'll get some going as soon as I can. Interesting name you know them by, where is that from? It was totally unfamiliar to me although I know the mushrooms. It'll take me a little while as the prep for each species takes weeks of incubation, I'll get some spores in and give you a shout when they are almost ready.

It is the Swedish (and Danish) name for them. They are reputed to be difficult to grow commercially, the pine and fir forests in Sweden is an ideal place for them to grow wild.
One of the Swedish kings did have them growing around his castle but they were only semi-domesticated.

Karl XIV Johan was an imported from France king and brought the French food culture with him, previously mushrooms were not considered food in Scandinavia.
The fungi was then named after him.

If they do lend themselves to cultivation then I may have to make my way down to Wales. Never been there despite being of Welsh extraction.

[elma]

Strut Tops done today at 105,576Miles. I seem to have misplaced my little camera at the moment so the cambelt stuff will creep in later even though it's already done. I didn't have the time to get the seal on the LHM tank changed so that and the Hydraflush are still to happen.

N/S strut was 25% failed. O/S actually isn't too bad and I would not have replaced it had I seen it off the car before I bought the new ones. The failed bit is where I investigated a little with a screwdriver, I reckon the lot would look like that if I investigated further.



As usual no pics of the 2nd side as it got dark. It's all bled up now ready for work tomorrow. Oh yeah, the temp agency already have me more work than I need so thats one problem gone. Regarding the cambelt the pulleys were a bit worn, they had minimal play and the tensioner freespan a little. The belt itself was ok, but definitely old and the water pump was fine. When I find my mini camera I'll get the pics up, there aren't too many though as it was a full on pain in the butt. If anyone could put up a pic of where the diesel hose that comes from the back of the engine along a similar route to the 2 plastic turbo pipes I'd appreciate that as I'm fairly sure I've put it back in the wrong place. Might be easier if I just take one tomorrow and ask whats wrong actually. I'll probably be quiet til christmas now, got no days off but it's deliberate as New Years eve is my birthday and I fancy a week off.

[CitroJim]

Gosh, those strut tops were well past their best Elma...

Thank goodness you've now swapped them!

[elma]

Scary stuff isn't it. Strange how O/S is ok though, but they were both installed differently so probably not a pair as such. The O/S was thread locked and not done up tight and the N/S was the opposite. I found my mini camera this morning so cambelt pics this evening hopefully. Off to work now, bye bye.

[elma]

So today the starter motor finally failed to start the car. I think I have the same problem as redzzet has in the different starting problem to usual thread. My starter has been weak since I got the car. It has a brand new battery so thats not the cause. It turns over really slowly and now it turns over like the battery is flat although it is full. I guess all the fiddling the ignition to keep the fans working has taken its toll. I'm in no position right now to sort it out as I have to be at work for 07.30 right up until Christmas day and theres about 15mins daylight left when I finish. I've gone for the easy option and parked facing downhill, someone could block me in though which is not good. Work is flat so I've bought Greenflag recovery just in case I can't find enough pushers. I'll add relays to the starter and the internal fans as soon as Christmas is gone and I can spend a day with the car. I guess I need to test the current to the starter motor first though, it could just be worn out in which case I have a spare hopefully on the 306. I haven't taken this very well to be honest, I've done a lot of nice things for this car I shouted at it a lot on the way home. Thankfully where it did stop working some friends passed and gave me a push, but thats not the point it should be more appreciative of the time I've spent before it demands more. Are there any other electrical goodies wired up to this ignition barrel? I'm thinking a relay each and only take the steering wheel off once, I don't like these electrical quirks.

[xantia_v6]

Check that the battery terminals are not getting hot, they are a known weakness. Also check that the main terminal on the starter is not loose.

[elma]

Check that the battery terminals are not getting hot, they are a known weakness. Also check that the main terminal on the starter is not loose.

Thanks, I'll check the terminals for heat tomorrow. I already had a look at the connections but it's a good point, I'll check them with a spanner. The car almost always starts on the button from cold but struggles a bit when warm so the hot terminals figures. What actually is the fault there? Is it worn wires causing build up of resistance and heat?

[Hell Razor5543]

There is a known issue where the battery cables fail over time (a long time, admittedly), and when this happens they hear up, which wastes some of the power as heat;

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=38273" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[elma]

Hopefully it'll start this morning. I'll pop the bonnet as soon as I get to work and see if the leads are hot. Doesn't look like I'm blocked in so it's all going well.

[elma]

Well it starts from cold as normal, not tried warm again just yet. The leads are not getting hot so I'm thinking starter motor itself or ignition barrel now. I can live with it like this for a few days, the only concern is that I need diesel and it may not start when warm. Theres a forecourt on a big hill near me on the way to Llanberis, I guess I'll be filling up there just in case.