CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
KP
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Unread post by KP »

You should get an old laptop in the garage and just have an excel sheet or something on there with the parts and where you have stashed them in said garage Jim :)
Citroenmad
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Unread post by Citroenmad »

Im pleased your liking the 206 Jim, they have a bit more about them than the Saxos and 106s do, a bit stronger and safer. Ive found mine to be a great car, though i find it a little cramped on a long run, hence why ive bought another C5 which will be replacing my 206. So if you know anyone who wants the HDi version ... :lol:

With the 206 LX, you got the SR or AC version, so it was an option from new to have either the huge glass sunroof or air conditioning. Its very rare to find one with both.

I used to be with admiral, i found them to be ok too. Im now with Bell which is pretty much the same company. I cant fault them either.

Chris.
Chris
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

Yes, the 206 has impresed me greatly Chris. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by it. This one has no AC, just that brilliant sunroof. It began life in Scotland so that may be the reason.

I've already found a problem :twisted: The cambelt tensioner or waterpump is noisy at just above idle so I'll be doing the cambelt and waterpump sooner now rather than later. Still, it's an easy job on an 8V TU :)

That is planned for next weekend so the V6 breaking will have to go on hold for a few hours whilst I do that. I also need to give my V6 a little TLC. It has a tiny coolant leak and today I found it is from the joint in my heater matrix piping. The joint is formed from 22mm copper water pipe and it's not quite cutting the mustard. I hope I can recover the pipes from the breaker V6 and transfer those across.

No breaking today, I've had a lot of non-automotive work to catch up on and I'm suffering from very dry skin on my hands from too much wet and washing them. This has led to fissures and cracks on my thumbs and it's quite painful at times.

Also, this coming week is a busy one for me, demanding maximum mental alertness. I'm on a very heavy trainnig course for the week involving lots of Visual Basic and even Unix :evil: Theonly good thing is the venue for it is a De Vere Venue and the one chosen is the one more or less at the end of my road! I'll be walking to work and being fed :D

Will, that's a great idea with the old laptop in the garage :D I've just dug one out from another of my stashes and typing this very post on it. It's seriously old; a Compaq Armada M700 with a 350MHz PII processor and 64Mb RAM :) It runs XP reasonably well though, if a tad slow!
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
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xantia_v6
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Unread post by xantia_v6 »

Just a little update on my transmission that Jim rebuilt recently...
xantia_v6 wrote:
CitroJim wrote: All is good, the engine runs sweetly and the 'box is now sweet. Gearchages are like oiled silk.
The car has been running sweetly for a couple of weeks now.
After about a week I noticed that very light 2-3 changes had developed a bit of a jolt (actually very slight), but another week of auto-adaption, and everything is perfect again 8)
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

After a really quite fraught week of IT horrors I indulged in a lot of spanner therapy today :D The weather was good and just the job for giving the RobMobile (206) a good going over and replacing its cambelt and water pump.

What a simple and straightforward job it is. Honestly it is so easy it would barely rate one spanner in the BoL. Speaking of spanners, very few are needed for the job too. That's on the 8V TU engine. I expect the 16V TU is a little trickier.

No need even to touch the engine mounts.

I've photographed the job and I'll do a write-up on how to do it as I think Superloopy is needing to do the job.

As the TU has a manually adjusted cambelt tensioner, Richard (DickieG) loaned me his SEEM gauge to set the tension.

This is the gauge in action:

Business end-

Image

Reading end-

Image

Richard, thanks for the loan and using the gauge does confirm that the old rule of thumb of tensioning a belt until it can be twisted 90 degrees on its longest run by moderate finger/thumb pressure is sound. I initially tensioned the belt using this method and then popped the gauge on. I was not far out... I did find it necessary to reset the tension slightly after removing the locking pins and spinning the engine over a few times.

The top picture shows how much space is available in the 206. The TU really is a little speck of an engine in a fairly commodious bay. It'll take a 2.0HDi in there quite easily. So, that means a V6 will also fit in there :twisted: :twisted: 8) :-k :lol:

I swapped the waterpump and tensioner as it would have been false economy not to. The tensioner was a bit noisy but not on the verge of giving up. The old coolant was a murky brown so well due for a change.

And no faffing around bleeding the cooling system as you do on a 106/Saxo. Just fill up, open the bleed valve on the heater matrix pipe and the job is a good 'un.

After putting some air in the tyres (they should be 2.3 bar and were all down at about 1.5 :evil: ) I took the car out for a spin. Steering is now a lot lighter and boy, does it go well for a 1.4 8) I do seriously like this little 206 8)

My V6 had it's routine checkover and all was well. I did attend to the small coolant leak by replacing the copper-pipe heater matrix pipe coupling (which was too short) with a pukka pipe joiner. The old leak was almost invisible as coolant evaporated as soon as it leaked but it was enough to drop the level in the header tank by about an inch over the course of a week.

Final job was to swap the rear wheels with a couple from the scrap V6. I now finally have a fully matching set of (albeit MK2) wheels and I can now speak to Gareth about having my MK1 wheels refurbished.

Time ran out to do any further breaking of the scrap V6 but work on that will recommence tomorrow. Weather permitting, Mike and I hope to lift out the engine.

Don't forget there are some juicy bits from the V6 on offer, including a pretty nice leather interior. Get your orders in soon as I'm not wanting the remains of the car hanging around too long. I'm pining for my Activa :lol:
Jim

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

CitroJim wrote: I've photographed the job and I'll do a write-up on how to do it as I think Superloopy is needing to do the job.

As the TU has a manually adjusted cambelt tensioner, Richard (DickieG) loaned me his SEEM gauge to set the tension.
Good to hear it may be within my lowly skillset Jim, one star BOL should be within my capabilities and i'm looking forward to your write up although with the festive season nearly upon us I doubt v.much whether i'll get the job scheduled until the New Year, fingers x'd eh :wink:

btw - i too have a SEEM gauge, i recollect buying one a while back after Richard mentioned they were a useful addition so you can leave in any references to the gauge, the more of a write up including the SEEM useage the better :D

I think the general concensus amongst forum peeps was tht my engine was also 8v not 16v :?
Mike

Xantia Activa Dante Red MK1 (96) 121k - SORN, to be broken
Xantia Activa Silex Grey MK2 (98) 120k -SORN, ditto
Xantia V6 Silex Grey MK2 (98) 95k - non-runner
Xantia TD Storm Grey MK1 (95) 95k - non-runner
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

Mike,

I can assure you that you will have absolutely no problem in changing the cambelt at all and the procedure is virtually the same for the Activa, even down to tensioning it :D The only thing is that space is a little less generous in the Activa :twisted:

Having a SEEM gauge is a boon and takes all the guesswork out of it as the old finger/thumb method does admittedly take a tad of practice.

Yes, almost sure yours is an 8V like Robyn's

Here's a picture of the Robmobile...

Image

Pretty little thing, just like her custodian :lol:
Jim

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

Looks a nice little car Jim and in almost the same colour as my daughters boyfriends car although that's a 1.1 and also in need of an urgent belt change having covered 90k on the original, or so i'm told, gulp :wink:

I've got all of the 'bits' other than what's needed to 'lock' the engine and also a water pump (although no gasket, do i need one?). The SEEM tool was a steal on the Bay a few months back as it doesn't look to have been used in any way :) . Let's see if I can change that eh ...
Mike

Xantia Activa Dante Red MK1 (96) 121k - SORN, to be broken
Xantia Activa Silex Grey MK2 (98) 120k -SORN, ditto
Xantia V6 Silex Grey MK2 (98) 95k - non-runner
Xantia TD Storm Grey MK1 (95) 95k - non-runner
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

All you need for locking tools is an M10 bolt and a length of copper brake pipe! I'll show how they're used in the writeup.

The water pump is sealed by an O ring that comes with the new pump. I even have a picture of the pump to show the fitting of the O ring...

90,000 miles :shock: And when you see just how big (or otherwise) the belt is, it does make you gulp. Like the engine it's tiny! I've seen bigger ones in printers :lol:

Procedure is the same for the 1.1 and the 1.4. A day will see both done...
Jim

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

Yes the 2.0HDi fits, erm snug. It can be a right paint even doing an oil and filter change, as the filter is so close to the radiator and the air conditioniong pipes also block access. I always end up with my hands and arms cut to ribbons after changing the filter, and i have the thinest of arms :lol: Im sure there must be a knack to it that im missing!

Seems much more space on the 1.4s, i think its a very similar block to the 1.1s isnt it.

It looks like a very tidy 206 Jim, its the same colour as mine too, though mine is a 3 door. They are great little cars, drive and handle really well and are reasonably roomy for a small car too, so long as your feet arnt very big!

Main things to watch out for on those are clonks from the rear suspension and very little else actually.

Ive mentioned that we had a saxo before the 206, it was a faultess car and never went wrong (1.1) in the 80K miles that we owned it. However the 206 is a much more grown up car, feels more solid and is safer in an impact, which is always something to consider.

I trust Robyn likes her new car? Will she be learning in it too?

Chris.
Chris
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

Ahh well, I won't be planting a V6 in it then Chris :D

Robyn's is all quiet at the rear (barring the occasional parcel shelf rattle). That was one thing I checked carefully after owning 205s..

Robyn is delighted with it and has pictures of it on her facebook page with a caption "LOVIN IT" :lol:

As soon as she has the hang of clutch control on her mum's instruction car (mum is an ADI) she'll be driving it and acting as the family taxi.

Mum is going to give her some intensive tuition over Christmas so we can expect a test pass fairly early in the new year.

They certainly are cracking little cars. I never thought I'd find something to outclass the 205 but the 206 does!
Jim

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

Have you checked the boot lid catch adjuster Jim? Mine had an awful rattle from the back too, i too thought it might be the parcel shelf but as that seems to be made from card board or some such its probably not that.

I found the tailgate to be very slightly loose and the catch needed adjusting inwards to get it fitting tighter, which solved the annoying rattling noise. If you’ve not checked or tightened it, id say its that making the noise.

Ah very handy, having a mum who is a driving instructor! Im sure she will pass in no time, but good luck for her test :)
Chris
07 Citroen C6 V6 HDi Exclusive - Red
07 Citroen C5 HDi VTR - Red
09 Citroen C3 1.4i VTR - Silver
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

I'll check the bootlid Chris, thanks for that :D Maybe some time as Robyn now has the car at her mum's house... She was very eager to get it after I'd checked it all over!

It's been a day of great progress on the V6 breaking front. She's now looking very stripped at the front and inside but from a quick glance up my drive she still looks whole! We're breaking front to back so the car does not obviously look like a scrapper until the last moment.

The engine is now clean and sitting on a rug in my garage :D It was horribly mucky when it was first lifted and I spent some time with it hanging on the crane cleaning it. It'll not win any bling competitions but neither does it look as bad as it did earlier and I won't get too mucky when I come to strip the gearbox. It had a long-term oil leak from the engine and the grime was a quarter inch thick in places :shock:

The removal went well. Lifting V6 engines is now a bit like shelling peas for us :lol: :lol: We were initially troubled by very tight flex plate bolts that refused to yield to a 16mm ring spanner even after grinding off the lead-in. Eventually we removed the front to rear exhaust header and used a specially ground socket on them.

We also found one of the 12mm unions on the hydraulic pump was FT and beyond an ordinary spanner. We then found a 12mm crow's foot socket (that looks and works like a flare nut spanner) languishing in a dark corner of my toolbox and that worked perfectly. I'd had them for years but never used them. A crow's foot was Mike's idea for a possible tool to shift the tight flex plate bolts. In the event they were no good for that but for the pump and big hydractive sphere block unions they work like a dream :D

We did find an easier way to extract the engine by removing as much of the front of the car as possible. It makes the job easier but is only really on if the car is being dismantled as the aircon condenser needs to be removed...

Here's a couple of shots about 20 minutes before the engine was lifted..

Image

Image

In other news, Robyn has taken possession of her 206 meanuing there is room at home again for my Activa :D I've missed her..

I want round to my friend's house where she was parked and she started instantly despite being all damp and abandoned for what seems weeks. I then went for a long joy ride :D

It's good. So good it's heavenly :P :P The best way to enjoy an Activa is to drive other cars for a few weeks and then go for a nice long drive around some nice B roads.

It's been a good weekend and so nice to spend quality time out of doors.

Spannering therapy works!
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Sl4yer
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Unread post by Sl4yer »

That engine bay is so full it's scary! :shock:

Speaking of cambelt changes, a chap (ex-mechanic) who used to work for me left the cambelt change a little too close to the maximum limit on his 1.2 Nova. He was able to change it in his lunch hour! Loads of room to get at everything. Replacing the bent valves which he found on restarting it took a little longer though, but not much.

James
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CitroJim
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Unread post by CitroJim »

James, that's a lovely tale of the Nova cambelt change :D Could have saved himself a lot of work if he'd done it earlier though...

I did intend to crack on with V6 breaking this evening but alas the weather was against me. 'Tis just a tad wet with a lot of wet falling from upon high :(

So instead I removed the gearbox from the engine. It's quite easy single-handed by using an engine crane to lift the gearbox away.

I found the torque converter well stuck on to it's neck bearing and it would not come off until I brought the patent xantia_v6 torque converter puller into play. This puller is a couple of lengths of Dexion shelving support and some alloy bars. Crude but effective :D

In the event the converter did come off and left the bearing and oil seal in place but close examination of the TC neck and bearing shows damage similar to what we found in xantia_v6's gearbox but less severe.

It will be interesting to split the gearbox and see what else has died. Maybe tomorrow if it continues to pour with rain...

Having said that, I'm waiting patiently for Webfusion to advise me of the login and IP details of our new forum webserver. They came good on their promise of a new, enhanced server free for three months and then the same monthly fee as our old one. If the details arrive tomorrow, all thoughts of gearboxes and breaking will be put aside whilst I configure the new server and prepare to get the forum up and running on it.

The spec. looks good. 50Gb hard disk space on RAID5, 3Gb of memory and Windows 2008 Server with unlimited traffic. Hopefully it'll run like the wind 8)

More news hopefully tomorrow...
Jim

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