Latest purchase blog

[CitroJim]

Mike, actually, you'll find the bouncing occurs with the flashing of the alarm and radio LEDs...

[MikeT]

Hmm, well left unused for some time, the battery was barely able to start the engine... though once again, I'd left the 3rd party radio/cd player fascia connected which was running in demo mode the whole time

And the offside dipped headlight bulb which I'd only just replaced for the MOT last month has blown again. I have no idea why this is happening though when it was replaced, the mere pressure of squeezing the connector to pull it off the bulb cracked it indicating it was very brittle, presumably caused by overheating? The thought of replacing the bulb makes my back ache, doing any troubleshooting work has me hiding indoors so would appreciate some electrical experience/pointers/advice to help me diagnose this problem more easily.

[CitroJim]

After over three weeks standing I found my V6 Xantia only just started Mike...

I guess the bulb you had there was a very poor quality one or it had been touched at some point. You have to be so careful when handling them not to touch them and if you do to carefully clean them with some gentle degreaser..

Hope with this nicer weather coming along you'll be able top do a little more Mike...

[KP]

You can get some nice low level LED ones now that whilst drawing less power don't heat up as much and aren't as sensitive to the touch as normal low power flimsy bulbs are these days

[MikeT]

teehee I'm usually very careful about accidental "greasing" of the glass. Having replaced quite a few in my time this would be a first.
poor quality could have been a factor except the two things I mentioned give me doubt - the brittleness of the connector and the fact it's the same lamp out of, what, eight possibles? (2xside, 2xfog, 2xdipped, 2xmain). Ok, most of those are used not so often but they've never been replaced in my ownership.

At this rate, I'm petrified of shelling out 10-20 quid for a pair of quality bulbs until I can be certain of the diagnosis

As for the LED's, is the output comparable and does it affect pattern/spread?

[MikeT]

Removed the offending lamp yesterday - well, the metal part of it. There was nothing else attached, no glass, no element. Squinting into the headlight lens, I could see fragments of glass inside. I wasn't feeling up to removing the assemblies so just fitted a working lamp and tested. I guess it's not good to leave the bits in there but I'm really not up to the task at the moment. What's the risk of the fragments damaging the reflective material?

[CitroJim]

Not much Mike, it's not unusual to see fragments of old bulbs in well-used headlights...

[MikeT]

Well I can report those last bulbs fitted are still working ok so it must've been a bad batch I had previously.

Poor xantia hasn't seen much use tbh, new tyres and droplink was all that was needed for last mot. She's now just tripped over to 137,000 miles so gave her a celebration oil and filters change and topped up the LHM. Not wanting to tempt fate but starting still occurs on first crank indicating the glowplugs etc are all in good condition.

What does need attention though is a noisy pulley (I think) and the indicator stalk has started misbehaving. If I manually cancel the indicators, sometimes a relay can be heard clicking very fast though no indicator bulbs (interior or exterior) illuminate. A wiggle of the stalk usually stops it. Additionally, lexia tells me there's a couple of engine management sensors intermittently going open circuit. And cosmetically, the lacquer is blistering. I can't justify the work if I'm planning on getting another car and my health problems constantly deter me taking on extra chores anyway.

[CitroJim]

Mike, that indicator stalk problem is common and it's dirty grease inside the stalk tracking across the contacts. Easy to fix, have the stalk off, pop off its cover, minding out for pingfuckits, clean and re-grease the indicator contacts and reassemble.

Pleased to hear the Xantia is still going strong...

[MikeT]

Mike, that indicator stalk problem is common and it's dirty grease inside the stalk tracking across the contacts. Easy to fix, have the stalk off, pop off its cover, minding out for pingfuckits, clean and re-grease the indicator contacts and reassemble.

Pleased to hear the Xantia is still going strong...

Ah, I thought it was worn with replacement being only option. I'll give that a looksee maybe tomorrow while waiting for the two lancasters to return to bournemouth from waddington flypast.

[MikeT]

A slightly more urgent repair is now required - it spat a pulley off and I lost hydraulics and alternator about a mile from home. As I rolled to a stop, said pulley rolled up alongside me and was damn hot when picked up. It's got a big hole in the middle

I guess the motorway miles I did the other day going to view the C5 in chichester (it was a lovely run btw) finished it off as I was pushing hard on the return journey. The next morning on startup it sounded worse and I knew failure was that much closer.

Just waiting on a mobile mechanic to recover it now as it may still be saveable/repairable for little money. Not sure if I can cope with doing the repair myself though.

[CitroJim]

Sorry to hear that

What pulley Mike?

Crank pulley? If so, did it separate at the rubber bit?

If so, easily fixable. It's if the whole shebang fell off, as in your old white car, that things might be different..

[MikeT]

Sorry to hear that

What pulley Mike?

Crank pulley? If so, did it separate at the rubber bit?

If so, easily fixable. It's if the whole shebang fell off, as in your old white car, that things might be different..

Auxillary concentric pulley (thankfully). Loss of hydraulics and alternator made pulling over safely an experience I'd long forgotten.

No7 (or 38?) in your pic



When recovery turned up I only then realised I don't have a tow hook (or I've never seen one if it's secreted somewhere (like the spare tyre cage crank is) so I had to drive it up the ramps to get it on and vice versa to get it off. Was a good test of my handbrake.

Now, can I get away with a decent used replacement seeing as I don't intend to keep the car or should I lay out loads of cash and replace both pulleys and belt with new parts?

[MikeT]

When recovery turned up I only then realised I don't have a tow hook (or I've never seen one if it's secreted somewhere (like the spare tyre cage crank is) so I had to drive it up the ramps to get it on and vice versa to get it off. Was a good test of my handbrake.

I must be suffering the onset of dementia(sp?) this is the second time I've realised I've not RTFM. The towing eye is "stored" in the rear towing fitment location.

[citronut]

I must be suffering the onset of dementia(sp?) this is the second time

who are you what do you want