Xantiaman's Blog

davetherave · Unread post by **davetherave** » 19 Oct 2009, 10:44

Guess it would help if i knew where you lived Lol!

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 19 Oct 2009, 20:55

Phew, what an interesting day!

It started fairly early, with Jim turning up ahead of schedule as usual

I was just in the middle of removing the gear linkage and Jim turned up, so kettle went on ASAP and we got cracking!

After having a quick check of the overall situation, Jim set about fitting the clutch onto the flywheel and seeing how the release bearing arrangement works. No doubt he will talk more indepth, but the set up is actually really simple and with an improvised tool, worked a treat and the gearbox was bolted up in no time at all.

Then the engine was prepared for lifting into the engine bay, using a leveller which is an essential tool for the job, without it you will struggle to get that engine in correctly as the gearbox needs to fit under the chassis leg first, then the other side of the engine lowered back.

After much fiddling and the bloody ABS block in the way (next time, take it off!) it was in. Once on its mounts, we started to refit the bigger stuff, and items which required two people, such as the gear linkage and the exhaust down pipe. The latter which fairly straight forward really, fiddly more than anything.

Air con pump went on a treat, and the tensioner. The drivers driveshaft was the worst bit about this job.

It simply did not want to come out of its housing, and previous bashing by someone had distorted the edge of the driveshaft which made driving it through impossible. A solution had to be found, as refitting it with the lower mount in situ was a no go. God knows how it came out

A trip to the city was needed, to grab a file to reshape the driveshaft and a few other bits and bobs from Citroen. I think Jim was impressed with our local dealer, Duff Morgan.

Dave 'Da Rave' popped over briefly, unfortunatly i got a bollocking for having too many cars in the road, the old lady opposite was not impressed

After a bit of sweet talking situation was resolved, Dave moved his car and promptly got stuck in, he could not resist having a little go at helping and top marks for reusing some old latex gloves

Whilst we popped into the City, i took Jim to our local railway station ruins. Its seems that apart from a passion of Citroens, we are also partial to a bit of time teaming, look at old tracks, bridges and remains. I'm new to all this and find it fascinating. We are spoilt around here, as there are so many disused sites and lines scattered around Norfolk. An old line passes through our estate, now used as a footpath, its great on a sunny summers day. Sadly, no time for that today but i showed him remains of platform, engine shed and an ashpit.

Back to business. Jim quickly shaved the driveshaft and after a few well placed blows with a large hammer and chisel the driveshaft was free, to be cleaned and refitted. Needless to say, it went back in perfectly... but it was an arse of a job and must of lost us a couple of hours today.

Not to worry though, as very good progress was made, and i will finish the job off tomorrow.

It goes without saying that Jim's approach to this sort of thing is legendary. I'm really looking forward to his future plans of setting up a garage.

One other issue we encountered. The gearbox, only a year older had a couple of differences. The VSS sensor had a pin missing so this had to be swopped. And, nearly ruining the day when it came to fitting the gearchange cables to the box, as the angle on one of the levers was 1cm different. A quick swop over from box to box and problem solved, but had Jim not spotted this easily missed detail, i would of been stuffed! Jim now has my old ML5 box for inspection, always happy to donate to a good cause.

The new turbo fits in a treat. No clearance issues at all and you would never know...

Tomorrow will be time consuming but well worth the effort, really looking forward to driving it again.

Thanks Jim for your invaluable help, hope you enjoyed your meal and your drive back was pleasant. I think he likes it up this way

davetherave · Unread post by **davetherave** » 19 Oct 2009, 21:20

Nice one, glad you got the driveshaft out in the end. hopefully 2moro youl be able to make the old woman across the road very happy when you can swap the car and van round! (Dont think she was as impressed with my Xm as Jim was!)

I have to say (despite the prices) Duff Morgan have always been extremely helpfull even when just asking for advice! Glad they are my local dealers!

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 19 Oct 2009, 21:25

davetherave wrote:Nice one, glad you got the driveshaft out in the end. hopefully 2moro youl be able to make the old woman across the road very happy when you can swap the car and van round! (Dont think she was as impressed with my Xm as Jim was!)

I have to say (despite the prices) Duff Morgan have always been extremely helpfull even when just asking for advice! Glad they are my local dealers!

The trick with prices is ask for trade... they can only say no! Saying that, they now recognise me so thats a good thing!

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 19 Oct 2009, 21:53

The meal was excellent Gareth

and a perfect round-off to an excellent and very enjoyable day. Just arrived home after a very pleasant journey indeed; the V6 purred all the way. Apart from the bit between Thetford and Mildenhall it's a good, fast run and it'll be even better when they finish the A421 works between Bedford and the M1...

I seem to attract difficult intermediate bearings

Xac's the other week and now yours

Wish we had a Duff Morgan here

I picked up a couple of height corrector linkages whilst I was there as I was out of stock and always like to have a couple knocking about.

Great to see you Dave and the XM looks a real beaut. Sorry to read of the accumulator sphere disaster

No fears in doing an ML5 clutch now

Dead easy with the engine out and I reckon it is as easy to do with the engine in place as a BE3 clutch would be. I must look up about the ML5 gearchange linkage though as I'm sure I saw an "Evolution" in one of my manuals on that part of the linkage. Doing the clutch and getting the engine back in was educational and profoundly valuable for the addition to forum knowledge

Worth its weight in gold!

Off to shower (to remove Norfolk from my hair) and then bed. Back to work tomorrow.

Thanks again for the hospitality Gareth and Vicky's attention to tea duties

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 19 Oct 2009, 21:58

I would be interested to know what this 'Evolution mod' is, when it came in and what it did. We spotted though, i would of been tearing my hair out trying to find that one!

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 20 Oct 2009, 07:23

Don't forget the gearbox mount Gareth! The other Torx bolt needs fitting and the 18mm nut needs tightening. Put a jack under the gearbox to take the strain.

I looked up the Evolution on the ML5T. It was not connected with our problem, it was an internal mod to reduce the gearstick travel when selecting reverse.

Wishing you a very successful and productive day today

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 27 Oct 2009, 11:54

After a hectic past couple of weeks i can now start to relax a little.

Those who have been following the engine removal thread will of seen the progress made recently to the Activa.

A number of jobs had to be done to get it back into shape. Now the exhaust manifold and gasket have been changed, its as silent as new. The new clutch is light, bites around the mid point and doesnt slip. And the modified turbocharger is now starting to show its difference.

I'm confident that all has been bolted back together, and there are no leaks. So this morning, i took it out for a blast around some quiet Norfolk roads.

Apart from the extra turbo noise, which seems to be the split air inlet pipe, it goes very nicely indeed. I see 9psi at 2200rpm, which is just 1psi different to the original. The turbo noise seems quieter today, and in higher gears lessens, as engine movement doesnt force the split open so much.

It has a real kick when you reach 4000rpm and above, and pulls cleanly to the redline. In fact, it surprised me a little as i pulled away from a junction, briskly in 1st, all was fine, into 2nd and pulls well then suddenly it kicked and the wheels spun. Very Maestro like

It still needs the actuator nipping up a tad, and this should help boost response. The priority is the air inlet hose, whilst its covered in tape for now, a tiny amount of unfiltered air may be getting past, not good for the engine or turbo.

New tyres are on the cards next, and road tax. Oh, and the MOT... thats due in mid November and was my deadline to finish the car. Once through the MOT, i will look at a decat and that will be it.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 27 Oct 2009, 12:52

superloopy1 wrote:And then it's Christmas ....

Never bloody ending!! There is always something. Luckily most peoples birthdays are out the way, just my sisters in December but i try and avoid contact, saves a few quid

I'm still interested in my old car, but i need to fully justify it. The 306 fell through for a couple of reasons, one of them it was a bit beyond my budget and location wise it was difficult to get. We had a more serious issue to deal with which is still on going and once that is resolved, we will know where we are.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 31 Oct 2009, 15:19

End of October already! So glad all the hard work is now out the way, especially with the bad weather on its way.

After finding out the fuel filter had not been changed in a while, i fitted a new one. The crud from the old one was not *bad* but it was crud all the same, with some grey/brown looking silt mixed in with the fuel.

I wasnt expecting such a difference but i am amazed, it pulls so well on boost and you can really tell the turbo is blowing harder than the original.

Its still a little fluffy, like the timing is being retarded when it comes on boost, not all the time though.

As the ECU had not been reset for a while since the work was done, i'm doing that first. The ECU adapts and learns to driving style and for a good hour or so it was only idled and revved off load before it was driven.

Your meant to drive straight away, and concentrate on the 2000-3500rpm area to optimise economy and performance.

I've also slackened the throttle cable so there is a tiny bit of free play. I usually make sure its really tight as it helps with throttle response, but may be responding too quick now!

Its not thrown any fault codes though, so i can assume there is not a lot wrong otherwise.

Road tax now due

, and then the MOT middle of the month. New tyres needed first and i'm trying to make my mind up on this!

Gareth

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 02 Nov 2009, 23:44

What a busy day it turned out to be. It started off well, the sun was shining and even a brisk cold wind didnt stop me and Jack going out for a quick walk down a disused railway line and taking a few pictures. Here's one of them -

Now deep into autumn the countryside looks fantastic.

Before we took a trip to Whitwell and Reepham, we filled up with some fresh V-Power and went into the city to sort a few things out.

After driving around for a bit, it became clear the driving characteristics of the engine has become very Jekyll and Hyde. Pulling ok off boost at light and medium throttle openings, then all hell breaking loose! Its become a bit of weapon tbh, and needs a bit of taming as i didnt want it to be too far from the original feel.

I was concerned that something might of been damaged or become out of calibration since the engine escapade. The time was around 12pm, so with some daylight left, we gave Jim a quick call to see if we could use his services and give the car a quick Lexia session.

We made good time, but couldnt resist stopping by at Mildenhall for a few more pictures...

We continued... and arrived in Newport Pagnall around 3.30pm.

Jim hooked up the Lexia and i was prepared for the worst.

There was nothing. No codes at all. 8) It did however have a couple of suspension codes, the usual steering wheel angle sensor, and front hydractive valve.. The latter most likely because i unplugged with engine running when diagnosing the clicking noise.

As nothing was found, and all sensors checked and found to be working well, i'll have to look at other areas. I decided to reconnect the original boost control to see if my aftermarket one was exaggerating the flatness.

And it does seem different now. Driving normally it does feel normal. But there is still a flat feel before the boost seems to come in properly. No-where near as bad as before. Boost is around 8-9psi, but because i adjusted the actuator, i get a peak of 13 ish in lower gears for a second or two, and i've even seen 14.5psi! This hasnt set of the fault code light though

, and its just below the 14.7psi cut off.

I've come to the conclusion that the new turbo does spool differently to the original. Doing a 4th gear WOT test from 1500rpm to 2200rpm to check for maximum boost, it builds quite similar to the original turbo. But, the subtle difference is off boost.

The engine is pulling, but a glance at the boost gauge shows nothing at all with a very light throttle. Give it a tiny bit more, not even 1cm depression on the pedal and the boost goes up and the flatness goes. And it pulls like a train when it does. So well in fact, that when i had the preset of 8psi on my EBC, i totally forgot as it felt like the old turbo did at 11psi!

For me, thats more than enough proof the turbo has made it quicker. And after nearly 300 miles of driving today it feels much smoother and a lot less peaky than before.

I will be reconnecting the EBC solenoid and playing with the boost setting again. I've been conservative with the gain mode, only set at 9%, and duty is at 59%. As long as the boost stays stable, i should be able to up the gain more which will improve the light throttle response which the original set up is brilliant at.

One thing you find with the OE set up, is that everything was designed to work in harmony. The turbo was small, for instant response and quietness, the ECU mapped to match the turbo's boost characteristics for maximum driveability, and so on.

Now the turbo has changed, the ECU is finding it hard to figure out why the boost isnt exactly where it expects it to be. With some tweaking, i should be able to narrow that gap.

I can now see why most chaps who tunes these get rid of the stock ECU. Its great on a standard engine, but not so good when tweaked.

I had muchos fun getting out of Milton Keynes. The Suspension ECU reset has brought back quick responses to the wheel, and put simply the way it handles is astonishing. Even now, well over a year since i got the car and it still surprises me.

We finally got back at 830pm after our Ikea trip. I had a very enjoyable day and here is the clincher. I put £65 of expensive V-Power in my tank, have not driven for economy, and i still have 1/4 of a tank left. So have your cake and eat it

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 03 Nov 2009, 21:46

XantiaMan583 wrote: I put £65 of expensive V-Power in my tank, have not driven for economy, and i still have 1/4 of a tank left. So have your cake and eat it

Ah, but you know the last quarter of the tank is much narrower than the rest!

A custom remap is probably the way to go. Presumably the stock boost solenoid can be programmed to react however you like. I suppose you'd probably pay £300-400 to a reputable tuner with a rolling road, but it might be worth it.

James

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 03 Nov 2009, 22:51

Sl4yer wrote:
XantiaMan583 wrote: I put £65 of expensive V-Power in my tank, have not driven for economy, and i still have 1/4 of a tank left. So have your cake and eat it
Ah, but you know the last quarter of the tank is much narrower than the rest!

A custom remap is probably the way to go. Presumably the stock boost solenoid can be programmed to react however you like. I suppose you'd probably pay £300-400 to a reputable tuner with a rolling road, but it might be worth it.

James

Assuming of course, that the original ECU can be remapped to suit. I will be speaking to the chap who remapped my Transit as he likes a challenge.

There is approx 80 miles left in the tank going by previous runs, i still think thats ok for a turbocharged petrol car. The Transit is still the vehicle of choice for a long journey though as the economy is a lot more consistent, usually around 35mpg + .

I will get it rolling roaded once i've fiddled a bit more. Once the MOT is out the way, my mind will be at rest more. Dave Walker of Emerald fame is only in Watton, about 15 miles from here and he has quite a bit of PSA experience. I'd love to have his EMS fitted (although strangely they only supply and map now and wont do fitting) but i dont have a 4 figure sum laying around.

I suppose once my tax return is done i may have some £ left over although the missus will want that spending on a wedding

KP · Unread post by KP » 04 Nov 2009, 08:54

Gareth just say you've been living in sin for long enough now so the wedding this year or next year won't make much difference and leaving it longer will make it more romantic.......

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 04 Nov 2009, 09:00

KP wrote:Gareth just say you've been living in sin for long enough now so the wedding this year or next year won't make much difference and leaving it longer will make it more romantic.......

She is saying 2011 anyway so i might get away with it next year

Off to my weekly exodus down south for some hard work. Going to make a day of it again, this time in the Transit. Both Vicky and Jack prefer it for some reason. Jack can see where he is going, and loves spotting dogs, all we hear for 15 minutes afterwards is 'dog dog dog dog'!!

Vicky also says its comfortable (which it is, for a van, even Jim commented

) but of course its not a patch on a Xantia..