Newbie Citroen Owner

[doofah]

Hi Guys
Okay I'm not a mechanic, in fact I'm not overly knowledgable about cars at all - computers and electrics being my thing. Still, with one or two mechanics in the distant realms of the family tree I was taught at a very young age to avoid citroens.
Well, I'm also an aquarian so taught = advised.
Cutting a long story short, I've just purchased an L reg Xantia TDSX - and what a beauty, one owner from new, FSH, this guy even paid the Citroen dealership to change his bulbs and fit new batteries in his keyfob... bless him!
Unfortunately the owners handbook didn't come as part of the deal, and I'm riding around in a car with controls I've never seen before.
(this is day 2)
Now, I know the height adjuster lever, sitting prim next to the handbrake, it has 4 settings, very low, low, higher, very high. It was in Low and is staying there until someone advises (teaches) me what the 4 positions are technically for.
[boyish grin] please?
and then there are 3 switches on the right of the dashboard, beside the door... front fogs, one with an up and down arrow with a cross through it (hydraulic suspension disable?) and another with a picture of a horn with a cross through it... Can anyone enlighten me?
Finally, can you define "Bounce"? In my mind, bouncing would be a smooth but definately noticable swaying and 'bouncing' on cornering and after bumps in the road - much like a volvo with bad shocks.... However, when we took the Xantia for a test drive, initially it bounced up and down quite violently for 2 minutes. (this was 3 months ago) until I pulled over, killed the engine and looked very disturbedly at the owner of the car.
He took it to the garage to be fixed, had new hydraulic lines installed, etc etc and that jumping is gone. Is that the 'bounce' I should be looking for when something goes wrong?
Thanks a lot guys, hoping to get to know this car very well and spend some time enjoying her, she's wonderful!!
Doofs

[macaroni]

The height adjusters 4 postions are;
low - for emtpying the hydraulics out of the system and into the reservoir. DO NOT DRIVE WHEN IN LOW.
normal - normal ride height
track - no, not the fun kind, but a higher ride height for negotiating rutted tracks/speedbumps etc. Don't go too fast in this mode.
high - for jacking up. Drive at no more than 5-10mph when high.
The 3 buttons are;
up and down arrow crossed out - disable electric rear windows (assuming you have them, if not it is a tease)
horn crossed out - switch off volumetric alarm. Press and hold for a few seconds and then you can deadlock the car without the alarm going off every 5 minutes.
Don't know much about bouncing.
Hope you enjoy the car and if it goes wrong, you won't find better help than here! Find a good Citroen specialist and you will be OK.

[RDD]

Height adjuster: Low and high positions are for servicing purposes mainly - the forward of the two middle positions is "normal", the rear of the two middle positions is for clearing higher obstacles.
The "up and down arrow with a cross through it" is the child safety switch (for the rear electric windows.
The "horn with a cross through it" is the disable switch for the alarms internal sensors ie for keeping your dog in the car.
With the suspension in the "normal" position, you shouldn't have any abnormal "bounce"
And finally, aving just lost my hatchback Xantia, I have bought an estate, and will have a spare manual in a couple of days. If you're interested, whack me an email. I have the manual and radio book....

[doofah]

Great! Thanks macaroni

[doofah]

And RDD, Emailing you now thanks M8!

[citronut]

you should never drive on highest or lowest settings as you might do damage to the car,also think of this ROLLS ROYCE used cit hydraulic susp/system
regards malcolm

[pwatson]

Seems strange that such a meticulous former owner didn't have the handbook - have you looked in the right place? - just to right of steering wheel under dash is a little twist knob which drops down a hatch for the fuses which also houses the handbook. (In other words, you need a handbook to find the handbook!!)

[doofah]

Lol yeah, he showed me where it should be, but explained that he'd left the handbook and something else (radio code card?) at the citroen garage in or near consett by mistake, kept intending to go and pick it up but eventually forgot. When he did pop in they had no idea where they'd put it but promised to send it on as soon as they found it.
I didn't feel the need to question him on it, he looked so embarrassed about not having it, and how he lost it, I just smiled and told him not to worry about it, I'm sure I'd be able to pick a replacement up fairly easily.

[doofah]

Just because I'm new to the xantia, I figure I'll add this in here too. Sometimes, mostly on short journeys with only me in the car (to the garage last thing at night, and from, first thing in the morning) I've noticed she hisses at the front. Usually on left bends at slow speed and when I'm manouvreing her into the garage (hard work, there's about 1 foot of space each side) - is this normal? So far I've presumed its just the hydraulics settling and adjusting their height...

[mpr1956]

Hi there, that hissing is just the hydraulic pump cutting in and "topping up" the reserve of hydraulic pressure... if you let the car just idle at normal height, it should hiss or click every so often - If the gap between these hisses or clicks is at least 30 seconds or so, then all is well

[j_roc]

To know if you have disabled the Alarm interior sensors (the little circles in the wing mirror bezel) the red light on the dashboard - next to the clock, will stop flashing. If you want the little red LED on the radio to illuminate then switch off the ignition, remove the key and then press the BAND button. Job done. Snap, my Xantia is a 93' (L reg) sx TD. Are you sure that your just not borrowing my car? [:D]. Welcome to the "crazy" world of Citroens annyhow - Alex.

[pwatson]

Handbook on ebay at the mo'
http://tinyurl.com/a7ezp

[406 V6]

One very nice thing about your car and the suspension.
If you get a flat tyre do the following steps(always with the engine idling):
1- Set height lever to maximum;
2- Get the jack out and place it on the proper place and extend it until it touches the car;
3-Set the height lever to normal ride height and you will soon see the wheel lifting up from the ground;
4- Put the spare in place, thinghten up and set the height again to max. Remove the jack, back up to normal height and presto! you've just changed a wheel with minimum effort!
Ain't Cits a beauty?[:D]

[Mandrake]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by doofah</i>

Just because I'm new to the xantia, I figure I'll add this in here too. Sometimes, mostly on short journeys with only me in the car (to the garage last thing at night, and from, first thing in the morning) I've noticed she hisses at the front. Usually on left bends at slow speed and when I'm manouvreing her into the garage (hard work, there's about 1 foot of space each side) - is this normal? So far I've presumed its just the hydraulics settling and adjusting their height...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The hissing will be the power steering - it hisses slightly when you turn the wheel to the left under load. (EG screwing the tyres at low/stationary speed) apparently some cars hiss a bit louder than others. Mine is audible but I wouldn't say annoyingly loud..
Regards,
Simon

[doofah]

Wow thanks guys!!! I'm loving this car