Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Jaf
Posts: 514
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 19:17
Location: Oria, Spain
My Cars:
x 29

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Jaf »

Don’t worry, got it off!
AFFDF163-AB1D-4E4D-8E76-97314C6C3B72.jpeg
Fred, a silver 1998 1.9TD SX Xantia.
Gwin, a white 1994 1.1 AX.
Jaf
Posts: 514
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 19:17
Location: Oria, Spain
My Cars:
x 29

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Jaf »

Annnnd got the secondhand one on! Light went off but it’ll take a few starts and drives before I’m certain it’s good.
Fred, a silver 1998 1.9TD SX Xantia.
Gwin, a white 1994 1.1 AX.
User avatar
xantia_v6
Forum Admin Team
Posts: 9053
Joined: 09 Nov 2005, 22:03
Location: France or NewZealand
Lexia Available: Yes
My Cars: -
1997 Citroen Xantia V6 (France)
1999 Citroen XM V6 ES9 (France)
2011 Peugeot 308 CC THP 155 (NZ)
1975 Jaguar XJ-S pre-HE (NZ)
x 825

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by xantia_v6 »

To avoid another failure, it would be a good idea to check that your steering is correctly centralised.

Assuming that the steering wheel is stright when driving in a straight line, count the umber of turns and part turns from straight ahead to full lock in either direction. They should match.
Jaf
Posts: 514
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 19:17
Location: Oria, Spain
My Cars:
x 29

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Jaf »

Thanks. Years ago I used to do wheel alignment as part of my job, it feels good to me. When the new tyres come they will also check alignment, I’ll get them to have a look at the track rods ends to see if they’re equal too. I saw some really bad ones. Hope I didn’t mess up anyone’s airbag!!
Fred, a silver 1998 1.9TD SX Xantia.
Gwin, a white 1994 1.1 AX.
User avatar
xantia_v6
Forum Admin Team
Posts: 9053
Joined: 09 Nov 2005, 22:03
Location: France or NewZealand
Lexia Available: Yes
My Cars: -
1997 Citroen Xantia V6 (France)
1999 Citroen XM V6 ES9 (France)
2011 Peugeot 308 CC THP 155 (NZ)
1975 Jaguar XJ-S pre-HE (NZ)
x 825

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by xantia_v6 »

The important thing is that the steering wheel does not rotate too many degrees from straight ahead in either direction. The designers did not allow for much tolerance on the length of the clock spring, and they fail much faster if they are slightly over-wound in either direction.
Jaf
Posts: 514
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 19:17
Location: Oria, Spain
My Cars:
x 29

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Jaf »

Been for retest, all good! Thanks everyone for the help.
Fred, a silver 1998 1.9TD SX Xantia.
Gwin, a white 1994 1.1 AX.
User avatar
Stickyfinger
(Donor 2016)
Posts: 10411
Joined: 28 Mar 2013, 21:05
Location: Somset my lovleee
My Cars: Xantia V6 ACTIVA 3ltr 24v Manual p1
Xm 2.1TD Ph2 Exclusive
AX, little Daffodil
SAXO White Mk1. Sally
x 1280
Contact:

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Stickyfinger »

Just for info

How do you check a replacement clock spring is centred ?
Alasdair
Activa, the Moose Rider
3x C5x7 Steering racks and counting
Hell Razor5543
Donor 2023
Posts: 13727
Joined: 01 Apr 2012, 09:47
Location: Reading
My Cars: C5 Mk2 VTX+ estate.
x 2993

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I think that (before fitting) there are a couple of arrow head markers that line up when it is centralised. If you rotate it one turn in a direction I think that one arrowhead moves 90 degrees round in the direction it rotated.
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR

C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
User avatar
van ordinaire
(Donor 2017)
Posts: 2537
Joined: 23 Jun 2015, 14:45
Location: Live & work in London but weekend in Devon (or do I now live in Torbay & work in London?)
My Cars: Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club (quietly sleeping in a parallel universe)
'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
x 405

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by van ordinaire »

I had a similar issue with the red Cherokee, which seems to have fixed itself (in itself a little worrying) but while I was trying to work out what caused it to come on - or possibly not go off - it got me thinking about what it actually means. If it's a check light to confirm the system's working, what does it coming on/not going off randomly tell me?
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
& the numerous "abandoned projects" #-o
Jaf
Posts: 514
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 19:17
Location: Oria, Spain
My Cars:
x 29

Re: Xantia - MOT failure, air bag light

Post by Jaf »

Mine has 4 x 360% turns, you can feel the spring tension increasing at the extreme end of the turns each way. The secondhand one was at 1 turn, so I set it at 2 turns.
Fred, a silver 1998 1.9TD SX Xantia.
Gwin, a white 1994 1.1 AX.
Post Reply