Later this week I've got a couple of portable split system air conditioners to collect. I reckon that I *might* just about be able to Tetris both of them into the back of the Xantia...maybe. I'm quite braced for having to make two trips though. At the end of the day it's only an hour each way so if I need to make to trips it's hardly the end of the world. However if I had the van available that would make things far, far easier as I'd have bags of room to spare then.
Following a few recommendations on the MK Modern Classics group on Facebook, I've got it booked in with MOTest in Newport Pagnell on Wednesday morning for a test. My usual garage can't do me an MOT on this as it's too big and too heavy for their test bay.
I've been out and given her a quick once over. The brake hose ferrules are a bit more crusty than I'd really like. I wouldn't say they're bad, but I'd definitely expect them to at the very least to be an advisory. They'll be getting changed either way - just not before Wednesday.
Still slightly irked that the garage last year didn't even get a mention last year given the number of as far as I can tell non existent faults with the braking system that they found and charged me for sorting...Would have expected the rigid lines to have got a mention too - though those at least just need a clean up I reckon.
The front shock absorbers, particularly the offside one look quite crusty (and it has a dust cover held on with a cable tie), but they both work as far as I can tell. Like the brake flexible lines, I'm going to plan on swapping those out in the near future anyway for peace of mind.
I've sorted the spurious brake pad wear warning light issue - by disconnecting the sensor leads. I'm not proud of it, but the problem is a simple fundamental issue with the system design which results in false triggering with modern brake pads. Rather than the way for instance BMC did where they just have a light in series with a metal tab in the brake shoe, which grounds the circuit through the disc when the pad gets worn down, Mercedes have the switching done by a transistor - meaning that even the tiniest bit of leakage to ground at the brake end of things brings the light on. I don't think I've ever actually seen one of these vans where the wiring wasn't snipped off decades ago... guessing this may be why! I've not cut anything, no need to. There are two connectors that can be unplugged in the engine bay. So if somewhere down the line I feel like modifying the system to be less hyper sensitive I can easily get it going again.
Discovered the nearside indicator repeater was out. This turned out to be a bit of poor design. The ground for the repeater is via the mounting screw - however that's just a self tapping screw into a plastic plug on the inside of the wing. A bit of rust on the screw where it passed through the wing = dead light. I've done away with that and replaced it with a nut and bolt with a shake proof washer, and a big blob of grease over it to keep water out.
There could be a thousand things I've missed though...it barely moved last year. Obviously being an old Merc rust is the biggest fear!
I then went and cleared what felt like about two tonnes of dead leaves and dog hair out of the interior.
I'll get back under there tomorrow and give all the rigid brake lines a rub down and see if I spot anything else needing attention. I will say it's really nice having a vehicle that you can comfortably work underneath without needing to faff about with jacks or ramps! In the interests of seeing off Murphy's Law, I do stick an axle stand under the chassis rails though just in case a spring decided to snap while I was crawling around under there. Unlikely? Yes. However I know my luck and it takes all of thirty seconds to do. So let's just play it safe.
I'd by absolutely lying through my teeth if I didn't say I that even just on the run to the testing centre that I was massively looking forward to driving the old bus again. It's been far, far too long. I do find it highly amusing the degree of decision paralysis that I sometimes suffer as to whether to go out driving in a Citroen Xantia Activa, 2.8 tonnes of camper van with 78bhp, a V12 Jag XJ-S, or an Invacar. I enjoy driving all of them...Though honestly the Invacar probably has caused the biggest grins from me lately.
They all have their moments though...
Xantia: Seeming ability to totally ignore the laws of physics where changes in direction are concerned and the addictive shove in the back when it comes on boost.
Jag: The sheer degree of torque from a standing start is absolutely ridiculous...oh, and the noise when you go anywhere north of 3000rpm. Comfort goes without saying...and the looks.
Van: She's just a lovely old thing to drive. Gearchange, steering, ride and strangely enough, the smell all say vintage bus to me.
Invacar: Hard to point at any one thing, as it's just such an utterly unique driving experience...and far, far more capable a vehicle than you'd ever think to look at.
In other fleet news, for the last month or so I've been unable to get the boot on the Xantia unlocked. Wouldn't unlock with the central locking or the key. No amount of fiddling around with either on a dozen or so occasions had any effect. Yeah...right up to this afternoon when I went outside to properly investigate and fix it.
When I unlocked the car to undertake this task the bootlid unlocked perfectly normally. The lock has then proceeded to work absolutely perfectly, and pulling the trim off didn't reveal anything amiss which would have caused any issues. Yep, that's pretty much situation normal then!
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