VSX TD ...........Final chapter

[fatherjack2002]

Hi folks, just thought i would up-date you on my Xant VSX TD , as you may gather from the title , the search for a power steering pump has been abandoned , and the car is more or less finished .

I did the front pads last weekend, while i had the wheel off i liberally sprayed the steering UJ with "plus gas" , this seemed to do the trick , and the steering was performing more or less as it should , as the car was jacked up ( and supported ) i got underneath and dried off the power steering pump , it wasn't long before it started dripping , and it was clearly coming from the pulley spindle , ok , so i'd resigned myself to the fact that it was going to need a pump. Wheels back on , off the supports and away i went, with the brakes massively improved and the steering behaving its self ..............Happy days !!!!!!!!!, so i thought
. DISASTER NO1...........The following morning i set off for work ( 4am start as usual ), driving down the A46 quite happily, until i stopped at roundabout/traffic lights, and was greeted with loads of smoke from the engine compartment , i pulled over , the car was stinking of burning oil !!, a quick look under the car and my worst fears were confirmed , a ever growing pool of oil, i checked the dipstick , it was bone dry , luckily i had spare oil in the back so i limped back home...

DISASTER NO2............About 2 miles from my mates garage the Aux belt snapped, leaving me without brakes, or any power steering !!

The oil leak is at the rear of the engine and is a major strip-down to get at , then its not guaranteed to last ( so i've been informed ) , so there you have it , i've sat down and totalled up the outstanding work that now needs doing to get the car anyway near working correctly ,so here goes...............

fix oil leak

new Aux belt

replace rear H/C ( and all 4 spheres)

do cambelt/waterpump/etc

replace power steering pump

replace steering UJ ( eventually )

Plus the bodywork is now showing its years !!!

The cost of the repairs to hand now far outweigh the value of the car , so unless any Citroen fairy appears in the night and magically fixes it all i'm afraid its the end of the road for my old faithful.
Space permitting , i'll prob break and salvage as much as i can before i scrap it

So the hunt is now on for a good early S1 VSX TD , any out there ????????



Cheers Paul...................

[citronut]

what is the cause of the oil leak Paul, and i hope the AUX drive belt did not worm its way inside the cam belt cover and work its eavil,

regards malcolm

[HDI]

Sounds like the rear crankshaft main bearing seal.

[CitroJim]

Oh Paul, I'm sorry to hear this...

Plenty of work there but noting out-of-the-way major unless the oil leak is.

Have you determined exactly the source of the leak? It might just be the rocker cover gasket, which is simple, or a broken oil feed to the turbo which is not too bad.

Worst it's the head gasket but hopefully not...

Is there anyone local that might be able to help?

And the pump is hopefully just an O ring...

The aux belt going suggests the tensioner is worn out.

[fatherjack2002]

Hi folks, the way my mate ( who is a good mechanic ) was talking , the oil leak is at the rear of the engine block, and would entail , possibily , stripping out the gearbox , or part of it to gain access , TBH at this point i was that p*ssed off with things i wasn't paying full attention to all he was saying .
Jim the leak is definatly not one of the O rings, as i cleaned and dried it all off and watched it start leaking again from the pulley .As you mentioned the work that is required is do-able, but not by me , as my mechanical skills amount to basic items, therefore i would have to leave it in the hands of my friend, who in all fairness charges me "mates rates" , but when we put the "to do" list together, even at cheap rates its not financial viable .
So the next dilema, is where and how do i strip it , as i dont want to just scrap it as theres too many usable parts ( new strut tops for 1 , immaculate interior ), i cant realy do it on the street, as i think i may p*ss the neighbours off , , having a car on bricks with every usable part i can take missing, the kids would have a field day !!!!!! .
With my limited skills ( and tools ) what parts are salvageable ?

Cheers 4now Paul...................

[fatherjack2002]

Hi folks, just thought i would add another chapter to this thread , as previously mentioned in the for sale section the tax was up in July ,. and if it wasn't moved it would have to be scrapped .
I managed to get the car towed into a private car park, and registered it SORN with the DVLA, this gave me some more time to try to sell/salvage the car.
Anyway, i was in the pub puttting together a list of what i thought was useful bits'n'bobs worth saving, when i bumped into a pal i hadn't seen for years , the conversation drifted round to cars , i started telling him my tale of woe about not having the facilities/space to break my Xant . It turns out he now lives in a converted tour bus in a haulage yard !!!!!!!, and has quite happily taken my Xant there and stripped it for me in return for the scrap value of the car .
At present the car has been stripped and scrapped , but my list of salvagable items have been saved plus a few other bits he thought would be useful , as soon as i find out what has been saved i'll up-date this thread , and possibily offer the parts for sale ,as i'm not in a financial position to buy another Xant just now due to being self-employed/unemployed for a couple of weeks and having a front room full of car parts may not go down too well with the new g/f
So there you have it , everything comes to those who wait !!!

[CitroJim]

Hi Paul,

I was hoping for a happy ending there. Hoping your pal was going to rescue your VSX and get it sorted. Still, that's a better result than seeing it go straight to the crusher...

You know, a bit like happened to a certain V6

She's still going strong at 172,500 miles

And I still lover her to bits

Will be interested in the list of bits. Hope you've saved the strut tops!

[red_dwarfers]

Not worked out too bad at all

Nice one on the new g/f by the way

[Dommo]

It isnt white is it? And with good condition bumpers?!!

[CitroJim]

It isnt white is it? And with good condition bumpers?!!

No, Mauritius Blue and yes, in good nick as I recall...

White and dark blue will look great Dom...

[vince]

So the hunt is now on for a good early S1 VSX TD , any out there ????????

Cheers Paul...................

Hi Paul, Ive just had a look on the trader to see if there are any good deals to be had for me, but alas no

Ive got a S1 VSX TD in fine fettle but would need something to exchange it with. Im keeping my eye out for a S2 diesel with A/C at good value....there are some nice ones on there but I didnt get that feeling you get when you know your looking at one you "need" to buy

Good luck on the search....there are some decent looking S1 TD's on the trader...there is a silver SD (non turbo) with low mileage at sub a grand 8 miles from my house. Let me know if there is anything near manchester or Liverpool (where i work) you'd like someone to go and have a look at

[andmcit]

You guys seen this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-CITROEN-XANT ... 0472266562

[Citroenmad]

You guys seen this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1994-CITROEN-XANT ... 0472266562

Thats looks a very tidy car, one of the better colours and i love that interior. The best Xantia seats IMO and green carpets

[andmcit]

It's nice to see a VSX with it's colour coded mirrors intact! I like the
Mad Tartan and the green carpets too Chris! Must be a sinker even
with the airbag steering wheel, chevron grille and lack of the keypad.

Andrew

[fatherjack2002]

Hopefully the strut tops are there , as this was one of the main items i wanted saving, unfortunatly i wasnt able to save any bodywork, or panels due to the amount of space they would have taken up, hopefully i should have the parts within the next week or 2 , i'll keep you all posted ..
Paul...........................
BTW that green VSX on fleabay looks nice .