Mystery XM Coolant Leak

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
MooreStep
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 Jan 2003, 14:36
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Mystery XM Coolant Leak

Post by MooreStep »

I was wafting (or whatever one does in an XM) up the A3 the other day when "Low Coolant - Stop Immediately" appeared on my matrix display. Not one to ignore such an urgent instruction, I pulled off the A3 and immediately stopped.
Under the bonnet I found an expansion tank not quite empty (phew!) and wisps of steam appearing from no easily identifiable source somewhere towards the bottom of the engine or radiator.
Fortunately I had enough distilled water to refill the tank and return home at a gentler pace than usual, with the heater full on as an extra precaution (against what!?). It took me ten minutes to finally detect the source of the leak. The steam was no help, since it was rising from the block some distance from the actual drip. The drip (apart from me) was coming from a split in a hose whose existence I had never previously noticed. The hose runs from near the top of the block to the Diesel injector, and I am told it's job is to provide hot water to pre-heat the fuel.
So it was on my bike and down to Halfords to buy a temporary pipe repair kit (emery paper, 2 ft of inner tube rubber, and 2 plastic clips!) which provided enough of a repair to last the weekend (and possibly several months ahead, but I'm not going to chance it!)
I checked a friend's Peugeot 605 2.1 TD today, and the hose is exactly the same. My local Peugeot dealer is closer (and cheaper) than Citroen ... so I shall be off there today to buy the part in question.
Moral of the story ... when searching for leaks, look in front of your eyes first!
Post Reply