Simon's new Xantia V6 and Leaf blog

[xantia_v6]

OK, I think I got confused because the last ES9 rad I bought was for my XM. On the Xantia, it appears not to be the same for manual transmission, and 2.1 is different. My fitting advice above still stands.

For reference, the Nissens part is http://shop.detalita.lt/en/Cooling-Syst ... ut-96.html

[Mandrake]

OK, I think I got confused because the last ES9 rad I bought was for my XM. On the Xantia, it appears not to be the same for manual transmission, and 2.1 is different. My fitting advice above still stands.

For reference, the Nissens part is http://shop.detalita.lt/en/Cooling-Syst ... ut-96.html

Found that one on ebay for £118:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissens-Radia ... XQO21RpiPO

I know nothing about either brand, at the moment I'm leaning towards the NRF one purely based on price, not having any other information to compare them against each other.

[Mandrake]

I am thinking that 5 litres of concentrate is more than enough for the job. Maybe someone else can find an accurate answer.

5 litres of concentrate mixed at 50% I assume so 10 litres ?

Does anyone know the exact capacity figure for coolant for the V6 ? I have no owners manual unfortunately, I'm assuming it would be in that.

[Mandrake]

Simon ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NRF-Engine-Co ... SwP~tW2bo8

£100.19

Thanks very much for spotting this!

I decided to go ahead and order this one tonight. I really need to get the job completed this weekend and expected Delivery is Wednesday if I order tonight to allow for any shipping delays.

[Mandrake]

Just looking at trying to sort the coolant now - online sources suggest that the total coolant capacity is 10 litres.

Should a 1997 Xantia use Silicate or OAT coolant ? I was under the impression that Citroen didn't switch to OAT until after 1998, and I don't know what's in there now.

When I enter my license plate into the parts finders on various websites such as Halfords they always offer me OAT as the correct type, but I'm not sure that's the case ? What do others use in their Xantia V6's ?

[Mandrake]

Just for giggles I checked service.citroen.com for a radiator - still available for £319

And that is for the Age >= 2 part number, which I presume means the "cheaper quality out of warranty" radiator, the original part number is NFP...

[Mandrake]

Lookie what I have.



Still waiting for the coolant but hopefully that will arrive tomorrow! If not I can still get most of the work done and do the flushing this weekend, with only the final refill and test delayed until I have the coolant.

[CitroJim]

Sweet

Swapping it is easier than it might first look Simon... Not a difficult job at all

[Mandrake]

And the coolant has now just arrived too.

So that's me all set to do the job tomorrow. The weather even looks good too.

Fingers crossed all goes well. If not people might see me posting tomorrow for help.

[CitroJim]

Excellent!

First job, as always with a V6, remove the airbox

Then remove battery tray and the air inlet hose bracket...

The rest is as easy as pi... The job will take precisely 3.14 hours to complete

[Mandrake]

Thanks Jim - the air filter box is already out. I didn't realise the battery tray had to come out but I guess it would have been obvious when I started the job.

As a precaution I'm also going to remove the two front towing hooks from the engine so they don't stab the radiator - that will give quite a bit more room, and of course I'll tape cardboard to that side of the radiator during fitting.

I've managed to collect 10 litres of dehumidifier water to help with the flushing, so the plan is:

1) Remove old radiator and drain
2) Flush through in various directions with the garden hose
3) Fit new radiator and fill up and bleed using the dehumidifier water only, let the engine idle until the fans come on to allow pressure to build up to normal operating pressure to ensure there are no leaks
4) Drain the water out, which will also drain out the remaining diluted old coolant from the heater matrix etc
5) Refill and bleed again with coolant (which is readymix) and let it idle until it reaches normal operating temperature.

I think it's best to do a test run with the plain (but mineral free) water to ensure there are no leaks under pressure, but it will also help dilute and flush out any remaining old coolant as all the flow pathways will be open and circulating once it reaches normal operating temperature. It also means I don't waste all my nice new coolant if there is still a leak that needs to be remedied!

[CitroJim]

Sounds very good to me Simon

Just about exactly what I'd do and a good tip on using de-humidifier water...

[xantia_v6]

The only thing wrong with dehumidifier water is that it tends to contain a lot of dust.

[Mandrake]

The only thing wrong with dehumidifier water is that it tends to contain a lot of dust.

So I've heard - its an almost new dehumidifier with a new filter on it though, I've looked at the water I've extracted closely and it looks free of any contaminants, I certainly don't see any dust.

I won't be leaving it in the car anyway, it will be used briefly for flushing and pressure testing then drained out again. Given a choice between mineral/lime contaminated tap water (which should not be heated to 90 degrees without an inhibitor otherwise limescale will immediately be deposited) and a tiny bit of dust which I'll be draining out, I'll take my chances with the dust. (As I said, I can't see any traces of dust anyway)

I could of course pour the water through a paper filter to remove dust - if I had any filters... I wonder if an unused paper only face mask would be suitable to filter out any dust without dissolving in the water ? I think I have an unused one somewhere.

[Skull]

Good tip with the de-humidified water

As a precaution I'm also going to remove the two front towing hooks from the engine so they don't stab the radiator

Top Tip - don't tow the car with the engine hoist fixings