First two weeks with the Xantia

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thatfatbloke69
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First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by thatfatbloke69 »

2000 2.0 hdi 110 sx. 175000 miles. £426.02. MOT to March 2021. Lots of receipts for work done over the years and recently. Cam belt last done at 117000.

Well it's certainly better on fuel by about £10 per week on my daily 20 mile round trip commute. Still having problems adjusting the 'Exclusive' electric leather seats to a decent position. Seem to have mastered the situation where I was able to accelerate and brake at the same time as well as the ability to dip the clutch and hit the brakes with the left foot simultaneously. Size 14 feet don't help!.

All four speakers seem to be mullered so they along with the nasty JVC cd/radio will soon be evicted in favour of an all Pioneer set up.

The previous owner liked to 'tinker' particularly with the electrics. To get the blowers working he has apparently run a wire from the relay to a plug that goes in the fag lighter!. It works, but would like to get this looked at sooner rather than later for obvious reasons. There is also a wire from the nearside front sidelight to the offside to take power from it as the nearside bulb was 'always blowing'. I'll get the auto electrician to look at that too.

Fuel gauge is at best a rough guide.

Takes a bit longer than expected to get warmed up. About 5 miles until it gets somewhere near where it's supposed to be. Thermostat?.

Can't replace the cracked screen on the insurance as it was cracked when I bought it. So £180 then.

Suspension seems to be fine, 'STOP' light is on for about five seconds after being parked all night.

ABS light makes an appearance every so often,but only briefly. Traffic master shouts and hollers now and then.

It's in Balmoral Blue apparently. Nice.

In all not a bad little motor albeit with a few quirks, but it wouldn't be a Citroen if it was 'quirkless'.
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CitroJim
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by CitroJim »

Welcome to Xantia ownership :D
thatfatbloke69 wrote: 30 Oct 2020, 17:17 The previous owner liked to 'tinker' particularly with the electrics. To get the blowers working he has apparently run a wire from the relay to a plug that goes in the fag lighter!. It works, but would like to get this looked at sooner rather than later for obvious reasons.
This is a well-known problem and is related to high resistance contacts on the ignition switch...

A recognised modification is to install a 'helper' relay...

This thread from the 'Supersticky' section of the forum will be of assistance...

viewtopic.php?t=24786

Be aware that running the blower from the fag lighter is dangerous... The blower consumes 30A on full chat and this is well beyond the ability of the fag lighter wiring...

It is a potential fire risk...

I believe the forum staff may also be able to supply wiring diagrams if needed...

The fuel gauge issue is either down to bad contacts in the instrument pod between the instrument PCB and gauge itself - connections are via springy 'fingers' and they do go a bit iffy after a few years - or a film of old fuel glaze on the sender unit resistive track....

Does banging hard on the top of the dash with your fist help? If it does you know it's the gauge 'fingers' :wink:
Jim

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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by white exec »

Certainly sounds like it needs a new thermostat.

Wiring issues between L and R sides of lighting is not unheard of. It's usually the earth connections that go missing, but can be the live supply.

If the blower only works on full speed, this needs sorting. As Jim says, the motor at full speed takes huge amounts of current (25A running, more on a full-speed start) and is properly fused.
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by admiral51 »

As it is a MK2 then the relay mod should have been sorted ??
Could it be the resistor pack in the blower itself, not sure i have a spare one but i think i may have one will need to check my stocks :)
As for Traffic Master mine was doing it every now and then until my battery died, since it has been replaced not heard a peep so just a hunch check the battery:)
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by admiral51 »

Just thinking about the temp when you say it takes about 5 miles to get up to what it should be mine will take about the same to get up to 70-80 deg, if the interior temp is getting warm before that then it should be fine, the HDi do tend to run cool engine wise
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by CitroJim »

admiral51 wrote: 31 Oct 2020, 16:42 As it is a MK2 then the relay mod should have been sorted ??
Not all S2 Xantias have the blower relay as standard Colin. An SX may well not. It's only a guarantee of one being fitted on the higher spec. models. I have both confirmed this from looking at several S2 examples and consulting wiring diagrams...

The speed control module may be the root cause...

I have many here going spare and I expect my guide for fixing them is still extant on the forum somewhere 😉

A duff speed control module causes the blower to either not run at all or run at top speed as soon as the ignition is turned on and not in any way controlled by the fan speed slider...

On temperature, all HDi engined examples take ages to warm as they are so thermally efficient 😃 Hence why some high-end models had auxiliary heaters, either diesel powered or electrical...
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by admiral51 »

As always Jim i bow to your greater knowledge, hence the ? in my post :)
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by white exec »

I know the HDi has a reputation for efficiency, but 5 miles (8km) to get up to 70-80degC seems really sluggish, assuming normal driving, rather than a long downhill run (when almost no fuel would be used).

Is the 70-80 just taken from the temp gauge on these cars, which could be inaccurate?
The laws of physics seem to being broken here: fuel burned = heat, and the fuel consumption is surely not that negligible?

Are the block and heater matrix getting decently and quickly toasty, and the radiator circuit remaining relatively cool? This is what ought to be happening.
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by xantia_v6 »

I think that one reason that the early HDI engines as fitted to the Xantia take so long to warm up in cold climates is the volume of cold air passing through the engine via the combustion path. There must be quite a portion of the engine heat that is pushed straight out the exhaust. Later versions of the HDI have throttles that restrict the airflow.
thatfatbloke69
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by thatfatbloke69 »

Thanks for your replies but wait,there's more. There doesn't seem to be an 'accessories' position on the ignition switch. 1st position all dash lights and radio come on,2nd position dash lights and radio go off,3rd position everything comes back on, then start. So at the moment I am unable to listen to the radio with no dash lights on when waiting for SWMBO to come out of the shoe shop.
I replaced all the speakers yesterday. They were all perished and shot to bits. Must have been the originals. Drivers side rear still not working,so hopefully this will get fixed when the head unit is replaced shortly. I did think about trying to remove the old JVC head unit myself,then thought 'God knows what I'll find behind there judging by the state of the other electrics. Let an expert do it'.
Hopefully I'll be able to find one company that knows Citroen electrics and get it all sorted at the same time.
Thanks.
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by CitroJim »

thatfatbloke69 wrote: 01 Nov 2020, 08:23 Thanks for your replies but wait,there's more. There doesn't seem to be an 'accessories' position on the ignition switch. 1st position all dash lights and radio come on,2nd position dash lights and radio go off,3rd position everything comes back on, then start.
Ahh! I believe your Xantia is the victim of a failed splice in the infamous '10AV' wiring harness that runs underneath the radiator... This harness carries the two main high-current feeds to the ignition switch and one has splices (joints) in it which have a tendency to corrode and go open-circuit/high resistance...

This effectively cuts one feed to the ignition switch and is a bit of a &%*%^( to resolve in a satisfactory way. Hence Joe Bodger does his worst to achieve some sort of functionality and then scarpers...

It can be resolved but it needs a bit of effort...

Also, the contacts on the ignition switch itself are not the best and can go high resistance giving our bodging friend yet another opportunity to do his worst...

One for someone well-versed in Citroen electrics with access to the full wiring and harness diagrams applicable to your car... I believe, as said, forum staff can provide these...
Jim

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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by wheeler »

CitroJim wrote: 01 Nov 2020, 08:44 One for someone well-versed in Citroen electrics with access to the full wiring and harness diagrams applicable to your car... I believe, as said, forum staff can provide these...
If the OP sends me the Reg no or last 8 digits of VIN I can have a look for a heater blower diagram.
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by Clogzz »

Click to enlarge.

Blower module:
Blower_map.jpg

Before mod:
Blower_Mod_before.gif

After mod:
Blower_Mod_after.gif
2002 C5 2.0i AL4 230,000 km 76372389
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by admiral51 »

A good few years ago i had a Xantia that had a similar live feed problem and the fix is simple in terms of expense, however it does take a lot of time and needs the help of wiring diagrams and requires the removal of the windscreen scuttle to access the point where the wires enter the cabin.
Not sure if you will be able to see Wiring Splice as its in the Members area ( Donation Required).
My method was to totally bypass the wiring loom under the radiator and splice a new wire from the main loom from the fusebox battery end to the point where it enters the cabin.
By doing this i did not need to add any extra fuses as it was all done within the within the loom, i just bypassed the break in the loom if that makes sense.
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Re: First two weeks with the Xantia

Post by admiral51 »

Good to see you Clogzz, my go to person from when i first joined the forum for all things A/C +fans :)
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