Confessions of a Citroholic

[RichardW]

New caliper arrived - next day FedEx service - looks like the genuine Bosch article, and is definitely new; seems like a steal at £95 - although better if I had not had to replace it at all! Will get it on at the weekend; bound to be a messy job as the pipe connection is on the bottom of the caliper (the pipe comes over the top and then comes right round the back before curling under to the connection!). Hopefully it will help the slightly long pedal - which is what happened when I fitted the new caliper to the 307.

Interesting development on the 307 - thrashing it down to Guildford and back a month ago seems to have cleaned out the DPF as the MPG has gone back up to over 50, whereas it had dropped back to 45 before that. Will still give it a clean out when I do the cambelt I think.

[CitroJim]

Interesting development on the 307 - thrashing it down to Guildford and back a month ago seems to have cleaned out the DPF as the MPG has gone back up to over 50, whereas it had dropped back to 45 before that.

The use of the good old 'Italian Tune Up' is clearly still relevant - and effective!!!

[Mandrake]

Interesting development on the 307 - thrashing it down to Guildford and back a month ago seems to have cleaned out the DPF as the MPG has gone back up to over 50, whereas it had dropped back to 45 before that.

The use of the good old 'Italian Tune Up' is clearly still relevant - and effective!!!

I don't know about you Jim, but I find the Xantia V6 needs the occasional Italian tune up too.

If you drive it conservatively and sedately all the time, (which is easy to do on a torquey V6 whose auto likes to change up at the drop of a hat) especially sticking to 30mph or below then after a while (weeks ? months ?) it definitely looses its performance edge.

If I then take it for a good hard blast on the open road even for just 20-30 minutes, including some good hard acceleration through the gears the difference afterwards is remarkable....its like it has a new lease on life. I wonder what the mechanism of action is ? The only thing I can think of is spark plug fouling, but with the FR8KDC I have never seen fouling problems. (But have with NGK's)

[CitroJim]

I can concur on it benefitting the V6 from time to time and all mine used to suffer terribly from too much conservative driving...

I find my little 207 benefits from one too Simon

Oddly, my Activa is neither improved with one and nor does it seem to suffer from lots of gentle driving...

[RichardW]

New caliper fitted- no drama. With the pipe being on the bottom it is a bit awkward and gungy getting it in and out, but on the the up side, it bled itself Left the bleed screw open whilst I went off to find the Easi-Bleed, and by the time I came back the fluid was seeping out - job done!

[CitroJim]

Excellent Richard Eezi-bleed is a godsend on non-hydraulic cars...

I'd never be without such a kit... Saved me many times and can do clutches that are otherwise almost impossible to bleed in the traditional way - shame it won't work on Xantias with hydraulic clutches

[RichardW]

Changing the caliper has improved the pedal feel - it was previously quite long; now much more solid. Interestingly this was what happened to the 307 as well - the pedal had gone very long on that, and the handbrake was not working well long before it started leaking. I wonder if there is some internal seal failure that causes the pressure to 'swell' inside the caliper - and then this eventually sees off the outboard seal, and it starts leaking? Anyway, if a long pedal develops on either car now, I will know what to do, and which side needs changing!! The calipers are not the same on both cars, but similar design I guess.

[Zelandeth]

A lot to be said for the old Italian Tuneup. The amount of soot that came out the back of Gabriel when I got to the motorway slip road when I first floored it was downright hilarious.

Barely any after a couple of days driving though!

[CitroJim]

Gabriel never smokes at all now Zel, however hard I try

You must have done a good job!!!

[RichardW]

Had to go and rescue SWMBO yesterday as the 307 refused to start - no crank at all. Turned out it had popped the (25A!) starter fuse on the engine fuse box. New fuse and away it went. Looking around consensus seems to be that it probably needs a new starter... which is a whole barrel of fun on a 1.6 HDi as it is on the top back of the gear box, and there is bolt from the gearbox side which needs removal of the battery, tray, and possibly fuel filter to get at it! Another one to add to the major service looming as the fuel and air filter are already on the list... perhaps I should just hoik the lot out and stick a new clutch in while I'm at it....

[CitroJim]

That's madness Richard Mind you, I think the starter on my 207 is similarly more or less inaccessible...

I presume the 25A fuse is the feed to the solenoid and that's what's dying?

Yes, whilst you are down there doing a big job a new clutch might be very wise...

[RichardW]

Yes, the solenoid - more of that multiplexing witchcraft - the link from the ignition switch is not hard wired to the starter anymore! It seems to be a common problem - maybe they just under engineered the link a bit so as the whole thing gets a bit sticky it pulls too much current. The actual motor cranks fine. New one can be had for £60 so it's not a disaster - apart from changing it!

[van ordinaire]

Starter motors? After a Renault 16, all else is a doddle!

[RichardW]

I'll let you know when I've done it...

NS headlight has stopped working - possibly because I have disturbed the fuse... need to check. It's got an HID in it that I suspect needs removal of the bumper (which has rusted in fittings of course) and headlight to get it out again (the bulb clip was 'quite' difficult to get on!) so hopefully it's not that (and it's not that old - these were supposed to stop it eating headlamp bulbs every few months!).

Oh, and the OSF strut top bearing which has been grumbling a while at first move off, has worsened, so that is on the list for replacement as well.

[RichardW]

Looks like a new starter might be sooner rather than later - it refused to crank earlier this evening, went on the second try (without blowing the fuse!). Headlight problem is not the fuse...more investigation required.