Admiral51 Citroen Adventures

[admiral51]

16 months and no update,no excuses,i have been mega idle

just a quick update.

We still have the C5 and to date it has been faultless once the dealership issues have been ignored,never again will i buy a car from a dealership.

Our other Chevron badged car has had its little niggles,mainly due to my lack of attention to detail, but once again she passed her MOT at the first attempt,this time with no checks before by me.

will post those long promised photos soon.

[CitroJim]

Hi Colin, good to see you

I was thinking about you the other day and thought it was a long tome since we'd heard fro you on here..

Good to hear all is going well...

[Citroenmad]

Good to see you back and also that your C5III is impressing

[admiral51]

Nearly 7 years without any input, so much has happened and not a peep from me in my own Blog, totally indefensible

Well i will be updating this thread over the coming days just need to take stock of what has taken place over the last 7 years and as i get older my old brain forgets stuff so need to make this right lol

[admiral51]

Well where do i start, where i left off i guess.
The VSX was sold for scrap in 2013 ( how i wish i had stored it ) after a shunt that twisted the front chassis. Not saying anything else about the VSX from here on in, i loved that car and looking back at the pics hurts.
We then got a 2002 plate Xsara ( same blue ) and to be fair it did a job, got me to work and back whilst the good lady had the C5 X7 as her daily driver.
The C5 was never a problem car during this time, apart from needing the odd paint touch up and wheel refurb every now and again( more again TBH ).
Those that have been on here will probably now know my old C5 X7 as the " Devil Car " , but i still miss it lol
The Xsara our lad learnt to drive in, and does hold a place in the family history for that reason, other than that it was nothing special, but it did not let me down as my get to work car for nearly 2 years so i respected it, just didnt fall in love with it.
Then we get to early 2016 and and all hell is let loose )
The lad wants to get a car to continue his learning in and have a car to drive once he passes his test, so we go hunting, and being a sensible person i try to steer him towards a £2k ( his money not ours ) car that is cheap to run and has a good rep for reliability and is easy ish to fix........

He decided that a Ford was not for him and he bought a 2005 C4

What do parents know lol

[admiral51]

Late 2016, early 2017 the Xsara decided to throw its toys out of the pram ( well clutch went awol ) and i needed something else so i bought a 1998 Focus 2.0 Ghia that was pretty mint, older couple had had it and it had done 2k miles in 4 years, it even had the cambelt water pump etc done 2 years previous for £600.
The lad is happy with his C4, SWMBO loves the C5 X7 and all is well, then the boy decides he wants a BMW and we lend him the cash until he sells the C4....................
Well after spending cash getting the C4 ready to sell and fixing problems that this forum helped us sort i decided that the C4 was the car to keep and get rid of the Focus
So now SWMBO still has the Devil Car and i have the C4 the boy has a BMW.........
The Boy decides the BMW is scrap after a few months ( sorry for the extra s ) and decides he is going to get a BMW 5 series 57 plate M sport kit low mileage and i went with him to look at it and is a cracking looking car so he buys it..
Fast fwd to late October 2018 and the boy is not happy with his BMW and we are having issues with the Devil Car, so what does he go and do he goes and buys a 2010 C5 X7 and says we can have it to replace the Devil Car and he will get a cheap runaround, kids who needs them
We refused the offer but we ran out of time to fix the Devil Car and i needed something to get me to work and back, so we went and bought a W plate Xantia
Nearly upto date, just need to post some pics of all our Citroens

[admiral51]

[admiral51]

Well depending on what happens with my Son's new car, if it is classed as a write off he will be driving the Xantia, the good lady is driving the C5 we just bought off him, i will be driving the C4.
If his new car is repaired then unfortunately i will be looking to sell the Xantia. As much as i love it i have to be realistic, the C4 is worth next to nothing to sell yet is okay as a daily driver to and from work ( 350 miles a week ) and i would only use the Xantia for that purpose, would be a shame to put close to 15.5k on it a year.
Current mileage is 90k, recently had all spheres changed plus hydraflush for 3k miles and then new LHM . New boots all round, 11 months MOT, very clean inside, original stereo head unit, all steering wheel controls work.
Has spent a lot of time ( 14 years i think ) in Spain, cambelt water pump done in 2014 think mileage was 74k but will need to check.
Oil/fuel/air filters and oil change at time of MOT so 1 month ago.
Have not yet got round to sorting the A/C out.
I know it looks and reads like an advert, and i guess it is but wanted to post it here so it gives Forum members a chance to have a look and think before i really put it up for sale.
I am more than happy to provide extra pictures if required and yes atm it is off the road as i have only now received the return feed pipe for the n/s/f strut return which will be done this weekend, and if i do not break the clamp then i will throw in the extra pipe and clamp bought just in case.
No price given for the simple reason that it is worth only what someone wants to pay.
Gonna hurt to sell it, but head has to rule the heart, and she deserves to be loved.

[admiral51]

Do you ever get the feeling that reading and enjoying is more important than putting thoughts and progress down in words ?
I must admit i have been more active on this forum in the last 2 years than i had in the previous 7, and i was quite active in the 5 years before those 7 and i guess the common link is Xantia lol
As some will know i still have my Xantia, just over 2 years i have had her and still no A/C working but spent quite a bit on other small issues.
She is currently on 104k and best guess the average MPG is anywhere between 46-50 on a daily 75-80 round trip ( depends if i get up late ) to work and back or SWMBO has it for a week
So a quick recap of my other posts asking for advice and help over the last 12 months or so.
We still have the C5 ( not the Devil Car ) and it has been very good ( not tempting fate so not gonna say the words ) and when i get the chance to drive it it really is a pleasure unless as usual its on a Saturday when we do the shopping via the garage
Side note but needed thanks Marc for the help in updating the headunit software, my life is so much better
So onto the Xantia...
Last MOT she had discs and pads all round, 2 calipers full service and a proper person to fix the still leaking return pipe on the n/s front strut, and another big thanks to the forum members for supplying me with parts and info on how to get it sorted.
I have narrowed the A/C issue down to the fans not working and whilst the forum and myself have detailed this in another thread, yes i was wrong, you lot were correct as usual, i now have a shed full of spare parts including 2 working fans, all i need now is a bit of time and goodwill to get them fitted.
That would be Christmas then
So if we take out the insurance costs as they are variable depending on age/location etc it has cost me somewhere between £0.22 and £0.28 per mile and at 104k she is only just getting to the stage where she is run in
My main issue is that in 2 months my son who i love dearly and think the world of will turn 25 and then, having looked at his insurance documents he will be eligible to drive a car not belonging to him on 3rd party only, me thinks he should only be allowed to drive the C5 but he has his eyes set on my ( sorry ) OUR Xantia

MOT check is a good way to check
Colin

[CitroJim]

Colin, that's great to see an update on your Xantia adventures

[Rhothgar]

Does this mean it still isn't for sale?

I have a O/S front strut return pipe repair to do. Got the silicone pipe yesterday and the hose clips and pincers. I'll have a scour round for the thread with your repair advice on. Hopefully, it's not a wheel off job. I know it would be tight with wheel on but at the moment the car is parked the wrong way around on the road and I really don't want to turn it around until the suspension is working!!

[admiral51]

No need for the wheel to be removed, just have the suspension on high, grab a mirror so you can see the hole and wipe the area well.
Mark the outline of the old one in situ so it will be easier to put the new one in the correct spot, i tried to cable tie it in place so it didn't move when tightening the clamp.
Cable ties not really tight just enough to hold it in place

My original post for help is Here

[Rhothgar]

Ah! Not that return pipe from the leg to the steel.

The steel pipe has corroded through under the top of the wheelarch.

Not sure I can get suspension on high without refilling with blood (which I don't want to do until I can fix the pipe!)

[admiral51]

Well thanks to lockdown #3 or is it #4 i am working but my good lady is not able to do so.
This means due to the fact i have yet to fix the Headlight issues with the Xantia i am using the C5 as a daily driver and the Xantia is laid up doing nothing.
So having looked at what i need to do to the old girl ( Xantia ) i am going to bite the bullet and do something i should have done months ago.
I have made a list of to do jobs and actually get them done as i have a few days holiday i must take before the end of March.
1. Replace both positive and negative battery leads with better modern spec ones and at the same time get the headlight relay mod sorted. As most will know i can do most simple things once explained in simple language but this will be done by an auto sparky that i have known for years and someone i trust and will involve a proper electrical check over.
I will probably be a pain asking for diagrams etc but that would be nothing unusual.
2. Once #1 is sorted i will be removing the front end of the car to replace both cooling fans. Yes i know it can be done without this but i have decided to do a complete cooling system flush/replace as i have no real idea of when it was last done and on a 20 year old car having the radiator removed makes the flushing of it a little easier, that is what i did on my previous Xantias. I know the A/C compressor kicks in when i do the bridge trick but have no idea about the state of the dryer/receiver so have found online a new replacement so that will be fitted prior to it going for a regass.
3. Fingers crossed 1 and 2 get done then it will be time for another LHM change and if i can work out a way to have the car over a pit/on a ramp for a couple of days maybe remove the rear height corrector and get it properly cleaned.
Maybe i may just keep it for a bit longer then

[CitroJim]

Excellent Colin Do you have a good pair of replacement fans? I ask as I have two all boxed up and ready for despatch!

They've been sitting all packed up for a few months following someone thinking their fan motors were at fault when it turned out to be one of the relays... I did not bother to unpack them...