Admiral51 Citroen Adventures

[admiral51]

having read and seen pictures of other peoples affection for their Xantias and other French cars i decided to sit down and try to describe why i bought a xantia 13 months ago.........

i was made redundant in January 2007 (happy New Year ) and as usual money was tight but things were ok till March 29th when my wife was involved in a RTA and had our only means of transport written off (not her fault,makes a change and it was a vectra so looking back not such a bad thing ) but we needed wheels,it had to tow a caravan and we had £800 to play with.I had previously had the good fortune to borrow a mates Xantia to get me into work when he was away so i thought why not good comfy car and a diesel will save money in the long run so we ended up with this one



bought for £500 it seemed a bargain but it was slower than my mates car.it was then that i realised the difference between a 1.9n/a and a 110 HDi but i live and learn
it needed a few things sorting main problem being it had no working cooling fans and thats when i found my way to this forum
eventually figuered out the bypassed wiring bodge that had been done and got spare fans from a ZX out the scrappy and with the help from the forum we had working fans and all was well. Decided that with the good lady working and me needing to find a job it was time time to take the plunge and get a second car so i went and bought a 1.9td Xantia from fleabay no tax but looked it over and seemed ok for £150. well i got stung on that one it had a HG failure which had been well covered up but i should have noticed engine bay was nearly concours clean let my heart rule my head and i usually only do that with other peoples money
but all was not lost it had a 10 month MOT and i managed to salvage lots of parts that i used for to get the n/a through the MOT in august and sold a few bits and ended up with £130 profit so things were looking up

late october and employment beckoned but i needed another car so what else could i buy i had a shed full of spares but little money so this was going to be my new work transport


now looks can be deceiving and this old girl only cost me £250 but she needed new rear spheres 2 tyres new door stays and the fans only came on when she got very hot and it had a Lucas pump and was non turbo but taxed till end of Dec and MOT till mid Feb so i was happy with that. delving a bit deeper it turned out that sunroof leaked and wouldnt open and the HRW was not working but again the forum came to my rescue(who needs a sunroof in Autumn and Winter ) but then the January rains came and my route to work was slightly damp.on 16th Jan at 6 am i hit a largeish puddle(22" deep ) at 20+mph and sucked a few litres of water into the engine instead of air one more Xantia off to the scrappy
that night my boss sold me the following car and i only include a picture here because it has proved invaluable in my quest ney obsession in getting a Xantia 1.9TD so for all those offended by Dangenham Dustbins i apologise in advance and yes Admins i will remove it if requested


i only paid £260 for it and the boss let me pay weekly so there are some good ones about (bosses i mean ) it was leaking like a sieve at the rear and the heater was not working but they were easily sorted it was the small problem of having 6 weeks MOT and 2 weeks TAX that needed sorting and the small problem of having a second hand Mondeo engine fitted that was worrying me
the engine was done by the mechanic at work the boss paid him and i paid the boss weekly total outlay was coming close to £650 now it had a 12 month MOT

well this is where it all comes together and im not sure if i need the men in white coats to take me away for spending that sort of money on a Dagenham Dustbin 1996 (ok i admit thats good enough reason in itself ) or what i did next

i saw this Xantia in my local garage 3 weeks ago and decided i was going to have it


it has just had a new HG valves water pump cambelt aux belt 4 new tyres and a 12 month MOT and i bought it for £500.yes its a 1.9TD i finally got a working example but i had a problem i didnt have the £500 so i got my boss to buy the Dustbin back for £500 cash,my only problem was i still owed him £150 for it all in and today is the day when my last installment was made he even let me use it for a week whillst i sorted some minor niggles out with the Xantia ie wouldnt start air in system heater blower not working (mod done thanks Richard W Mandrake and Citrojim ) new acc sphere hydraflush heater matrix leaking (Barrs Stop Leak what a wonderful invention ) dashbulbs replacing and of course the obligatory 6 months Tax

so i have decided that having owned 5 cars(all Fords or Vauxhalls )in the previous 23 years i have now owned 4 Citroen Xantias in the last 13 months i will stick with the Xantias
They dont feel so tinny and plasticcy(sp??) as the others and i cant recall seeing one that has been devouered by the tin worm.they feel well put together and despite(or maybe because of)their complexities thay are quite simple to work on for the (very limited) DIYer
But my biggest thanks goes to each and everyone of you all on this forum without whose help i would still be driving a Found On Roadside Dead



Colin

[DaiRees]

Good write up Colin, glad to hear things are looking up for you 8)

[myglaren]

Most interesting and entertaining - you have certainly jumped through a few hoops there admiral51.
At least the end result is that you have two excellent cars that should last a long time and give much driving pleasure.
I like the C5 well enough but still miss the Xantia.

[MikeT]

Nice going Colin. As you say, until you get to know what's what on these cars, there are pitfalls but it's a good learning curve and looks like you eventually got what you wanted - for now.

[CitroJim]

That's great Colin

No problem with showing a picture of a Ford. A thorn amongst roses

I jest, I have a lot of time for the old Fix Or Repair Daily. Ive spent plenty of time working on them in the past. My dad and son were ardent fans of the marque until they found Pugs and Nissans respectively.

I had a Fester myself in days long ago, a MKII, back in the days when I was commuting daily to London and my car was spending 95% of its life parked in a railway station carpark, often overnight. An old Fester was just the job. It was still going at 21 years old not so long back after many encounters with a MIG welder.

One thing that has to be said about the Fords of 10 or so years ago, when I lost touch with them, is that you could still do most repairs on them with a bent fork and a spoon as they were so simple and straightforward. It was just a shame the old tin-worm had such a fatal attraction to them and that generally, they are as dull as dishwater. They are like the automotive equivilent of a kitchen appliance. Unfortunately, most modern cars are like that, nothing more than automotive white-goods.

Your tales bring home very clearly the point that Citroens do have that indefinable quality of being able to work up a good bit of passion and pride in ownership Colin. Long may it last

[elma]

I had almost the same ford.

Same colour, but a N reg 1.8D.

That was a leaky sieve and cost me a diesel pump after not long.

Hated it.

It replaced my blown up corsa and since then I've had only Xantias.

I'm in a Renault at the minute, but it is a tempary problem.

[MikeT]

I've had various Ford's over the decades but you should drive my Granada some time Colin, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I feel like Ronnie Corbet when I'm sitting in it. It even has the option of a rear height corrector though it wasn't fitted to this car. Considering the size of it and the 2L displacement, it'll return 40 around town while 70mph sees it just above idle in fifth. 8)

As Jim, says, in comparison to a Xantia, it's far simpler to DIY a Ford and there's good visibility all round the engine. Shame about the tin worm though.

[admiral51]

To be fair the Escort not only did its job ie got me to mine and back it was quite good on fuel but it just didnt feel right if that makes sense

now if i had that little bit of extra cash then this i would have to go and have a look at

colin

[myglaren]

Ooooooh! Pretty.

[CitroJim]

Ooooooh! Pretty.

That is gorgeous At £900 it's a steal and it looks like the expensive cambelt work has been done

Grab it quick!!!

[MikeT]

It does look the business, pity about the reversing sensors. I expect it goes like the proverbial off a shovel too but at what cost?

[admiral51]

Just a quick(ish) update now that the 1.9TD has been with me for 2 months . It is currently returning around 44 MPG less if SWMBO drives it for a few days but hey ho and hasnt let me down....yet
Have got a few jobs lined up to be done by early august (8th) as the car is going to do what it was bought for (thats what i told SWMBO) tow our caravan to Scotland and back over a fortnight and ive been backed into a corner with no means of escape
first up is the discs and pads followed by another oil and lhm change and possibly if im feeling brave (foolish/reckless substitute at will ) the clutch cable also going to have the aux belt changed as im not 100% happy with it tensioner is fully adjusted but still doesnt feel right may just be me but posted in citroen section any way
Now thats not really a lot of work to do spread over the next 6 weeks something im sure im capable of but at the same time i have to get the caravan sorted as its been in storage for 9 months.
i brought it home on saturday and decided to have a look at the "small" damp patch on the rear wall around the window. simple i thought must be the seal
this is what it looked like before i started


This is how it looks now




Im sure wood should not really crumble and flake like charcoal

not only have i now got to rebuild this particular part of it but now the wallpaper will also need doing seem to recall SWMBO said something along the lines of the whole van would need to be done
and whilst im doing all that i just as well relace the front gas lid as its the wrong one/colour

it should look like this


Have not really got any comeback on this particular point as 18 months ago i did go and buy the correct one but its in white and still sat in the loft

So if anyione has any usefull hints/tips to ease my pain then feel free i wont take it too personally
But the following are definitely out of bounds
1. Burn it ... more than my lifes worth
2. Sell it......as above
3. Postpone holiday...as above
4. Get a divorce .............mmmmmmmmmm worth a thought

Colin

[CitroJim]

Gosh Colin Not good on the caravan rot front Never fear though, it looks bad but it can be fixed relatively easily due to the construction methods used to build them in the first place.

It's worth doing as those Avondales are rather good 'vans.

I once rebuilt the whole front-end of a rotted out 'van. I pulled away the panel to fully expose the rotten framing and made a whole new wooden framework and made a new inner wall from facing ply and the end result was good. Admittedly that was on a non-bonded construction 'van (i.e. aluminium skin bonded to polystyrene and then bonded to ply) but the same principle holds good with yours. You have to pull it apart to expose all the rotten timber and replace it with new. Where you have exposed rot in the bonded construction areas, let in mew wood, clean up the polystyrene and rebond new facing ply to it. There is a special glue available to do this, designed for repairing delaminiating caravan floors which are usually a bonded sandwich of ply and polystyrene. Most DIY glues (such as Evostik) will melt the polystyrene. Treat the plastic front like non-bonded construction.

Fundamentally, caravan construction is pretty straightforward once you get into it. Repairs though seem to make it look a lot worse before it starts to look better.

A refinish with heavy duty wallpaper like the vinyl faced stuff for kitchens and bathrooms will finish it off a treat. Use some good paste though and not the normal household stuff; there is some stuff available that is waterproff and sticks like the old proverbial; the name of it escapes ne at the moment.

One word of caution, just like rust in metal, the rot may have spread further that you think. It's important to replace all rotten stuff and search it out and keep on letting in new wood until all trace of the rotten stuff is gone.

The end result will be extremely satisfying

Then you have to make sure it cannot happen again by renewing all the mastic sealing the panels together. The panel joins are usually under rubbing strips and the two long awning rails. Pull 'em all off, get all the old mastic off and replace with good stuff expressly designed for caravans. The stuff made by W4 is good and excellent for Xantia eastate tailgate membranes as well.

Haynes do quite a good BoL for caravans and it's worth getting a copy.

Good luck with this project Colin and keep us informed every step of the way. Interesting stuff!

[admiral51]

Just about finished the major rebuilding wallpapering and painting the lower front of the van plus fitting the new lid inc drilling out and fitting 2 new locks


hope it looks better in daylight



must remember to put that ladder away

thought things were going too well and so it proves to be...........................
On friday SWMBO was quite happily doing 60 ish (her words ) in the TD down the dual carriageway when the lorry in front hit the underside of the footbridge with the arm on its digger. The resulting debris -large chunks of concrete- was a bit too much for her to avoid and she drove the o/s/f wheel straight through it

one very badly buckled rim and shredded tyre plus some dings on the underside of the car is what appears to be the sum total but its going in to be looked at on tuesday before i decide wether to pursue through the insurance or direct with the firm

other than that both cars have been good as gold and the TD is now due for a bit of TLC before its run to Scotland towing the van.
purchased new serpentine belt from Dealers (£18.56) but atleast i know its the correct one and have decided to have the cam belt and water pump done at the same time.Main reason is the water pump as i dont know if it was done when the cambelt/head/valves were done so in for a penny

Have got the discs/ pads to do along with another oil and filter change plus changing the hydraflush for some green blood so fingers crossed its just the wheel and tyre and nothing more serious

only got 3 weeks to get it all done plus giving the van bearings/hubs an inspection and now i have to go to Ireland for 3 days for work why cant weekends be longer

Colin

[CitroJim]

A real top effort there Colin, well done 8)

Sorry to hear about the encounter with the lumps of concrete Hope the damage is indeed minimal.

It's not a bad idea at all to do the cambelt, aux belt and water pump before a big tow. You can be sure then. get the garage to carefully check the top tensioner on the aux. belt is working properly and is not seized or failing.

Have a great holiday