xantia rescue

[Scottculli]

Hey everyone,so I have inherited the old family car off my dad which is looking at bit worse for wear, I've been thinking about it(and postponing it), but decided Im going to do the work to get her in some respectable shape like I remember as a kid, and I was wondering if you guys would give me some help.
For background shes not been started in a little over 4 years and the suspension has completely sunk( which is worrying me) but isn't making me too pessimistic as I guess this could just be natural with the pressure just slowly being drained from the system, i hope ,. My first plan of action was just to get the engine running and see if the suspension would rise again, but before I go jumping in I was wondering if there are any checks I could do, to safely see if the car could rise again and hold the pressure, I just don't want to do more damage, say if there is a leak and putting pressure down the old pipes might damage it.
This is my first time working on a project like this so any advice is always welcome
Thanks Scott.

[moizeau]

Welcome Scott, firstly, was it laid up on hard ground or grass? next, what engine is in it, year etc.
Best of luck

[Scottculli]

Luckily my drive is brick,so it's saved a lot of headaches there, I've not lifted it up to see the underside, but going on the rest of the car I'm confident it’s pretty rust free. its the 3.0l v6 that comes with the exclusive model, and it was made in 1998.

[Hell Razor5543]

You have a BEAST there, and I sincerely hope you manage to wake her up! to the forum, and your baptism of fire!

[Michel]

I'd put 5 litres of fresh fuel in it, drain the oil and refill with fresh - use Asda cheapo oil, don't worry about the filter for now, put a battery on it and see what happens when you try to start it. Leaks won't show until there's some pressure in the system

[Scottculli]

Just want to say thanks to everyone for all the support, Michel i think that sounds like a plan. also i bought some fogging oil and was planning to spray a bit of that down the cylinders just to give it a hand when starting,as its been a while, just waiting on the new intake gasket to arrive from the post. im glad ive got all-you guys to help with this, i just want to add, i also saw little bits of rust scale next to the strut top right next to the rubber stoppers i wont lie thats where my Anxiousness about the suspension came from so i wanted to make sure it was still safe to pressurise the suspension as I remember hearing how they used to pop of like rockets on earlier models.or should i try and tackle that first

[Hell Razor5543]

There is a company (in the Recommended Garages section/members only area) who can refurbish the strut tops. I have not had to use them, but it could be worth looking them up

[Scottculli]

Ill have a look into that as i know that the v6 struts have some parts that are discontinued and its alway hand to know a guy who's in the know, i was just wondering how can you tell if the rust on them is just a little thing that could be polished up,or might be a bit more serious,(structural) and needs a specialist

[Hell Razor5543]

I cannot offer you any advice on that.

Here are the details for Kingas;

viewtopic.php?t=49089

[xantia_v6]

It is not a bad idea to add a little upper cylinder lubricant, but there is a good chance that the engine will start easily anyway. I have started one of these that sat (admittedly in a garage) for over 3 years, and with a new battery it sprang into life at the first turn of the key. I have had another car (not a Citroen) that started after 15 years, even with the stale petrol.

My advice would be to fit a known good battery, rather than attempt a jump start, as the ECU on these can go into a strange state if the voltage fluctuates too much which cranking.

If the suspension does not rise after the engine is started, the most likely cause would be an air-lock in the feed hose from the LHM tank to the pump.

Good luck!

[Hell Razor5543]

Once you have got her running (and assuming the steering, brakes and suspension all work) I would put her through a good Citrobics session, to help free things up. With the handbrake on put the suspension to its highest setting, and wait for a minute (to allow things to settle down). Then, pressing hard on the footbrake, put the suspension to its lowest setting. The nose will drop to its lowest, but the back will stay up. Release the footbrake and the back should drop rapidly. Wait again, then (pressing the footbrake) move the suspension to its highest. Once the nose has got to full height release the footbrake. The back should come up quickly. Do this several times and then take the suspension to normal height. New move the steering from lock to lock, waiting for about 30 seconds at each lock before moving back. Repeat about 10 times. All being well this will help free things up further.

[white exec]

Check the strut tops from the underside, with the suspension on highest. Look for any sign of the rubber tearing or parting company from the steel baseplate, or baseplate rust.

On the Xantia, the steel baseplate is, unfortunately, rubber-coated, and moisture can get under the rubber, so rusting can be invisible. The thin rubber can be removed, and the baseplate decently painted instead.

Elastomer in Kaunas, Lithuania are still producing refurbed strut tops (and lots of other things). Current price is €95 a pop for the similar XM ones, plus postage. Website has all the info: elastomer.eu.

[moizeau]

Last year I recommissioned Kawasaki z1000 that hadn't been run for 10 years. I put some clean petrol in it, checked the oil level, turned the engine over very gently on the kickstart (you could use a front wheel if it's manual or the crank pulley if it's an auto), took the sparks plugs out and cleaned them, put a teaspoon of 2 stroke oil down each cylinder, turned the engine over without the spark plug caps on, replaced the plug caps and went for a start.
It did go but ran rough though I did had 4 gummed up carbs.
Once it was up to temp, changed the oil and filter (cheap oil), once it had some miles on it (after lots of brake, suspension, carbs rebuild) did another oil and filter change.

[RichardW]

If there is any doubt about the integrity of the strut tops, then start it with the bonnet open - that way if one does collapse it won't write off the bonnet!!

[white exec]

If there is any doubt about the integrity of the strut tops, then start it with the bonnet open - that way if one does collapse it won't write off the bonnet!!

Good advice!
Also check (with a bounce test) that those front spheres (in particular the corner ones) are decently gassed. Flat spheres can tear strut tops if a significant bump is driven over.