Xantiaman's Blog

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

DickieG wrote:Is the steering issue now sorted Gareth?
Its not really noticeable now, quite light in the straight ahead position and then weights up fairly evenly lock to lock.

Book figure for tyre pressures is only 33psi in the front :? I've upped this to 36psi front and 34psi in the back which seems much better.

Just done the oil change, nothing special, just Carlube 5w 40 Fully synthetic, the old oil wasnt that bad, owner said it was done 5k ago and looked to be about right.
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lexi
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Unread post by lexi »

Lots of tempting Volvos around. Being dropped by lazy owners fearing an expensive bang I think.

I had a shot in 3.2 Omega a few weeks ago. That car is ugly, but it was chipped and rapid for very little money. It felt BIG.

Senator was much better looking.........red with black leather, yummy.
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XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

The steering problem still persists :evil:

I think I may have narrowed it down now, after ruling out most of the suspension components, ive replaced both droplinks, one of which was the original, both original track rod ends, which has made it a bit sharper.

Earlier I noticed a little bit of extra noise from the pump, and whilst its not the noisiest pump in the world, its not as quiet as any of the other cars.

Anyway, by jerking on the wheel hard :oops: the power assistance drops drastically, the slower you turn, the less noticeable it appears.

At the moment i am not convinced it a rack issue, and there are no leaks anyway with only a minimal amount of play to be felt with the engine off.

What did worry me was the state of the power steering fluid, it was near enough black, and its taken 4 oil changes to get it acceptable!

Whilst this has improved it, the actually problem is still there.

I remember on my Activa S2, that steering assistance when cold or within 2 minutes of start up was minimal if you turned the wheel very quickly, i.e a mini roundabout, when warm the problem went away, i always put this down to a pressure issue with the sheer amount of duties the pump had to carry out.

And i suspect its the same with the Volvo. The old oil has simply worn out the pump and when a pressure demand is placed upon it, it cannot keep up.

I would be interested in other people's thoughts on this! :lol:

Otherwise its running well engine wise, its very strong and characterful.

It will be lowered this weekend, and a new top mount bush fitted to the engine steady, i did obtain a Powerflex one 2nd hand but its very harsh, plus the lower steady bush is worn and placing extra pressure on it, so i've ordered an OE top bush and the lower one which is bolted to the subframe may be a poly replacement, noise should not be transmitted in the same way.
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XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

After speaking to 5 technicians today it seems very likely its actually the steering UJ...we shall see on Saturday!
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XantiaMan
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Re: Xantiaman's Blog

Unread post by XantiaMan »

Now lowered 40mm..

Image

And for the moment, we are looking at a dodgy steering UJ just above the rack causing the steering issue.
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XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

Gave it a quick wash, removed some dodgy aftermarket badge on the boot, fitted my rear mudflaps, and tweaked the handbrake adjustment today, its looking much better now.

Image

Image

Image

More theories on my steering issue, again if anyone wants to contribute, please do.

Firstly my UJ is fine, its been soaked regularly and there has been minor improvement, so it was sticky, now been coated in clear grease and moving on.

I've noticed the steering assistance is great when its cold, within 5-10 mins of driving you feel it stiffen up, the pump also groanes a little when cold, like that noise you get with no fluid?? It does it once and stops.

There is also a pulley noise that isnt there when cold, when it starts it coincides with the assistance dropping slightly. When i added a thicker oil when hot, the difference was immediate until that fluid warmed up, so... i took a trip to the breakers and found a pump with bright pink fluid and no play, and hopefully i will be fitting it soon.

Are we all agreed its the pump??
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Citroenmad
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Re: Xantiaman's Blog

Unread post by Citroenmad »

It does look much better lowered Gareth, its looking like a really smart car now. There is one identical to that not too far from me, a grey T5, but the colour is nothing like as deep as yours is there.

Its a strange one with the steering, might well be the pump and at least you have one to eliminate that as a problem.

I had a problem on an Audi recently, the steering would get heavier and on the extremes of lock it would start straining the engine and the belts would screem. The pump was replaced with no difference, it turned out to be a clutch like arangement on the alternator which had seized.

I do know of a good company who supply a very effective power steering treatment :lol:
Last edited by Citroenmad on 22 Oct 2011, 23:15, edited 1 time in total.
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myglaren
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Re: Xantiaman's Blog

Unread post by myglaren »

Looking good!
I actually like that model more than the newer ones.
Especially the rear lights, that Citroen swiped for the C5 estate.
XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

I'll let the video do the talking..

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Dommo
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Unread post by Dommo »

XantiaMan wrote:I'll let the video do the talking..

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Nice.. Is that just mahoosive wear on it or a seized bearing? Or one causing the other..

Is it worth bathing it in some diesel for a few days to see if that frees it up?


PS - I laughed at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6JU7wAXbis

I think its a wun, or a ralk..
XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

Its started to seize and this has caused the excess wear, the roller bearing inside is totally shot so not worth messing about, a new one is £47 and will last the lifetime of the car.
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lexi
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Unread post by lexi »

The Volvo est definately looks as though it was designed to carry 8x4 gyproc piled to the roof.........how many sheets can you get in there? :lol:
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XantiaMan
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Unread post by XantiaMan »

Well the Volvo went a few weeks ago, i got fed up with pouring money into it, and constantly finding new problems wrong with it. It needed an MOT this month, tax end of November, still needed the diff seals sorting as they weeped, new front brake discs and pads, new rear delta link bushes, new exhaust hanger, the rack still pulsed and started to weep from the pinion seal, and even after all i had done it was still unsatisfying to drive, the power delivery was all or nothing and wouldnt go round corners despite being lowered, new struts and a strut brace, the whole back of the car rattled and creaked way more than my old Montegos, dare i say it, the Montego would run rings around it in chassis dynamics!

So it was a very expensive lesson, despite the good history it needed so much doing to get it right, i wasnt prepared to do it and took a big loss, selling it for £800 to be shot of it.

But its not all bad news, the Fiesta we bought earlier in the year goes from strength to strength, love driving it!! Still cant get over how it feels and handles, its well screwed together and returns great fuel economy with zippy performance, i hardly drive the Mondeo at the moment! Its just had the thermostat replaced, which involved removing the headlight and alternator to gain access, and it does heat up a bit quicker now.

I need to get the Primewell tyres replaced on the front, not worn but they are bloody dangerous in the damp and wet! Otherwise i'm keeping it nice and original for now.

The bug is catching, as my Dad is buying a Mk5 Fiesta for his commuter car next year when he loses his company Civic, got lucky with this one too, its a 2 owner car with 54k on the clock and SH up to 50k, its a 1.25 so a bit better on fuel, 5 door, with A/C, leccy windows and alloys so not poverty spec, all for £700 quid on a W plate, not bad at all!
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DickieG
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Re: Xantiaman's Blog

Unread post by DickieG »

Sorry to hear about your painful wallet experience with the Volvo, I know exactly what you mean about the rattles and creaks as the couple we had at work were awful in that department, a load radio was the best remedy :roll:
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Citroenmad
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Re: Xantiaman's Blog

Unread post by Citroenmad »

XantiaMan wrote: the whole back of the car rattled and creaked way more than my old Montegos, dare i say it, the Montego would run rings around it in chassis dynamics!

But its not all bad news, the Fiesta we bought earlier in the year goes from strength to strength, love driving it!! Still cant get over how it feels and handles, its well screwed together and returns great fuel economy with zippy performance, i hardly drive the Mondeo at the moment! Its just had the thermostat replaced, which involved removing the headlight and alternator to gain access, and it does heat up a bit quicker now.
Shame about the Volvo, it looked a tidy car. You might be tempted by another Montego then! I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road. Among a good few Citroen brochures and things I picked up at the weekend is a mint Montego brochure, I didnt even know they did a MG version of that.

So the Fiesta is a good'en, sounds like you enjoy driving it. Often small, nippy and lightweight cars which have a bit of handling about them offer more thrills than larger cars set up for that purpose. I do enjoy driving small cars. Ive not driven a FIesta that shape but the later ones drive well too, I was shocked how good the ride quality was on a 54 1.4 Zetec I had for a week as a loan car, handles great too could really be pushed arounf. I have driven a few Kas which share the chassis as the mk4/5 and they drive well, apart from the strained engine, though the 70 is better. The Puma on a similar chassis is a right hoot!
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