Confessions of a Citroholic

[Mandrake]

Update - managed to get 7.58 working after reinstalling again. Don’t know what went wrong last time!

Successfully tested on both the Xantia and Ion and much faster than the old laptop!

[RichardW]

Nice one - not had a chance to look at mine yet. However, as yours will work, I probably need an OS upgrade.... What did you put yours on?

[Mandrake]

I used Windows 7 Professional 32 bit SP1 inside the VM. The only things other than Diagbox that I installed in it was the Virtualbox integration tools and a full complement of windows updates!

Once the windows updates were completed I used the Virtualbox networking options to simulate an unplugged network connection so that Diagbox never gets to see an active internet connection either during installation or use even if the laptop itself is on the internet. That way it can't phone home and deactivate itself, and so far so good.

You can still use drag and drop or shared folders to copy files in and out of the VM for example if you want to take screen shots of diagnostic screens and then get them back out to your main OS to post on the forum.

One minus is I found the Virtualbox suspend/hibernate really flaky. I found I have about a 1 in 4 chance of trying to restore a suspended VM fail (and looking at virtualbox forums its a longstanding problem that has been around for years) so I just shut down the VM OS completely after use. It and Diagbox itself boots so fast that I don't really need to suspend it anyway. About 25 seconds to boot the virtual OS and fully load Diagbox! (I have a new recently fitted, really fast 512GB mSATA SSD in the laptop and boy does it make a difference!)

[RichardW]

Oooh, some car work! A year almost to the day since we picked it up, and after 11,700 miles, the Picasso flashed up the AdBlue warning. I was away to Halfords anyway to get a chain splitter (see on you bike thread....!) so I grabbed a 10l bottle. Was looking at it wonder how I was going to get it in without getting it everywhere (the filler is inside the car on this one!) when I realised that if you peel the label off there is a flexi spout inside. I'd bought a funnel anyway as the hole is not very big, and well down under one of the folding seats (amusingly the handbook points you to the wrong place!), but it was easy enough to get it in with the flexi spout. I think the tank is bigger than 10l - it easily took it all, so interesting to see how long this lot lasts - I think the tank is 16l, so it might be 8k or so.

[RichardW]

Changed the oil in 3008 - 20 mins to actually change the oil - 90 mins to fight the undertray off and back on again

[Mandrake]

That's progress for you.

[RichardW]

It's always the same on the first home change - PSA will insist on using those stupid wire cage 'captive' nuts, which when they are about 3 days old rust to the point where you can't get them out. This time they have surpassed them selves though - there are 2 into the lower front cross member, which sandwich the undertray underneath the lower skirt of the front bumper - neither were interested in coming out, but because the heads are recessed there is no way to get in to cut them off either. I ended up levering the skirt over the heads which gave a bit of slack, then cutting slots in the undertray by each bolt (no easy feat with a stanley knife....) so it could be pulled out. Then you've got to drill holes to refit it with cable ties.... Much easier next time!

Reminds me, I must get the Picasso on the ramps and whip the bolts out of that and coat them in Copperslip so that when I come to do my first oil change on it when it's 4 years old, the bolts will actually come out.....!

[Mandrake]

It's always the same on the first home change - PSA will insist on using those stupid wire cage 'captive' nuts, which when they are about 3 days old rust to the point where you can't get them out.

The same problem is stopping me fixing the cruise control on the Xantia at the moment - the vacuum pipe has split again (I think) but this time it needs a new hose as I've already trimmed the old one back twice before, and I can't fit a new one just by reaching up through the hole underneath as I need two arms in there and better access to work on it.

But I can't get any of those stupid captive nuts that hold the wheel arch covers and under-tray in the vicinity off - every single one of them is rusted solid and turning in the plastic and will need to be hacksawed off and replaced with something else... To be honest I can't be bothered with that!

[RichardW]

The C4 has worn its rear pads through to the metal...it's only done 18.5k!! Got too many things to do, and I've still not got my Diagbox working beyond 7.02, and not sure how to do it without the computer so it can go to the local garage. I suspect it will need new discs as well (!).

[RichardW]

New pads and discs fitted - I'd have bunged new pads in it on the old discs, but no surprise the garage wanted to put new discs on - there was also a nasty score on the NS disc (which has been there since nearly new) which I was thinking might result in an MOT fail next year, so it has some upsides.

On the drive back however, I picked up there is a knock from the front suspension - looks like the OS drop link has had it.... that can be a warranty repair!!

[RichardW]

Changed the oil in my Sister's 2011 C4 Pic yesterday - I'm pretty sure it hasn't been done in over 2 years and 20k miles.... As expected the undertray was totally uninterested in coming off - I suspect it has never been off. I manged to get the 2 nuts at the back off, but that was it - the bolts on the sides just pulled out, and the 3 at the front just broke free and went round. Decided that the route of least resistance was to cut the panel at the front where it holes in. Did that, changed the oil, cut some pieces of ally plate, screwed it all back together. Oil didn't look bad considering how long it's been in!!

Oh, and my love affair with wheel bearings continues as it sounds like the NSF on the 3008 has thrown in the towel - 70k....

[RichardW]

Appears to be a damage magnet this car....

Parked up at the time - fortunately the guilty party left their details, and has agreed to let their insurers handle it. It's not as bad as it looks, much of the whiteness is in fact muck, and the scratching is not that bad, but there are a couple of dents - no creases though so they should pop out. Might mean we can get the bumper re-painted, and pick up the scratches we put in the other side of it!

[Mandrake]

Appears to be a damage magnet this car....



Parked up at the time - fortunately the guilty party left their details, and has agreed to let their insurers handle it. It's not as bad as it looks, much of the whiteness is in fact muck, and the scratching is not that bad, but there are a couple of dents - no creases though so they should pop out. Might mean we can get the bumper re-painted, and pick up the scratches we put in the other side of it!

Oh dear.

I feel your pain. My pristine at the time 8 year old Xantia 2.0i VSX back in New Zealand was parked in a school car park one day when I had gone there to do some work on their computers, it wasn't until I got home that night that I noticed that there was quite a big, broad dent and a long scratch just below the plastic strip on the drivers door that could have only happened when it was parked there, and was clearly caused by someone entering or leaving the adjacent park and scraping their way along the door as they angled their car...

I was not chuffed as I was only there in the first place on work business using my own car...

[RichardW]

At least she had the decency to leave her name - their insurance co is handling it no problem - they rang almost immediately the claim was put in, local body shop will do it, and they will provide equivalent hire car for the duration. Just waiting on the body shop to arrange a date with us, I expect it will be a few weeks before they can get it in.

[RichardW]

And now the 3008 has joined in the fun - threw the EML on the way home tonight. Fortunately my v7.02 Diagbox will talk to it (still not got around to fixing it - i.e. installing a later version of Windows!) - fault code relates to low fuel pressure, so I think a new fuel filter is in order - I'm not sure it's ever been changed in 70k....! It was on the list of things to do, but it looks a bit of a PITA and I've never quite managed to get to it.