Vince's XM...213k and slowing....

[vince]

Currently i have no microsoft office running so ill stick on here the list of jobs i need to get done in the next few weeks...all of which im going to have to do myself as i dont have the spare cash to get it done by anyone else.... More is the pity.

- Oil and filter change
- Change fuel and air filter
- LHM change
- Clean up and re seal underside of strut top mounts
- Clean up N/S/R brake line and hammerite
- Remove, clean and re fit rear and front height correctors
- Clean off rust spots on exhaust and high temp paint seal them
- Find duff glow plug and replace
- Check leak off lines
- Clean up and re seal wheel arches
- Re seal scuttle seal
- Nourish all window seals
- Remove and re fit front fog lamp
- Check all 4 wheel hubs, clean and re grease bolts and threads

Once that lots done then i shall feel alot better Only bit that scares me still is the height correctors....Still seems like a maze to me....

[myglaren]

Currently i have no microsoft office running so ill stick on here the list of jobs i need to get done in the next few weeks...all of which im going to have to do myself as i dont have the spare cash to get it done by anyone else.... More is the pity.

- Oil and filter change
- Change fuel and air filter
- LHM change
- Clean up and re seal underside of strut top mounts
- Clean up N/S/R brake line and hammerite
- Remove, clean and re fit rear and front height correctors
- Clean off rust spots on exhaust and high temp paint seal them
- Find duff glow plug and replace
- Check leak off lines
- Clean up and re seal wheel arches
- Re seal scuttle seal
- Nourish all window seals
- Remove and re fit front fog lamp
- Check all 4 wheel hubs, clean and re grease bolts and threads

Once that lots done then i shall feel alot better Only bit that scares me still is the height correctors....Still seems like a maze to me....

OO.o. All you need Vince.

If you just need a text editor there will be Wordpad there, along with the other one the name of which escapes me (not on a Microsoft system at present)

Looks as though you have your work cut out for a few weekends there.

[vince]

Thanks Steve. I have a PC at work and access to the net so can store it on word in my pen drive, thought id get it down whilst i remembered it. Plus on here also i wont lose the list.

Had a re read on Kev's height controller thread.....damn i dont think i can do that, it somehow doesnt seem as easy as how its made out Which is hard enough

[citroenxm]

Vince!!

Hi... Im only down the road...

OR what about this... I send you TWO height correctors (they ARE the same front and rear) you get them refurbed, and then its a case of swapping them over...

You car is NOT out of action for some time then... then when you get them swapped over, send me back your old ones...


Paul

[red_dwarfers]

Height correctors are all right really, put a couple of drops of the stuff that's supposed to be better than WD40 which the name escapes me at the moment on front HC pipe unions then whip off the rear corrector linkage while its soaking in. Rear one doesn't need any pipes taking off as the corrector can stay in place with a bit of wiggling.
That'll build up the old confidence for doing the front one, make sure when wiggling the front HC and linkage out that you try to make a mental note of the logical moves. That will greatly help slipping it back it again, made me feel like a pro when I got it back in so quickly

[myglaren]

Thanks Steve. I have a PC at work and access to the net so can store it on word in my pen drive, thought id get it down whilst i remembered it. Plus on here also i wont lose the list.

Had a re read on Kev's height controller thread.....damn i dont think i can do that, it somehow doesnt seem as easy as how its made out Which is hard enough

Had another thought, why now I don't know as I use it all the time.
Get yourself a Gmail account if you haven't already and use Google Documents.
Your work stays online and is readily available from any computer, no need for dongles.

[vince]

Guys, thanks so much for your help and offers....Paul, your offer sounds great.....I always thought the front and rear correctors were different....im sure we list them as different part numbers at work....? I will give it some thought over the weekend as the rear one does my head in being partially seized, the front one feels ok to me but an indy had a look at it and said it needs doing?

I was thinking last night myself "cant they be refurbed in situ?" if it is a case of cleaning up the springs and surrounding arrangement. De greasers are amazing nowadays and a variety of brushes and pressurised water "should" allow you to get a height corrector pretty clean in situ?

Is that not the case? The manual height contol lever in each position should move the springs through their range of motion shouldnt it? If so then on axle stands or a 2 post ramp you should be able to get at all angles?

You realise im trying to find the easy way out dont you

Can it be done?

[citroenxm]

You can release the the levers for the height corrector in situ, but it takes an age to do levering them, and spraying etc etc..

The height corrector WONT be the fault for slow rising, it will be the levers siezing up which cause it...

Paul

[CitroJim]

The height corrector WONT be the fault for slow rising, it will be the levers siezing up which cause it...

Indeed. Dirty height correctors become lazy to respond to change but won't affect the rise time to any great extent...

You're right Vince, as long as you disconnect the hydraulic valve from the mechanism and the dogbone and the manual lever rod, you can, with good degreasers and cleaners followed by thin spray grease, do a fair job of overhauling the mechanism. It needs to operate on its turrets very freely.

Just be very cautious about undoing the unions on the height corrector valve itself. You know what happened to me and I don't wish that on anybody

[vince]

Thanks again guys

Well today turned into a fantastic day for the Xantia....

I took it into work as i was off yesterday and am off tomorrow, didnt want to catch the train blah blah.....anyway, taking a bit of time back owed, i asked Gary next door in the garage if i could borrow a ramp to do a quick oil change....anyway we got talking and it ended up him doing me an oil and filter change, fuel filter change, and also a gearbox oil change whilst we waffled on. All at no charge as he didnt have anything else to get done.

Thats a start on the list anyway

I must say, on the way home having a full set of new spheres on, and fresh oils and filters, the car was beautiful and wafted effortlessly down the motorway

Ive got to go to Runcorn and back in the morning to pick up my neice.....quite looking forward to the drive

[vince]

Well after a heck of a lot of mileage this weekend playing family taxi etc yesterday i had a day off and taking advantage of the bright weather decided to touch base with the car again and give the bonnet and the roof a rotary session with Autoglym super resin polish to remove the winter contaminants fromt he paint like salt, grime etc. I was chuffed with the results and its so much easier with a polisher

Bonnet shots after....the roof came up the same. Will need to seal the finish in the next few days which should protect the finish for a while

[KP]

Can you do our swift please vince

Looks nice and will look even better when the wax is put on :0

Thanks for the quotes for my bros parts again his mrs couldn't get to liverpool but was doing a shopping trip in trafford centre so picked them up there and fitting was a doddle

[Citroenmad]

The paint finish looks stunning there Vince. Ever thought of becoming a car detailer? I could do with mine doing

[CitroJim]

Bloody hell Vince, you could shave in that

Looks like MikeT could do with a bit of assistance from you...

[vince]

The paint finish looks stunning there Vince. Ever thought of becoming a car detailer? I could do with mine doing

Funny you mention that as it was inspiration from the detailing form that steered me to buying a rotary polisher so i could learn how to use it

Professional detailers are something else as they seem to be able to work magic on almost anything.....Im certainly not anywhere near that good...yet

Ive said before that if anyone wants their car doing then just get in touch, I mean it. For me its good practice and the results although not always to the standard of a detailer always bring a big smile.

Youve got me thinking now......