Tales of a C3, a Goddess and some BMW's.

[DickieG]

A busy 24 hours tinkering on Xantia's for me, yesterday evening John (Jigra1) popped over to see me to do some key coding using Lexia and an ignition barrel change. As ever when using Lexia each particular car has it's own quirk, on this occasion as there was a question mark over the cooling ability of the car as occasionally the temperature would climb quickly I thought I'd use the facility on Lexia to operate the cooling fans only this time the facility wasn't displayed on the menu and that was using my genuine Lexia 2

This was another example of what exactly/how much a Lexia can do on a car is totally dependant upon what version of software is being used on the particular car, each one is an individual with seemingly it's own personality

Today was spent on a second Xantia diagnosing an ongoing ABS saga where the owner has lost count of the number of sensors that have been replaced plus diagnose an airbag fault.

Lexia revealed that yet again the N/S/R ABS sensor was shown as being faulty but as it had been replaced twice in the past two years by a local garage I was rather suspicious as to whether I was being given a red herring, so I used Lexia and my Sykes ACR4 diagnostic tools in "parameter readings" to observe the road speed being recorded by each of the four wheels as the car was being driven. The strange thing that came up then was that both rear sensors displayed 0.0 km/h whereas the front two were 93 km/h and 56 km/h both when the vehicle was stationary and when in motion. Bearing in mind the history of the number of ABS sensors that had been replaced I was rather suspicious that maybe the ABS ECU/block may be faulty so I substituted both of these and but the readings remained the same.

A pinout test at the ECU end revealed that the N/S/R sensor had a high resistance of 1453 ohm's rather than a more normal 1098 so I went to test the sensor directly and discovered that it was last replaced the cable had been re-routed and not supported very well which probably led to it's early demise. Luckily I had a new replacement sensor in stock but when I came to fit it I could see why the previous one had been fitted differently from the original fitment as trying to route the cable up through the subframe proved all but impossible as the suspension arm obstructed the plug even after I lowered the subfame for improved access. As the car is an estate (they use larger suspension arms) I presume that unless you remove the suspension arm for improved access between the arm and subframe it must be all but impossible to pull the cable through. Rather than waste more time I used an alternative route to the original spec and the previous fitment and supported it at numerous locations using wide cable ties.

The Airbag fault was diagnosed by Lexia as being down to the "Drivers Module", digging into my Citroen dealer specialist tools I plugged in a airbag tester into the loom prior to the steering wheel connection and discovered that the fault then cleared so swapped the steering wheel ring and bingo fault cured and one very happy owner

Good news on my back as it's improving day by day, hopefully I haven't overdone it again after my tinkering today.

[Deanxm]

Good news on your back Richard, its very hard to restrain yourself when you have been unable to do things for a while and you have started to feel much better. Hpoefully al will be well.

D

[myglaren]

Excellent news on the back Richard.
Hope it continues to improve and that you don't go exposing it to anything too rigorous in the hope that it will be OK.

[KP]

super news on the back fella, just dont push it too hard this time!!

On the software front can you not use the lexia to upgrade these older SW versions on cars to the latest iteration to help with the testing as well and possibly clear all faults at the same time so at to give a clean slate??

[DickieG]

super news on the back fella, just dont push it too hard this time!!

Thanks for the goodwill messages chaps.

On the software front can you not use the lexia to upgrade these older SW versions on cars to the latest iteration to help with the testing as well and possibly clear all faults at the same time so at to give a clean slate??

There's a couple of problems there, from what I've learned from talking to Citroen Technicians is that upgrading ECU software appears to come with a serious risk of damaging the ECU to the point where it no longer works, I've been told either have a spare ECU or be prepared to buy one if it all goes wrong.

The second thing is that it appears to be a lottery as to what you'll end up with software wise. I've successfully updated some ECU's such as the the auto gearbox ECU on what is now Jim's V6 but when I tried doing the same update on another V6 it didn't work for reasons unknown (I'd connected up battery chargers to keep voltages stable) I also tried to do the same with a HDi without success all using the genuine Lexia, cars or at least Citroens are definately like women

[KP]

They dont make me like they used to eh...

can you do backups before upgrading and maybe reflash them if they fail or are they just toast!

[DickieG]

can you do backups before upgrading and maybe reflash them if they fail or are they just toast!

Not as far as I know using Lexia.

[CitroJim]

Richard, fantastic news on the back Hope you're still OK after fettling Bob's car...

So, all those bizarre readings on the ABS ECU were all down to one duff sensor then? Staggering

John (Jgra1) came up to see me yesterday and we spent a happy hour or so turning an old gas cylinder into an air tank for his compressor...

The job was good despite me doing something very silly and burning my finger It's OK now... I forgot just how long a lump of brass (the cylinder valve) can stay hot after soldering it

[DickieG]

I dug the Goddess out of the garage this week, she started first time then had a good warm up whilst I bled the hydraulic system in the event of air being in there but none came out so all appears well, next step is to take her for an MOT and enjoy for the summer.

Talking of enjoying the summer Dawn has bought a very nice updated version of her present BMW convertible, this time an E46 330i "Individual" which are only available to special order offering colours and specifications not normally available when ordering a BMW, this particular car is a one owner low mileage car that still smells and drives like new, I'll be picking up the car on Saturday then enjoying the legendary silky smooth power delivery of BMW's 3.0 straight six.

Yesterday I went out in a Poxhall Insignia SRi, what a nasty pile of poo that is, absolutely no suspension whatsoever, that hardest and most uncomfortable car I've ever been in, my road pedal cycle without suspension and tyres pumped up to 120 psi is more comfortable.

[KP]

If you have back problems avoid the insignia im afraid. The newer saab is much better as they know what they WERE doing when it came to cars, which is a shame given their current problem

Good news on the goddess, not often a car is happy after storage was it on a trickle charger?

[DickieG]

That Insignia really took me surprise, the ride was totally solid and so unforgiving it felt as if I was sitting on a large rollerskate without the fun factor, when you mention "the newer Saab" what one do you mean as the suspension on 9-5 Aeros is useless on anything other than a silky smooth surface as the suspension has such limited travel.

Re the Goddess I disconnect the battery whenever I put it in the garage then periodically charge the battery to reduce the fire risk and protect battery life.

[KP]

The current 9-5 as I thought it was much better than the older ones but a lot better seating wise as well after they had spent time on it, albeit rushed. Saab seats are very good for people with back issues though the rest of the car may not be...

[DickieG]

The current 9-5 as I thought it was much better than the older ones but a lot better seating wise as well after they had spent time on it, albeit rushed. Saab seats are very good for people with back issues though the rest of the car may not be...

As the Aero is the performance version I presume the suspension is lower hence the restricted travel/poor performance on uneven surfaces.

The seats are certainly shaped well but as the headrest drops down over the front of the seat I always had the bottom of it sticking in my neck even though it was pushed up as far as it could go, take that off or fit a traditional shaped headrest to the seat and it would have been very comfortable.

[KP]

IIRC thats part of the anti whiplash system.

IIRC the aero as you say is the sportier one so will be like the SRI insignia

Its a pity they have gone tbh though i do hope they find a buyer ASAP

[DickieG]

A bit lacking on the update front here but then I've not really been doing much car wise as my fleet have been behaving themselves, Dawns new car drives beautifully and has been given a tidy up by Gareth sorting out a few parking scuffs left by the previous owner and as always he's done an excellent job just like his mate Richard who sorted the little dents here and there. We now just need to get the wheels sorted to make it 100%. Last week the car picked up a weird puncture on the N/S/F where there was a cut in the tread of the tyre close to the shoulder leaving a hole large enough to hear the air escaping yet no object was found in or outside the tyre.

The only maintenance work I've been up to is sorting out a rattle on a Berlingo Multispace which started after I changed the snapped N/S/F spring, the strut bearing was the initial suspect even though it appeared to move smoothly but upon closer inspection I noticed that the strut top mount where the rubber bonds the two sections showed evidence of abrasion. Fortunately a local motor factor who is an approved Citroen spares supplier had one in stock which has sorted the problem. The rattle was quite a strange one, different from a ball joint but knocking on similar occasions such as when negotiating minor corrugations on the road surface.

Something that had kept me busy for the past couple of weeks was preparing for a friends wedding which took place on Sunday as the bride and groom had asked me to be the photographer for the occasion. I have an interest in photography and would never pretend to be a professional so it was rather humbling to be asked to undertake such a massive responsibility for the first time especially as I know all to well first hand how disappointing it is if your wedding photographer cocks it up big time from when I got married. Funnily enough the reception was held at the same venue as the one I got married in last year and just one day earlier, it felt quite strange to be back under those circumstances and brought back many happy memories as it was a brilliant day. Here's a quick sample of one I took during the firework display, the only adjustment in photoshop was to remove the guy lighting the fireworks.