Tales of a C3, a Goddess and some BMW's.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 19 Apr 2009, 10:17

An Anti-Sink sphere on a corner

That both beggars belief and is unforgivable for a dealer.. I wonder if it had any bearing on the catastrophic failue of the cylinder

I must say Richard, between your mechanical attetions and Bob's valeting, the car looks extremely clean and tidy now and not far off concours

With just a bit of attention from Gareth and it would be. I do like Forest Green

A very worthy rescue from the jaws of death and it just goes to show what can be achieved.

My girls have fallen head over heels in love.... With your DS

They were still speaking of it late last night.

We enjoyed a fabulous meal at the Crooked Billet last evening

Well recommended!

Cream leather is going to look lovely in the V6

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 19 Apr 2009, 10:58

hi Dickie, can we have pics of the interior when it's all done

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 19 Apr 2009, 11:31

Dibs on the V6 interior?!

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 19 Apr 2009, 22:29

I finished fitting the cream interior this afternoon and its made quite a difference by way of brightening the appearance of the car, all that's left to do is to clean the seats with my Gliptone leather cleaning kit, which is the downside to a light coloured interior. I had hoped to have time to wash the car and my HDi and maybe have time left to get the Goddess out for a quick spin but somehow time passed me by today

.

For the time being I'm hanging onto the V6 black leather interior to ensure SWMBO doesn't have a change of mind as the chances of getting hold of another with just 58,000 miles may prove to be a lengthy search. Which reminds me that I still have the original interior from XAN71A residing in the garage loft, there can't be many of the houndstooth/Alcantra interiors left now especially when they were put into storage at 24,000 miles. When I've got it all sorted i'll take a few photo's and get them posted.

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 26 Apr 2009, 21:57

Over the past week I've been giving the front seats of the V6s' cream interior a good clean and treatment with leather conditioner and they've come up a treat, in addition it was quite interesting today when I got in the car to move it so that I could get the Goddess out of the garage and despite bright sun shining on the seats I didn't fry my behind when I sat in the drivers seat

so cream leather has a definite advantage over black leather.

I spent most of yesterday scribing out my column for the CCC monthly magazine with the intention of leaving today as a day for tinkering with the Goddess in preparation for the annual DS rally in June but SWIMBO put payed to that by dragging me off to Tesco's

. Her next suggestion had greater appeal for me by way of going out for a drive in the Goddess

so we took a gentle waft along to Wendover Woods country park and enjoyed the delights of the cafe's home make cakes. The Goddess is now running so much better with the 123 Ignition system as she pulls cleanly in all circumstances.

The next job on my list of things to do on her is to find a way of quietening down the fuel pump as its louder than the engine. The pump is located just under the O/S (passenger side as she's LHD) cill/seat, so I'll have to remove the stainless steel cill cover to gain access, I imagine that the rubber bushes may need replacing or simply repositioning in order to absorb the vibrations from the pump.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 27 Apr 2009, 21:31

DickieG wrote:Her next suggestion had greater appeal for me by way of going out for a drive in the Goddess so we took a gentle waft along to Wendover Woods country park and enjoyed the delights of the cafe's home make cakes.

Sounds like an idyllic afternoon out Richard

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 27 Apr 2009, 23:20

A tad late perhaps but the line up shot with all your cars does it for me

By far....the Goddess takes the prize as the most beautiful car. I would have one in a heartbeat 8)

You will have to stop telling us about wafting down country lanes in the DS, its simply too much for us mere mortals to bear

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 02 May 2009, 21:42

vince wrote:You will have to stop telling us about wafting down country lanes in the DS, its simply too much for us mere mortals to bear

Bearing that in mind I drove to work in the Goddess yesterday so rather than country lanes it was the A40 and North Circular Road.

I've been driving to work this week after having a few problem with my new bicycle, the first being numerous punctures where the rear tyre literally explodes (well I do run the tyres @ 125 lbs pressure). It appears that the problem is caused by the tyre being too large for the wheel allowing the inner tube to pop out between the tyre and rim which results in the tube being pinched, the result is a shredded tube totally beyond repair and @ £5 per tube its become a little wearing so tomorrow I'll change the tyres.

The other issue is that the chain has worn out at just 650 miles (I normally get at least 1500 miles) and with a new one costing £35 it means that each daily commute is costing £1 in chain wear

so I've sourced an alternative chain which I'll fit when I do the tyres, overall not a particularly good start to a bike costing £1200.

With the good weather today I took the opportunity to change the engine oil and filter in the Goddess which is quite a palaver as the filter is hidden behind a bolted cover that uses an asbestos type of gasket, needless to say the gasket stuck firmly to each surface requiring me to scrape off the remains, great fun when lying on your back trying to dodge dripping oil. The filter cover has an arrow on it which has to match up with a similar arrow cast into the engine sump, failure to match the arrows results in starving the engine of oil as it blocks oil flow to/from the filter. Changing the gearbox was a total contrast however as the refilling plug is on top the gearbox, just below the spare wheel.

Whilst the Goddess has been running much better recently with the 123 Ignition system fitted, I've not been convinced as the the accuracy of the TDC timing mark painted on the pulley as the engine felt as if the ignition timing was slightly retarded due to the pressure of the exhaust gases. To find the TDC mark on a DS there is a 6mm hole in the flywheel for a dowel to be inserted, the big issue however is trying to locate it as its totally hidden below the alternator where to call access as tight is an understatement. Having removed the battery and N/S/F sphere I just managed to locate the hole and lock the engine then paint a more accurate timing mark which after having checked the timing with a timing light has advanced the ignition a few degrees giving smoother running and a more sprightly performance from the engine

With access so tight around/under the engine the Goddess is becoming expensive with tools/parts as any that get dropped are lost forever as I cannot see where they drop, today it was a 4mm allen key. Fishing around with a mirror and a magnetic rod failed to locate it, so its been added to the several nuts and bolts I dropped when I first got her. On the subject of nuts and bolts, Citroën in their infinite wisdom used a unique thread pitch for the ones used on a DS so dropping any is best avoided due to the hassle of sourcing replacements.

I took a look at the fuel pump whilst I had her up in the air to see whether I could quieten it down, its located behind the stainless steel cill cover on the O/S. I did expect to find the rubber mounting to have split or be pinched against the body but that wasn't the case, the only thing I could find of note was that the fuel exit pipe was rubbing against the cill cover so I wrapped that in thick bubble wrap but it doesn't appear to have made a difference.

First thing in the morning I'll be taking the V6 in for an MOT after I discovered that it ran out on the 12th April

thankfully we haven't been using it as SWMBO's been enjoying the good weather in her BMW convertible. I'm doing well with MOT's for the V6, last year I took it in two days too early to get the extra month so instead of getting 13 months MOT I ended up with 11, maybe next year,,,,,,,

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 03 May 2009, 10:17

Back from the MOT station with a pass certificate for the V6

.

On the way there I passed the site of what I'm told was a fatal collision on Friday afternoon on a dual carriageway just up the road from me between a motor cyclist and a car at a junction. On bright sunny days motor cyclists use this road as a race track reaching speeds clearly in excess of 100 MPH despite there being several junctions with the potential of crossflow traffic. Looking at the large brown stain of dried blood left on the road, the rider in this instance obviously suffered catastrophic injuries

. This is just one of a number of similar incidents along this stretch of road yet there's not a Gatso camera to be seen

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 03 May 2009, 10:43

Congrats on the V6 pass Richard

I want one of those!!!

Nasty accident

Did it happen on the road between you an Iver Heath?

Forgive me but is there not a 60mph speed limit along there?

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 03 May 2009, 11:39

CitroJim wrote:Did it happen on the road between you an Iver Heath?

Yes just after turning right onto the dual carriageway about 1/4 mile up the road by the hotel on the left, apparently a Peugeot pulled out from the junction and collected the M/C traveling along the dual carriageway.

CitroJim wrote:Forgive me but is there not a 60mph speed limit along there?

Apparently motor cyclists are exempt from that, or at least they behave as if they are

Stupid fools, I'm rather fed up with them moaning about car drivers, when the root cause of many collisions involving motor cyclists is down to them riding at a pace well beyond the expectations of other motorists so no wonder that car drivers pull out of junctions saying "I just didn't see him" no wonder really when everyone else approaches the junction 30 mph slower!

Whinge over

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 03 May 2009, 12:25

Very sad that there was a fatality but there is a time and a place for speed...

On a lighter note, on our way back to Norwich last night on the A11, a DB7 shot past me, must have been doing 120-130mph easily. He got to the next roundabout and before i could get round it, he was gone into the distance, quite clearly exploiting the fairly clear roads on a saturday evening up here.

I said to Vicky, i hope he gets caught by one of the patrol cars that often sit up a slip road behind the trees.

Sure enough, 15 miles later he had been well and truly nicked

Clearly, he didnt know the roads that well, and if you drive a car like that, you should always slow down for slip roads

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 04 May 2009, 22:22

When the MOT tester handed me the pass certificate for the V6 he mentioned that the rear brakes were a little low on the roller test so when I got home I gave them a good inspection by removing the calipers and checking for corrosion behind them but found nothing so I followed that up with a lengthy bleed using the closed loop system but no air was expelled so I presume the cause was down to very little weight at the rear end (below 1/4 tank of fuel and an empty boot).

As I was checking the brakes Bob (Firstrebel) popped over to return a tool he had borrowed so I spent an hour or so carrying out some minor adjustments on his TD estate as well as bleeding the rear brakes which was somewhat more productive than my V6 as several large bubbles were removed

I then spent the afternoon fitting two new tyres and a chain to my pedal cycle to prepare it for next weeks commuting and then had to pop over to Thorpe Park to collect my daughter and her friends so it would have been rude not to go in the DS, her friends thought the car was "cool" 8) if only due to the finger pointing from other motorists so it had the all important stamp of approval

I must say her engine is running so much better now, noticeably smoother and quicker and the semi-auto hydraulic gearbox gear changing is now smooth to match, following numerous small adjustments.

This morning I felt a little knackered so it was a case of sorting out some of those annoying but all important little tasks on the Goddess, such as an annoying rattle from the dashboard which turned out to be from the rev counter screen following my rebuild of the instrument binnacle, a quick fix was found by using a wedge of a small piece of cardboard. The next task was to sort out the front window winders, the drivers window didn't shut correctly as it moved towards the rear and didn't push tightly against the rubber on the 'A' pillar (the doors on DS's are pillarless), I sorted that out by adjusting the position of the window channels/runners. The passenger window tended to drop at the rear as it was lowered, but I soon sorted that out but re-fitting a clip to secure the window to the lifter.

All in all a useful weekend, especially on the Goddess as I now feel I'm finally getting her into an acceptable state mechanically which will allow me to turn my attention to her looks by giving her a good clean up, polish and wax ready to the DS/SM rally next month

Unread post by **xantia_v6** » 05 May 2009, 22:06

DickieG wrote:When the MOT tester handed me the pass certificate for the V6 he mentioned that the rear brakes were a little low on the roller test so when I got home I gave them a good inspection by removing the calipers and checking for corrosion behind them but found nothing so I followed that up with a lengthy bleed using the closed loop system but no air was expelled so I presume the cause was down to very little weight at the rear end (below 1/4 tank of fuel and an empty boot).

Coincidentally, I got an MOT for my Mk2 V6 last week, and the only thing it failed on was the rear brake efficiency. I gave a liberal cleaning with brake cleaner, put the spare wheel (which was missing first time through) and 100kg of concrete blocks in the boot... and it failed again.
Next try was to remove the disks and rough them up with the orbital sander, then make several stops from speed to bed the pads... nearly failed again, but the tester was sympathetic enough to leave the car on the rollers with his foot on the brake until the pads finally bedded and the brakes came up to acceptable efficiency.

DickieG · Unread post by **DickieG** » 05 May 2009, 22:12

Hmm, I wonder whether the brake test for a V6 is to a higher level than other Xantia's? The MOT on my VSX is due within the next month so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that, I'll also have a word with the tester to find out the answer to my question.