Veggie and Activa tales but now rental reviews blog!

[KP]

Well the C5 has hit a new mileage high! Its only 11years old so barely even run in still!!

Also the tank had just nudged onto 1/2 at the point and i reset the trip when it was full Think i'm doing quite well considering its longest trip has been 20miles and it spends a lot of time on short trips at the moment!


Its keeping the numbers in the PSA group at least!!

next is 107107, 107701....
Im sad i guess but it keeps me happy!

Also she has just been fitted with some SX/Exclusive alloys as they were on the scrapper that i got the rear struts from and with almost new tyres i couldn't let them go to waste.

I'll get some more pics this weekend as she will be going up for sale soon, unless Citroen XM fancies swapping that HDi Xantia with cash my way for this at all
She'll get another claybar treatment as i dont like to do too much at once and then i'll give her a bit of polish and wax
Estimating at the moment that my MPG has dropped to 46mpg with her on the short journeys at the moment!

In a few weeks im going to have some long trips to two weddings and court to humiliate the ex-sl4g again such is life!

Then she will be up for grabs! I'm enjoying my time with her but she is very basic and is great for just nipping about and pootling along but i need to get the rangie fixed as i need to get my offroad fix ASAP and fancy finding some summer trials to try her on!

[KP]

My dad has said the 2.2 is just the same on fuel when on a run as this one but around town is a decent bit more thirsty, i guess he is just getting more used to the massive increase in power and will start changing up even earlier and using less boost as well.

He did mention he had a few times got over 800miles from a tank but that the warning light was often on for a fair while before topping up and had managed to get 65litres squeezed in once so he isn't a massive fan of the loud pedal but I reckon for commuting along a motorway without traffic these things could easily get past 900miles from a tank if someone tried...

[KP]

Well first fill up this month after the suspension work and fuel filter.

I put 60.72 litres in(squeezed!) that got me 672 miles...

That comes to 50.15MPG or near enough.

Quite chuffed with that as I have been doing quite a few small trips to work and about the place and the odd run when needed to my folks or runcorn/chester which is about 20miles each way mostly on the motorway with a few miles each end off the motorways in slow traffic.

I'm off to Peckforton Castle tomorrow for the day. 1/2 in the new L405 and the other half in a 90/110 though ideally a 110 so I can get the real off road basics in and have some fun in a big old boat!

Then Friday I'm off to Solihull to have a tour of the factory and have a real good poke around the new Range Rover Sport for What Car? though I doubt I'll get a test drive then as there will be a few others there and not much time.

I went to Mediacity last Thursday evening for one of the UK launch events. a nice glitzy type affair where I felt a little under dressed with the WAGs and other high-life types there quaffing the burgers that were the size of a small stress ball and strawberry tartlets that were a little bit bigger and as much free Moet as you could handle. I was driving so stuck to just the one but it was nice all the same.
Its great to see British engineering has improved greatly over the years. The newer car is SMALLER inside than the outgoing model and still has a hideous and painful(to me anyway on long drives) centre console section that takes flows from dash to rear passengers for some odd reason.
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and some pics on Flickr
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[KP]

Well i have now ended up with this!!



more pics here as i upload them
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So far the list is,
Reconnect radio and get stuck CD's out.
Find oil leak from engine(looks like a rocker cover gasket weeping down the back of the exhaust manifold, is this common??)
New centre exhaust section or possibly just back box as the back box has rusted off and sounds REALLY nice when taken for a short spin on a private lane
Front passenger sill is rotten at the front so i bet its been jacked up badly at some point as the otherside is fine
Front Hydractive sphere has some LHM coming from it, Think I'll need to jet wash that area to see whats happening.
Rear drivers window doesn't work from either switch
Under hard breaking the rear lifts up quite a bit! When in Sport mode its fine. Is this normal?
Some marks on the bodywork, mainly the rear pass door and the bonnet and scrapes all around, also looks like an undertray is missing and the drivers arch liner needs replacing.

Looking on the bay of fleas i can see a full exhaust for £189. But i'm worried as the front down pipe is mankey

So first off is the leaks. The engine oil one is first as thats the most concerning.
Then the LHM as its just wetting the area by the looks of it and only just had a drop forming after 15mins of idling.
Then i need to get the sill welded up.
Then check the rear brakes. They don't look to bad to me and its up on drive on ramps now so may scrub off a bit more after a few more light spins.
Then its MOT time!
Also going to see about a quote on the bodywork. I think it could be a case of getting her decent and selling her on and breaking even for the work but making sure she is good to go back on the road
And new owner told that should it come time to sell that i must be given first refusal.
Im guessing its a 4 speed auto as well from the feel of it up to a brisk 50

Come along you fellow V6 tinker'ers what can i actually do as the oil leak does worry me and does run down the back of the block as far as i can see.

PS the car has 174,000 miles on the clock, tyres are good, it seems to handle well for a short run and all be in balance(surprisingly knowing what some places are like with the wheels!) stops and goes well and sounds sweet!

[KP]

And i think i may be lucky and get all of 550miles out of this last tank Thats the worst fuel consumption i have seen from a HDi90 engine, even when they have been very unwell!

On the other hand it spent a good 10minutes at full boost uphill so will have cleaned it out no end and does feel that little bit better now as it picks up a little quicker so maybe burned off a load of crud that had built up

[citroenxm]

RE: Xantia

Is it just OUTER sills that need a bit of fettleing? Are all the inner sides on the other side of the lip all good?

Its not that hard when its just the outside of the sills... fairly easy to do..

Ive got anexhaust centre section, from the cat to the back box. Back box on mine is OK but a bit of surface rust..

[citroenxm]

If you have a day, and you get to keep the tax and keep her insured, prehaps a trip over here might help KP???

Let me know, Ill have to get a bottle of welding gas, but theres a whole XM here to cut metal out of the unwanted panels for welding material..

[RichardW]

Nice one...

Unfortunately the usual leak point on the V6 is the cam box seal... this means the cams and cam boxes need to come out to reseal it

[KP]

So that's the £30-ish cam belt and water pump job then ;(

[CitroJim]

Will, that's a brilliant rescue and it looks very well worth it too... That red is wicked!

Cambox sealing is seriously good fun... I can supply details of what needs to be done...

You'll find the sparkplugs are now swimming too...

[KP]

Well the c5 is still going well and returning good mpg even after it dragged a trailer to Lincoln and then back with a xantia on the back for the return leg

It needs an oil change soon as it's coming upto 5k since the last one my dad did.

The xantia I picked up however has a few more issues

Rust on the drivers rear c pillar bottom as most but this is very bad
The positive battery terminal needs replacing as it's some combo of other terminal and jubilee clip!
Interior needs a good clean out
Driver door card falling off
Rear doors don't work on Central locking
Drivers rear door card loose
Rust on upper rear c pillar quarter passenger side
Oil is very thick so needs a change and then another to flush what ever is in there out
Blower motor always on

The rust on the rear door bottom is very bad and probably needs a section cutting in
I've given it a quick wash and by god it needed it the surfaces were all rough as hell so a good soaping and then claybar on every decent surface and it feels so much better for it. Then a quick demon shine to get some colour into it and it's ok otherwise.
If I can get the rust sorted cheap then I'll probably chuck some bodywork money at it to get bits sprayed up nicely and the rear spoiler so it looks decent outside.

[CitroJim]

Do you have a MIG Will as the problem won't be too hard to fix if you do...

You should have saved a few panels from the red V6 as I did for that very purpose

Paul (CitroenXM) is your man for top advice on this problem...

[KP]

He is already coming over on Friday so plan might be to save it and the otherside if it's not already shot and then paint them up to protect and get me by for the month and not and proper paint and interior detox and then move it on incase an xm comes up that I want

[KP]

Well Paul has done his magic and the hydraulics are all good now

Just need to get the rust done and it looks like the drivers rear ABS sensor for the MOT and then MOT'd and the C5 will be sold on

Paul has kindly left me a repair in panel for the Xantia so once insured it will be driven over to my friendly bodyshop for a quote and then get the work done, the ABS sensor done and then MOT done.

Interior needs a really good clean out, and i've already tested the Meguirs Paint Restoration kit on a panel so can see how good it will be at bringing the bodywork up to scratch and should do very nicely indeed

Busy morning as well as had Sky/BT come to upgrade me to their FTTC package £5 a month isnt bad for a small speed increase of 100% so should be good for BF3 and all the ISO's i have to download

In other news an XM may be joining the fold, though this depends on me selling one of the current chevron bearing units and having one thats still mobile Not having the FF on the road is killing me now as i could do with it for the towing as while the C5 HDi90 can do it, its not really great for long hauls like Kilmarnock or Lincoln and back to manchester with the whole rig.

Tree sap is a right pain where i live so i'll be trying to park the cars further up the street as its a pain to wash off the cars every other week

[CitroJim]

Fantastic news Will

Tell us more about the XM please!