My love affair with the XUD9TE

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
r.welfare
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Joined: 12 Apr 2008, 13:01

My love affair with the XUD9TE

Unread post by r.welfare »

I've only just signed up here (due to my purchase of a 406) and, in the absence of a "Reader's Rides" thread, I hope I may be permitted to post my 1.9TD history...

I currently own 3 Peugeots with this marvellous engine. No.1 is my 1994 405 GLDT saloon:

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I bought this car in May of 2006, for a friend of mine to use while I sold his MX-5 before he emigrated to Australia that September. It cost £150 with 8 months' MOT and 3 months' tax, probably due to a poor eBay writeup/pictures (it lived on a farm and needed 3hrs+ of cleaning to get it "white" again!).

Inevitably my friend decided to keep his MX-5 for the summer, so I did around 3,000 miles over a couple of months. It had no history to back up it's 175k miles so I got the cambelt and waterpump changed and did a full service myself. Wonderful - I got 48mpg, and what a dream around corners! Sadly, I decided it couldn't stay, so sold it that August - foolishly I then decided to get a company car and sold my everyday Accord almost instantly, which was daft, as the new car had a 12-week delivery time; I could have used the Peugeot around!

In July last year I decided to change job, and gave up my lovely Saab 9-3 TiD. As luck would have it, the new owner of my 405 e-mailed me to say he needed rid; it had sat for 5 months since the MOT ran out, did I want it for scrap value (£50)? I said yes, on the proviso he booked it in for an MOT when I collected it (hoping to take advantage of the Road Traffic Act loophole to bring it home). You could have knocked me down with a feather when it passed, needing just a bulb replaced!

It has been my everyday car ever since; the mileometer now reads just shy of 190k so I have added 10k since I started my current job in November. Funnily enough I discovered that the rear brakes and handbrake didn't work very well, as I found I could move the car just by tightening the rear wheelnuts (bad/good day for the MOT tester?)...so it was booked in for new rear shoes, cylinders, flexihoses, and glowplugs. Oh, and the fitting of four new shock absorbers and a towbar I got cheaply on eBay.

Let's just say this work wasn't cheap - the labour was 13.5 hours - but all told the car stands me at about £1,000. It gets oil, air and fuel filters every 5k. The remote locking doesn't work, and I need to change the leakoff pipes, but it's a wonderful drive.

In November of last year I got wind of an estate, same model, same year, being sold cheap locally (£250) with a full year's MOT and 6 months' tax. So naturally I bought it:

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Naturally it wasn't perfect - it had done 247k, both rear doors were a different colour (I have no idea why), the heater didn't heat, and the offside front wing was badly dented. I flushed the cooling system, changed the thermostat and refilled and bled it several times, but could never get a huge amount of heat out.

It also lost a litre of coolant every 200 miles and the temperature gauge would drop to zero for no reason every so often - perhaps the dreaded HG? Anyway, I decided that it would be nonsensical to pour money into it, so I sold it for what I paid a couple of months ago to a pair of Germans who plan to drive it to Morocco this summer!

I replaced it with what I should have bought in the first place:

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A 405 Hunter. Lots more kit - ABS, roof rails, a/c, electric windows all round, a towbar, two owners from new with a bulging history file, 8 months' MOT and 3 months' tax, and the HG and cylinder head had recently been replaced. And all mine for £375. Perfect. Unfortunately the waterpump went on strike soon after I got it, but the garage replaced this and the cambelt, as I had a spare one.

But - disaster struck at the end of last month! I returned from a 300-mile round trip and parked the car on the drive. Two hours later, my neighbour knocked on the door and informed me he'd just seen the car roll off the drive, down the slope opposite my house and into a brick wall! Yes, the handbrake had been applied...

I retrieved the car and dejectedly stripped off the bent panels - both front wings, bumper and bonnet were all bent, the grille and lights smashed. Luckily, the inner wings, slam panel and radiator were OK.

It currently looks better than this - I've sprayed the new bumper and wings, fitted new lights and a grille, and the bonnet will be sprayed this weekend - but you get the idea:

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I would have preferred not to break the paint gun out, but Sorrento Green 405 panels are like hen's teeth, it seems! I'm just glad the car will live again, it seemed pointless to scrap it (TPFT insurance due to the car's value) - I played the Green card with my wife, anyway.

Hopefully back on the road next week; it will need a new windscreen for the next MOT and a small hole welding up near the nearside front strut, where the "chassis" rail kicks up. Oh, and I will be getting the rear brakes looked at ASAP, too... :roll:

The aircon is unserviceable - it leaks from somewhere - but I don't care. These things are massive inside, so very useful as a fetch-and-carry device.

Finally, there's the 406L DT that I bought on Saturday:

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Not much to tell yet, other than: 230k miles, MOT to the end of July, 3 owners but no history, and it smokes (blue) quite a bit and idles lumpily. And it feels a lot slower than either 405 - the saloon being faster than the estate in that regard.

Time will tell whether this will be a permanent member of the fleet, but first priority is to give it a good service and deduce whether the smoke is down to the engine thinking it is cold all the time (temp gauge doesn't rise above 70 currently), old oil, old diesel, air in the fuel, duff timing, valve stem seals, clogged injectors, or turbo problems.

Richard

PS I'm still tempted to try a Xantia or ZX TD one day... :wink:
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

Hey, that is great Richard :D I love threads like these...

Great to see repairs to the Hunter coming along nicely. Sorrento Green is a smashing colour. I always loved 205GTis in that shade. I wonder if Sorrento Green was a special edition colour on the 405 as it was on the 205?

I'll wager the handbrake problem is the cables. They corrode and then collapse. I had the same happen on my last 405 but luckily, without incurring a disaster...

I have been in love with the XUD9 (and XUD7) for years and years. My first foray into the world of XUDs was with a very early 1988 405 GRD (non turbo) that did sterling service for a few years with an average fuel consumption of 52MPG :D

I then became the proud owner of a late 405GLX TD and that was with the family until last year. I gave it to my son who desparately needed a car at the time.

That one was replaced by my first Xantia 1.9TD and that one is still with us as our towcar and family reserve spare car.

Between that I've had a couple of XUD7 powerd 205s, one an STDT Turbo and dad still runs an XUD7 powerd 205 which gets filled up with diesel about once a year! I've also had long ownership of a 205GTi as a pleasure car. The Activa now holds that role...

I have a new love though. The XUD9TE has been ousted by an XUD11 2.1TD. The 2.1TD is an absolute peach of an engine and economical too! That does fantastic service day in, day out in my Xantia estate. the 2.1TD can also be found in 406s.

Do try a Xantia Richard. If you like a 405, you'll love a Xantia although ownership is a little more involved. A 2.1TD Xantia is a cracker!
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
r.welfare
Posts: 46
Joined: 12 Apr 2008, 13:01

Unread post by r.welfare »

Thanks Jim!

Sorrento Green was one of two colour options on the 405 Hunter, and I don't think it was available on the rest of the 405 range at that time (1993). Having said that, I believe I've seen it (or a dark green very much like it) on late (95/96) 405s. Either way, I couldn't find anyone with s/hand panels in that colour - all that was available locally were white wings and a red bonnet and bumper.

The bumper droops very very slightly on the nearside and the gap twixt bonnet and wing is a little wide on that side as well, but it's not too noticeable. I don't think 405's had Lexus panel gaps to start with!

I'd heard that the XUD11TE is a bit of a pain to work on, but as my first love is 405's I haven't experienced it yet! Incidentally, no reason for picking the 405 other than it was entirely fortuitous that I ended up with the saloon the first time round - it was local and cheap. The decision to get the estate was based upon the desire to move things around (DIY...) and I thought the same mechanical specification would allow swapping of parts between them to keep at least one on the road! Why I've ended up with the 406 is a mystery, other than it was temptingly cheap...

With regard to Xantias, one of my colleagues runs a P-reg LX (sadly a 1.8 rather than a 1.9TD!) which he has had since nearly-new; now with 160k up, I've told him if it fails an MOT I'd take it off his hands... :lol:
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

r.welfare wrote: I believe I've seen it (or a dark green very much like it) on late (95/96) 405s.
My '95 GLX was in that green Richard. Not Sorrento as it's a metallic and a little lighter. More like the Roland Garros green. Again a rare colour and seemily only on late 405s. I've only ever seen two others...
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

Ah - I didn't realise it was a different colour! That's interesting to know. I did find a green 405 being broken in Evesham, but it was the lighter green, sort-of turquoise colour.

So it's fair to say that the two colours on the Hunter (Sorrento Green and Bordeaux Red) were specific only to that special edition. I've no idea how many Hunters were made, but probably between 1000 and 5000 - I have the brochure but it doesn't give production details; Parkers indicates they were available for 3 months from 1 August 1993.

They were based on the GRDT estate, but had standard air, ABS, chrome grille and roof rails, sports seats and leather (205 GTI) steering wheel. I think they only lack the electric front seats and alloys that the top-line STDT had at the time, which I don't think had a/c as standard...it predated the 1994MY cars (GLX, GTX etc) in that regard.

I'm quite happy with it as the chances of finding a well-looked-after Executive TD estate (with leather etc) for less than 4 figures are rather slim...I'm also led to believe that the loadspace is greater in the 405 than the 406 estate. Certainly I bought a Peugeot hard plastic loadliner from a chap who upgraded to a 406 then found it wouldn't fit; and the seller of the Hunter had also upgraded to a 406 and said it wasn't as roomy in the back!
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
admiral51
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Unread post by admiral51 »

So come on then admin :wink: :wink: lets have a subsection where we can shamelessly put up pics of our french cars with a little bit of history into how and why we got them
and i do believe there are some members that not only have had that many french cars but in some cases still have barns full of them that may require a sub subsection all to their own :D :D :lol: :lol:

colin
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

admiral51 wrote:So come on then admin :wink: :wink: lets have a subsection where we can shamelessly put up pics of our french cars with a little bit of history into how and why we got them
It's a good thought Colin, The BX Club forum has a gallery where members do just that.

They also have blogs section which is only accessible to registerd members where a number of members share their ongoing adventures in life generally.

I like the idea of both sections and think they would enhance the FCF. I'll float the idea and see if we can go with it :wink:
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

Just to bring this up to date...

The 406 was sold two weeks ago. I got it through the MOT with minimal hassle (and few advisories), but it was clear that while the 406 has a great interior (Peugeot finally pensioned off Airfix from making the dashboards :lol: ) and is a handsome beast, it was just too sluggish and stodgy for my liking. In summary, if you've not driven a 405 with the 1.9TD, you'll probably find a 406 1.9TD fine (particularly if you've come from a Mk1 Mondeo diesel).

Anyway, it buffed up well (I have something of an OCD for car cleaning, possessing a pressure washer and snow foam lance attachment - great fun, plus a Porter Cable polisher) and I thought it should fly off the pages of the Autotrader website at £450 for a tidy, 11yr old diesel family car with a year's MOT, despite the 230k miles. How wrong I was. The car did sell within 3 days, but the number of calls I took from idiots was unbelievable. In the end some Bulgarian guys bought it for £400, and I'm pleased to say they have taxed and insured it...

The 405 saloon trundles on, now having passed the 192,000 mile mark. The 406 needed two wheels and tyres - the tyres were worn away completely on the outer edges and the rims heavily dented - so I purchased 5 14" 406 steel wheels with good tyres, together with the lovely "LX" wheeltrims (that look a bit like 205GTI Speedlines if you squint) from eBay, for £30. Of course, they came off a 1.8 406, which has smaller brakes than a 1.9TD, which needs 15 inchers...

Never mind, one of the front tyres on the 405 was worn on the edge too, so a pair went on, together with the 406 LX wheeltrims. A real visual improvement compared to the 206 LX wheeltrims (that I bought, brand new in their wrappers, from a boot sale for £15 when I first owned the car 2 years ago!) that were on it before. I still have a stack of 5 wheels and tyres in the garage though...

Two business trips to Bradford finally saw me break the 700-miles-out-of-a-tank barrier, in fact 63L (which I make just over 13.5 gallons in old money) so that's 53mpg. Next job to do is sort out a bit of surface rust on the inner wings behind the headlights in the engine bay.

Finally, I have got round to painting the front panels of the Hunter, and this is now back on the road too. The plan was always to alternate between the two on a weekly basis, so the estate has been racking up the miles this week - Newbury to Trowbridge and back every day (140 mile round trip). The last fillup and steam abacus session showed 54.4mpg, which ain't half bad for a 178k mile wagon with a set of crossbars on the roof rails! Why it should be more economical than the saloon is confusing, but perhaps it's down to the fact the engine runs slightly warmer - 86C as opposed to the resolute 78C the GLDT indicates when warm.

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The photo flatters the paint finish a bit - there's a fair amount of orange peel that I should really have sanded away 48hrs after I painted - the finish is now rock hard! But it's not too bad. Only casualty of the fitup process was that the n/s front foglight no longer works - internal corrosion has finished it off. Anyone got one? :wink: Also, I need to remove the coachlines on the "untouched" panels - mainly because the originals are wearing away, and I couldn't get a replacement set that match.

A new windscreen was fitted this morning completing it's "rehabilitation" - it pays to shop around, I managed to get it done through National Mobile Windscreens for £110+VAT - and the difference in clarity of forward view is astonishing.

All it needs now is a 1" square hole just in front of the strut on the n/s front inner wheelarch welding up (in two minds whether I do this myself, or get my mechanic to do it - no time and novice welding skills mean probably the latter!) and it should hopefully get through another MOT in October...

Hopefully after all of this, it should just be regular (5k) oil, air and fuel filter changes for both, with another cambelt change not required until well beyond 210k for each. A good dosing of Waxoyl is also on the cards when the weather has been good enough for them to sufficiently dry out!

Someone recently asked me why I have two, and there's no logical answer, other than as they are both mechanically identical, I should be able to keep at least one running continuously! With a sensible head the saloon should give way to the estate - they are so commodious, especially with a towbar and roofrails! - but I've had the saloon longer and it's given me 15k of reliable motoring the last 9 months...it's a local car too...

Anyway, that's enough rambling. If I do any more major car stuff, my heavily pregnant wife (our firstborn is due in 8 weeks) is likely to hit the roof, anyway...

RW
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

Another update, and some added 405 Hunter content...

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Imagine my surprise, on perusing eBay, to find another Hunter not 25 miles from me! As I am a perfectionist, I hatched a plan...

1. Swap the front end over, so I lose my "10 feet" paintjob;
2. Swap the alloys - I do like these GTX rims;
3. Swap the driver's seat, as mine has the usual split seam on the squab.

My original plan was to sell/scrap this new one, provided it was cheap enough, following the swap. But having picked it up, there's no way I can bring myself to commit it to such a fate...

£250 has bought me a sound car with MOT till the end of February (and tax to the end of September); it's only done 128,000 miles, and to my (and the seller's!) surprise, the service book was still present, and had been stamped up to 88k/2003, all Peugeot main dealer (mainly Charters of Alton) too! The alloys have new tyres, the frontend panel paintwork is almost factory fresh (or it will be once I get the polishing mop on it), and the driver's seat is mint! The headlining is also perfect - which is more than can be said for my existing Hunter, where the ministrations of a staple gun have been required on my part.

So a weekend's work should see the swap carried out - the headlining is a "one day" kind of job...

It's not all perfection, of course - the handbrake just doesn't work (I've ordered new cables); the clutch slips slightly when giving it "full moo" (hopefully the cable, which I have "in stock", but we'll see); the ventilation fan doesn't work (hopefully the 30A fuse under the bonnet); the thermostat is stuck open; and the turbo is awfully whistly - allied to a definite lack of grunt compared to my other two, I will be looking for pipework leaks. There's a slight oil leak too, for which I suspect the rocker cover gasket - again, I have one "in stock".

Phase 2 is therefore to investigate the above, then consider my options. I suspect I will store it away in a garage for a rainy day!
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

This entry is entitled "How I spent my Sunday".

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8am.

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10am - bonnets swapped, wings a go-go.

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1pm (note date change on photo - camera 12hrs behind!) - wings, bonnets and bumpers done - wheel swaps in progress. About this time, some Irish tinker in a Transit pickup pulled up and asked if I wanted to scrap 'em both :roll:

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3pm - swapping driver's seats. 1hr "wasted" after bodywork fitup when I noticed the new one had air trunking not connected properly (still hasn't quelled the noisy turbo whistle though), plus radiator top hose found under the rad, rather than clipped onto the underside of the slam panel where it should be. Haynes Book of Lies handily omits to mention half the seat bolts, or the fact you need to remove the seatbelt from the seat base.

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4pm. Done. The original one (on left) now looks a million times better with matching paintwork on the front panels (compare the finish between both nearside wings - although the "new" one is still a bit tight against the door though, legacy of the crash), alloys and mint driver's seat. New one ready for new handbrake cables (both snapped through - hence the wheelchocks!) and rocker cover gasket (see oil drips just under bumper) - but that can wait for another day.

Sunburnt, knackered, but happy.
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

Richard,

That was an excellent use of a sunny Sunday, It's coming along a real treat. Well done :D

Better than my Sunday getting covered in LHM and cleaning up the mess such leaks make :twisted:

At least that is never a problem on a 405 :lol:
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

Thanks Jim. I still need to work on the panel gap between the door and wing on the passenger side - it's so tight that I've actually mounted the wing slightly proud, so that the door's leading edge doesn't strike it when the door is opened.

Obviously there has been a little bit of "crumple zone utilisation" underneath - my mechanic told me fitting the new radiator required some thought - but as it drives fine I'm quite happy. When I get time, I'll open up the top mounting holes on the wing a bit, so I can bring it forward slightly.

LHM is not something I have to worry about, thankfully - although I am not looking forward to doing the handbrake cables!

Another "interesting" feature of the new Hunter is that the rear electric windows don't work. More specifically, someone along the line has replaced the original centre console with a "lowline" version, losing the duplicated rear window switches and child lockout button. Why this should be, I have no idea - but I did find 75p and three toy cars in the storage bin of this one, so not a complete waste :lol:

Unravelling the spaghetti of wiring under the console, I found that if I put two spare window switches on the remaining connectors, I could get the rear windows working with one "set"...unfortunately, this is obviously the driver's switches, and of course there's not enough wire to resite these to the back...so the lockout switch is needed. Luckily, one should be winging it's way to me from Plymouth as I type.
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

A quick update here, although there is not a huge amount to report.

Here's a nice group shot to start with, anyway.
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The "spare" Hunter (in the foreground here) has been sold. Since the birth of my daughter 8 weeks ago I haven't had time to do anything car-wise, so decided it was pointless to leave it locked in the garage unused.

A day's fettling (changing the rocker cover gasket and handbrake cables, getting the rear electric windows working again, and a full top-to-bottom clean) saw it ready for sale, and it went within 24hrs for £350, which financially means a small profit - but this is increased when you remember I swapped it's mint driver's seat for the split one in the other estate, and it also had 4 new tyres on GTX alloys which I again swapped over 8)

The saloon continues to provide good service (now up to 194k) and passed it's MOT at the beginning of July. I was originally concerned that the tyres on the front - 185/70R14s, taken from a 406, would constitute a problem as the rears are the original size of 185/65R14. No, that's OK in MOT land provided they are the same size on each axle, apparently. Incidentally the slightly higher profile makes the speedo bang-on in accuracy...

The MOT was not without it's advisories - chipped windscreen, oil leak (rocker cover gasket - on the list of jobs to do, although it does not discernibly drop the oil level), rear tyres getting low, exhaust centre pipe beginning to corrode, and - the biggie - front-to-rear brake pipes beginning to corrode. I will get these replaced with copper ones, probably from Automec.

The only problem remaining on the saloon is it's reluctance to start in the morning, needing a good prime on the fuel "bulb" and then running roughly with a fair bit of white smoke for the first 30 seconds. I need to change some of the fuel line for clear pipe to observe bubbles, but I am hopeful that a change of leakoff pipes and perhaps the priming bulb will solve the problem.

The estate (now up to 181k) has caused some fun recently too. For the last couple of months there has been an uneven, "rubbing" noise at idle, so I got it investigated at my local independent garage. A failed auxiliary belt tensioner was diagnosed. Recoiling somewhat at the £95+VAT cost from Peugeot, I found a good s/hand item from eBay, £10 delivered, and got the garage to fit that with just a bill for 2hrs labour...all was well for 2 weeks then the noise returned, together with squealing on full lock - yep, the "new" one had failed!

This time, a new item was used together with a new bottom idler, and the car has been transformed. The "rubbing" was the tensioner coming into contact with the cambelt cover, so caught just in time methinks...

Next job is to investigate the rear headlining, which is "ballooning" - I might give in and just staple it up, but would really like to drop the whole thing, restretch and reglue it again. But this needs time, as there's a lot of dismantling. Ironically the spare estate had a mint headlining, but I ran out of time to change them over :roll:

I also need to give both cars a good clean and polish - I never realised white paint could go completely flat, but that's what has happened on the saloon! Luckily I have a decent Porter Cable polisher and some Menzerna polishes, so I am confident I can bring it back to a showroom shine. The alloys have finally been reunited with centre caps, which I have firmly attached with self-tappers. Then the estate needs it's MOT at the end of October, which will finally show whether I bought a decent car, seven months (and the thick end of £1,000 in "rectification" costs) ago...

Finally, my wife has acquired a new car (caution - non-PSA content) to replace her somewhat troublesome Fabia, in the shape of this...
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...which was free from my father; this indicates more the state of the used car market (he was offered a paltry £500 p/x on a Qashqai!) than his generosity, but very kind nonetheless!

The PSA link is the reliability of the Honda (115k up with the thickest service history I have ever seen) should mean I have more time to sort out the 405s...

I do like these Accords having owned one myself, but given that it will only do 35mpg on a run (1.8 auto) compared to the 55mpg of the 405s, I will stick with my old buses for a while yet - although (apparently for "safety" reasons) my wife says the baby is only allowed to ride in the climate-controlled, four-airbag-equipped Accord!

Richard
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
r.welfare
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Unread post by r.welfare »

For this update, I finally feel I have changed from a boy to a man. Yes - I managed to change ALL FOUR glowplugs on the saloon last weekend.

It was an eventful day that included the above, a full service (oil change plus new oil, air and fuel filters), new leakoff pipes and a rocker cover gasket - the MOT in August highlighted an oil leak down the back of the block, although the car doesn't consume any oil between 5k mile services. Oh, plus the fitment of 4 alloy wheels (GTX style - and I've just managed to track down a set of centre caps!).

Total time taken was 5 hours :shock: , but the best part of an hour was spent struggling to undo the 3 allen bolts on the intercooler; I really must invest in a set of allen bits, as you can't get a regular 6mm allen key on the back two bolts up by the scuttle the "normal" way, and by turning it the other way (i.e. with a very long vertical part and short horizontal part), you can't get the torque on it to turn...

Anyway, once the intercooler, fuel filter housing and various pipes were out of the way, plus a decent deeply offset 12mm ring spanner was found, the 4th glowplug (behind the fuel pump) wasn't that difficult to get at. In fact, I didn't need to remove the coolant pipe, just loosen off the jubilee clip and slide it out of the way.

I actually changed the glowplugs a year ago when I repurchased the car, changing 3 myself (that took 3 hours!) and leaving the 4th to the local garage when the car had it's marathon brake and suspension rebuild. But I used cheap unbranded ones, and the car had been proving difficult to start - partly because I think the cold start mechanism isn't working (searching the Forum found Pete Wood's thread, and using his "trick" of 1/3 throttle on cranking sorted it), but the tell-tale bluey-white smoke and rough running for a few seconds put blame on the plugs, too. Sure enough, one of them looked distinctly less healthy than the others.

The leakoff pipes were a fun job, too - the pipes on the car were datestamped 2001, so not original, but pretty old nonetheless. They didn't want to come off without a fight! However, my ministrations appear to have been successful with the car now starting easily - almost "exploding" into life!

The wheels were a bit of a find on eBay, about 10 miles from work - a set of 5 with decent (4mm+) tyres (3 Firestones, a Bridgestone and something called a "Goodride" which will be a spare!) for £25, including bolts. The wheels themselves could do with a refurb in places but they will do for now. The steels were Freecycled as they still had a reasonable level of tread (3mm) on the tyres, and snapped up pretty quick.

Meanwhile, the estate had it's MOT at the start of the month - it's first in my hands (I bought it in February). I gave it a once-over and a good clean - she does gleam when polished! Sure enough, my local ("firm but fair") MOT tester was impressed with the condition, but the nearside steering rack gaiter didn't pass muster. Hmm - the Haynes manual specifically mentions you can't do this at home...but Autodata indicates a "book time" of an hour. Fast talking with my local garage got it done, with a new track rod end (the rubber boot was an advisory, so it made sense to get it done at the same time), for 1.5 hours labour. "Took us a bit longer than that", they said, so I owe them one...

This weekend's job will be to service the estate (and do the rocker cover gasket as well - but thankfully no glowplugs!) and investigate why the interior seems to be getting a little damp. The headlining has dropped all round (common fault it seems) so has been stapled up - the quilting effect would do justice to the seats of a '70s Cadillac - but I found some slight dampness under the rear seat squabs when I dropped them last night to move a fridge/freezer. This morning I noticed the front footwell carpets were slightly damp, too.

I wonder if this is due to either the mobile phone aerial in the rear roof (which I should really remove), and/or the fact that a new windscreen was fitted a few months ago, and the new rubber seal (with super-shiny chrome insert!) stands slightly proud of the roof contours at the upper corners...

So to sum up I am pretty pleased with my pair of charges. The aforementioned fridge/freezer I moved for a friend last night, from Basingstoke to Gosport, was a big beast - 6ft tall, and heavy, but by dropping the front passenger seat it went in. The drive back was magical - the rain had stopped, the night was clear, the traffic was good. 3000rpm in fifth - a true 72 according to my TomTom - and light work was made of the M27/M3/A34. Sitting there in great comfort, I struggled to think of another car that suits my needs quite so well. Although I really do need to whip the stereo out to see if the aerial connection has fallen off, as there's little or no reception...!

Richard
'93 405 Hunter TD estate
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CitroJim
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Congratulations om mastering No.4 Glowplug Richard :D Feels good doesn't it :D
r.welfare wrote:The drive back was magical - the rain had stopped, the night was clear, the traffic was good. 3000rpm in fifth - a true 72 according to my TomTom - and light work was made of the M27/M3/A34. Sitting there in great comfort, I struggled to think of another car that suits my needs quite so well.
Ahh, I know those roads so well. In fact yeterday I traveresed the A34 twice between the A303 turn and Oxford on my way to and back from Somerset. I do enjoy a good drive on a nice dark, clear night. As you say, magical :D

In have exactly the same thoughts about my Xantia 2.1TD Estate as you do about yours. It's as if Citroen specially made it just for me... It's ex-owner passed a comment the other day to say it suits my personality perfectly.
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...