My "love" of all things xantia...and Xm...and Cx..

Post by **CitroJim** » 31 Dec 2009, 22:33

She's looking good Dave

Handsomely repaying all the hard effort you've put in on her.

Keep it up and she'll soon be a minter!

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 01 Jan 2010, 00:40

Its certainly coming on.
Lol yes i have some white sidelight bulbs on the way as it does look a bit odd, think i may eventually do the main beam as well.

Silver does appear to be my favourite colour, as the xantia and Xm are exactly the same.

Today i fixed the rusted part of the wind deflector on the sunrof, so it opens and closes fine now. I have applied plenty of grease to it!

The leather interior is great, definatly worth the effort.
Sadly back to uni on monday so things will be on a go slow again! really need to fix the ABS fault!

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 01 Jan 2010, 02:41

Yes i know the feeling, ive got so many things done this holiday, but at least ive still got another week off from uni. Though back to work on monday

Silver is my favourite care colour too, always looks nice, easy to live with, doesnt show marks and looks cleaner for longer than other colours. Never again will i have another black car ... we have 5 differenct shade of silbver cars in our house

I just fitted some pure white sidelight bulbs to my C5, really makes a difference and looks much better now. Just need some chrome indicator bulbs for it now ...

Do you just have a faulty ABS sensor, not really uncommon on Xms that

, sometimes its just a bad connection, sometimes it needs a replacement sensor.

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 07 Jan 2010, 23:46

Yes i believe just faulty sensor, i have yet to check the sensor directly to see if it is just a break in the wiring.

I replaced my blower motor yesterday with a working series one blower. Its great to have hurricane mode disengaged.
Although i did find a wierd contraption that looked like a mini 12v battery

when i took the panel off to get to the blower motor. it was electrical tapped to some wires... Think it may be an alarm back up battery that someone has added.

Today with the lovely weather, guess whos xm battery died... yep mine!
Even with my jump starter it only turned a little, it must take a hell of a lot of power to crank as the jump starter has done the trick on many other cars! I bought a new battery for an extortionate amount and all is now well! (the window certainly winds up faster!)

vince · Post by **vince** » 08 Jan 2010, 21:24

We are selling quite a few batteries at the mo Dave so your not alone

Whats goes on yours? probably a 74A or a 90A?

You should be paying between £55 and £70 + the dreaded

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 08 Jan 2010, 22:06

Mines a 74ah 700 crank. I paid the top end of that plus vat! Still at least it starts happily now!
I guess the weather has killed loads of batterys!
I measured the battery i found under the passenger side dash and its reading 11.8 volts. I dont really want to disconnect it so will just believe it is an alarm back up battery!
Btw vince your yellow lights look good, i have gone the oposite way with mine!

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 02 Feb 2010, 18:05

Well its been a while since i updated!

This weekend just gone I believe i fixed my ABS fault!!! Using a VW/Audi sensor with a little modification appears to have it sorted, and its a damn site cheaper than getting a new one!

Whilst i was at it I wirebrushed and hammerited the abs shield and brake shield as well as waxoiling any exposed metal.

The 12V battery thing i found looks like this...

and was connected to this...

I think it must be some kind of ancient radar jammer as it is just a box and an aerial, it has now been removed.

I also installed an aftermarket remote locking kit which is great, i lose the deadlocking by remote but its cheaper than the 150+ quoted by citroen for a remote plip.
I also replaced the sidelights with white LED ones to match the HID lights!

Having replaced my blower motor with an older one i have replaced the transistors in mine for when the older one goes!

As you can see the controller was seriously corroded!

Scene as i have around 98 diodes spare from fitting the remote locking i will be manafacturing my own electrovalve diode fix, hopefully this will make the XM ride better! (should probably remove the hydroflush too!)

As if i didnt have enough to do on the XM, i have/will be aquiring two Cx prestiges in need of serious restoration- a bit of a project for when i finish university!
Pictures to follow when i have them both tucked away in storage!

Talking of storage me and my dad went to get the xantia out of storage as he will be using it (much better in use than sat around!). Sadly when i put it away it was warmer and i foolishly left veg oil in! had to bypass the fuel tank with a hosepipe and drum of diesel. Looks like my dad will have to put it in the garage and turn the space heater on then we can fill the tank with diesel!

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 02 Feb 2010, 21:31

Building up a bit of a collection I see Dave!

That 12v battery setup with the Motorola box is probably a tracker unit, had something similar fitted to my Xant although mine was a modified mobile phone encased in a vacuum formed box nicking the bootlight bulb 12v supply. All this including the areal was fitted behind the carpet on the side of the boot! There was a telephone number written on the side of this phone so out of curiosity I rang it and the number now belongs to a driving instructor from the north

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 06 Feb 2010, 00:04

Well the alternator packed up on the XM, so the car is now dead and immobile!
The ABS sensor i fitted does not appear to be the fix i had hoped it would be and the brakes are now dangerous again Think ill have to unplug the ABS and just plug it in for the MOT.

I have been removing the alternator today and need to source a replacement.

My current thinking is to get one from a 406 and cut away part of one of the lugs with an angle grinder so it wil fit the Xm!
Then i will have to try and swap the pulleys over.

Thank God for the relaiblity of the girlfriends Dihatsu cuore

Post by **xantia_v6** » 06 Feb 2010, 08:53

davetherave wrote:Well the alternator packed up on the XM, so the car is now dead and immobile!
I have been removing the alternator today and need to source a replacement.

My current thinking is to get one from a 406 and cut away part of one of the lugs with an angle grinder so it wil fit the Xm!
Then i will have to try and swap the pulleys over.

It might be easier to repair the original alternator. Brushes are easy to replace. Rectifiers can be a bit more tricky to test (depending how they are wired in), but not too difficult to replace. Between them they must account for 90% of alternator failures.

vince · Post by **vince** » 06 Feb 2010, 12:37

I think thats not too bad an idea Dave,

Its a same day job from what i know and often alot cheaper than a new one

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 06 Feb 2010, 19:03

Well i read up on the internet on how to take alternators apart, it seemed pretty simple.
However i now have an alternator with a bent shaft and broken rectifier.
Looks like its time for a new one!
Lesson learnt fixing stuff you dont understand yourself is a bad idea!
In fairness the local alternator repair place would probably charged a stupid amount!

However looking on ebay is scary, my one would be 231 quid.
Perhaps should have waited till monday when the auto electricians were open...

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Feb 2010, 21:16

davetherave wrote: Lesson learnt fixing stuff you dont understand yourself is a bad idea!

No, no Dave

You've got it all wrong.

That's how you learn. Ok, so you've damaged the first one but you have now learned how to do the next one properly.

Gosh, all of us learn to fix things by breaking them occasionally... Or in my case, often. That's why I often ask for a totally wrecked example of something to practice on first if it's new to me. Diesel pumps, gearboxes and so on...

Back when I used to repair printers, I could almost guarantee the first time on a new one I'd break it learning how to open it up and strip it. Subsequent ones I knew the tricks.

I write software the same way. Keep going until it's no longer broken. The first versions are always dodgy..

Remember the old Chinese proverb:

"Man who never make mistake, never make anything..."

Go for it

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 06 Feb 2010, 22:30

Cheers Jim, i know i know!!
Im always attempting to (and usually fairly successfully) fix things!
Just annoying when its an expensive piece of kit!

It surprises me that this type of alternator is only fitted to xms and 605s, even the xm specialists WHM near me did not have one, because mine needs the 120A version!

You never know maybe the auto electricians will be able to replace the shaft!
In the mean time i think i will have to buy a battery charger and run it without air con if not i wont be getting home for the weekend!

Post by **xantia_v6** » 06 Feb 2010, 23:15

but for a small matter of shipping? (about £105 at todays exchange rate)

Anybody's guess where they are made...