Tales from beyond the grave AKA Dan & Emma's Black Xantia, pug 206HDi, Daniel's 206 Verve 1.4i, GTi180 plus XUD9TE 206!!

[CitroJim]

Dan, great news Excellent!

Puxa, shocking on the tyre shonkiness I've known similar happen and it's disgusting... Makes me realise how lucky I am with my local place... They fix punctures for free knowing it's a great goodwill act that brings the customers back...

[ekjdm14]

Pleased indeed on the tyres (yes, that's what I meant by boots ) I generally go to a local scrap dealer and get part worns. Obviously not for everyone, but for me ideal as I can rummage through their stock & choose good ones & then they fit/valve and balance them for a tenner or so each. Bargain IMO and it's recycling too.

[Gibbo2286]

This is the lot that gave me the best price for tyres on the C5 estate, came and fitted/balanced them and took away the rubbish all for less than my local tyre firm, I ordered them through Halfords online.

https://www.tyresonthedrive.com/?msclki ... %7C%20BMM

[daviemck2006]

Also on the subject of tyres, how's this for shoddy..... Mum in Law had a puncture, so went along to the tyre centre with daughter (my Missus) on the Spacesaver I'd fitted (I drove it briefly, up to 50, on it and was pleasantly surprised,btw). The (front) tyre was one of a pair new for MOT last month, maybe 500miles ago and the Tyre Centre didn't advise whether it could be repaired. Instead they fitted a new 'Mid Range' one, presumably to maximise profit, charging a rather steep £55 for a 175/60/14, which is supposedly a mid-range but looks more like a budget to me, of a different brand to its almost new 'pair' and also advised that one of the rears was worn out and so fitted a second one to the rear. So both axles have odd tyres now. The mileage the car does, a 2011 Micra, its not the end of the world, but its bad practice.

Any tyre place that did that to me wouldn't have my custom or any of my families custom either. At least they could have put the two new matching ones on the same axle, preferably front and the odd ones on the rear.

[ekjdm14]

Back from putting a few miles on White, she's running cleaner than ever now & feels good and taut as I'd expect of a car that's been loved and looked after. Only minor gripe so far is the aux belt needs to be replaced yesterday! It's squealing constantly now so I've taken the executive decision to remove it and wait until we have a new one before driving any further. Last thing I need now is a premature cambelt job and replacement camshaft lol so better safe than sorry.

Lovely car though, smooth and refined but with a distinctly more sporty feel than Black not just in the power/gearbox stakes but the handling seems better too with less discernible body roll on cornering. Both cars are non-HA so not sure of the story there, whether it has different sphere characteristics or thicker ARB's or whether it's just the difference between 14" steels to 15" alloys... Anyone know if the ARB spec would likely be different between a '95 D auto LX and a '98 (S1) TD Desire? Just going to have a look through the data files I have on them now in case it's noted there.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

I had thoughts along very similar lines Davie, its absolutely ridiculous!

You & me reading from the same page ekjdm re part-worns, I've usually bought part-worns, albeit not often at a tenner each In fact the current rears are.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

tip with the new aux belt.... tighten it while its ticking over, sounds ridiculous / dangerous, but when you look at the detail, you'll see it makes sense.

Note the routing too, specially if its got Air Con

[ekjdm14]

AHA! I think I have it, the data sheets show Black as having-:
STEERING TRAVEL STEERING MECHANISM TRAVEL 161
And white is fitted with-:
STEERING TRAVEL STEERING MECHANISM TRAVEL 74,3

So I guess White has a much quicker rack going from this data? Anyone know if this is correct & why it would be?

[ekjdm14]

tip with the new aux belt.... tighten it while its ticking over, sounds ridiculous / dangerous, but when you look at the detail, you'll see it makes sense.

Note the routing too, specially if its got Air Con

Bit of a different setup on White, Puxa. See, she used to have aircon, but the pump was bypassed by the owner before last as the bearings failed (and I won't be repairing it any time soon as the condenser is shot and the hard line on the inner wing is broken too, so it's a dash-out job to repair I think). So we now have different routing, an automatic tensioner & also a manual tensioner bolted in place as an idler as well as an odd size belt. Fortunately I have seen the belt size written in the paperwork from when the mod was done so I can order a replacement easy enough.

Just for future reference though, as Black has a manual tensioner. Why is it of benefit to adjust with the engine running? I would imagine it's easier to judge when it's just right without danger of overtightening it that way, but why else?

Cheers, Dan.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

Strangely enough Dan, I've also got a different routing. I removed my AC Pump coz my sub-frame - the one with the lights & rad - won't accept a Condenser and later got a modified Idler & non-standard almost new Belt off a car that was being broken privately, fella on here actually but he's gone now.

Long term plan is to fit a Steel Sump (had new Sump Gasket a couple of years now) with non-AC and non-Serpentine standard 'short Belt' Idler set up, but not gonna make a special job of it and decided I couldn't be bothered in the course of the Cam Belt job a couple of years back.

Benefit to the ticking over adjustment I found is getting it right. I faffed a number of times and bought & fitted at least two replacement Idlers (Serpentine has 1 of each of three different types as you probably realise), coz they were noisy on Tick over, was convinced they were knackered; adjusted it up running and its never been a problem since. Obviously loosen the Lollipop if you've got that still. I suggest using this type of Hex if you've got one, on an extension for max' safety.

Might still have the Condenser and AC Pump, both good, if anyone wants em, postage cost only

[ekjdm14]

Ah I see, I generally just set them by feel & if they slip afterwards then nip them up half a turn. Definitely not a nice noise tortured roller bearings whether they're bad or not!

I suppose I could've fitted the steel sump off Black's original engine had I known about the main refrigerant line being kaput but the plan at the time was still to reinstate the AC. It's a bit of a mission on a Xant to go back to a "proper" non-AC setup as the HPN pump & alternator would switch places, associated pipework for that sorted and may need to replace the cast mounting bracket for them too, but on a 405 I can see the advantage of a nice manual tensioner with a standard size belt & no alloy sump to potentially crack in future (although you'd have to be pretty unlucky to pop a hole in one, steel does make more sense durability-wise IMO).

Shame the pipework is damaged on White as I may have been interested in the bits if they'd have fit.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

I can't work out what HPN is.... guessing its High Pressure Summat, and probably relates either to the suspension, or the PAS (possibly same system on a Xant). Just curious

[ekjdm14]

Sorry, an abbreviatory bridge too far with that I think. HPN I've seen used a few times for HydroPNeumatic, as in standard non-hydractive suspension.

The PAS, suspension and brakes are indeed pretty much the same system on them yes (although anti-sink ones like ours have a separate section within the pump dedicated to the steering).

[ekjdm14]

Naughty 206, 4 dead glow plugs & one of them left it's tip buried in #2... Oh boy, this could be fun if I can't recover the tip somehow without pulling the head!

[CitroJim]

Ohh That's bad news Dan...

I hope you can...

Fingers crossed...