Xantia - to buy or not?

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Barry Kent
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Xantia - to buy or not?

Post by Barry Kent »

Hello ev'rybody!
I'm a new member here, as you can see. I registered today, and the Forum like this was exactly what I've been looking for.
My plan is to buy a new car for me and my family. Currently I have BX 1.7D from '88 and the time is come to change it with something better. The most logical step for me is to buy Xantia - beautiful, large, and, of course: Citroen. Well, as I haven't ever neither driven Xantia nor been driven in it, I'm not sure would it be the right car to buy. I prefer diesel engines, so I chose 2.0 HDi from 1999+.
I read some topics related to my question, and I would like to get the 1st hand experiences at one place - are you, owners of the mentioned car, generally satisfied? What's the most amazing characteristic of the car to you?
From those who bought the car in 1999, I would like the experience of that one, who made the most kilometres - 100,000+ - I believe that's nothing for such a car, isn't it? If there's anybody who had made even more kms with the '99-bought car, please tell me how the car looks like now and did you have day in day out more problems with your car (hopefully not!) or you feel like you still have a new car, which I believe you probably do.
Sorry for such a long post and thank you in advance!
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Hi Barry -
Generally :
The Xantia has a more advanced Hydropneumatic suspension system than the BX.
- do not choose the "Activa" version of the Xantia, if you prefer comfortable family ride over safe speedy ride. This is because the Activa version is optimised on anti-roll (anti-leaning) with fresh driving, and therefore feels a bit disappointing if you are used to the wellknown comfortable hyd-suspension Citroens.
Compared to the BX, the Xantia still have the same basic wear problems in the rear arm bearings and the PAS servosteering Flow Divider (FD) control valve. Also the wellknown brake doseur (pedal) valve leak causing fast rear sink still exists. This is however complicated a bit further, with the Xantia's antisink feature.
Also many production series of the Xantia still have a front door hinge problem, like the BX, but the problem is a bit different due to a different body design.
In general the Xantia is both larger and heavier than the BX, which suits the hydraulic suspension even better. The very short distance between rear axle and tow bar, makes the Xantia a VERY stable camping/trailer tow-car.
The Xantia (& XM) has non-serviceable front suspension cylinders (struts), which is far better long lasting than the BX front struts.
The HDI diesel is the newest diesel engine technology, giving best economy/performance/weight ratios, but also tends to be quite expensive, when things comes to repairs.
happy searching
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Anders - I thought the hydraulic pump was changed on Xantias in about 1996 from the BX type with one outlet to a 6 piston pump with 4 pistons feeding the power steering and 2 feeding the suspension and the brakes. For better or worse the steering flow valve was eliminated.
jeremy
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Woops - U're right J.
A very important mod indeed.
I'm so used to BX & 1.generation Xantia/XM PASservo -FD valve problems, that my brain simply can not understand this problem is solved on later models [:I][:D][:o)][:D]
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Post by akojic »

What is main purpose of FD valve. I certinly have that model of Xantia 1.8i from 1993, just ordinary hydropneumatic system. On Friday doseur will be changed and hopefully this will stop rear end sinking pretty fast.
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Post by jeremy »

The hydraulic system on simple citroens operates the brakes and steering and the circuit is from the pump to the regulator and thence to the safety valve and then to the brakes and suspension.
Power steering needs a high flow and is fitted into the circuit before the regulator. It is regulated by the flow divider which provides the normal idle flow for the steering and then the higher pressure flow when the steeering becomes operational. The divider is designed to give priority to the suspension and brakes via its feed to the regulator and receives no assistance from the accumulator sphere.
Does it really matter if the back of your car drops fast providing it doesn't do it with the engine running. I had a new valve fitted to my TD and to be honest it made no difference at all and was a complete waste of money. I suspect the height corrector may be leaking a bit and must investigate a bit. Another leakage point could be along the shafts of the rear suspension units but these were both surprisingly dry when I changed the spheres a year ago.
If your accumulator is working correctly the stored pressure will compensate for rear end drop for a while until it is discharged. the contrary is true and if it is flat the rear will appear to sink quicker. The rear spheres will have a similar effect.
jeremy
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Hi akojic -
The purpose of the FD is to divert the HP pump pressure directly to the PAS servosteering, and then give pressure to the regulator (PR) when it needs to charge up the pressure.
The FD is a sort of a priority valve, which allways will give the servosteering most of the HP pump pressure.
This is because the PAS servosteering system needs LOT's of direct pressure, to give the necessary servo assistance power.
When you're driving straight ahead, the servo do not need pressure, and the FD then diverts the pressure to the PR. The PR then takes what it needs, or simply (as usual) leads un-used pressure back to the reservoir.
Barry Kent
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Post by Barry Kent »

Thank you all.
I read somewhere that there are Hydractive and Hydractive II system. If I didn't get something wrong, the II is automatic while the first one is manual (like on BX).
Do all Xantias have Hydractive II?
And I would like to know whether the HDi 2.0/80 engine is noisy when built-in the Xantia? Is it dynamic enough?
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Post by RichardW »

Barry,
It goes (more or less) like this...
Hydropneumatic - The 'original' - fitted to D, CX, GS, BX, and most Xantias. Manual height correction only, with later Xantias having Anti-sink valves to stop the suspension sinking overnight.
Hydractive I - fitted only to XM - first generation of the 'intelligent' suspension with the ability to switch between hard and soft modes (I think it ran either hard or soft and did not switch automatically between the two).
Hydractive II - Fitted to XMs and higher spec Xantias (on Xantia, identifiable by the switch next to the handbrake) - improved version of the computer controlled suspension that can automatically switch between hard and soft modes.
Hydractive III - Fitted to C5 - nothing like earlier systems, and self levelling only (I think?).
Hydractive III+ - Fitted to higher spec C5's - the one that alters the ride height automatically etc, and switches hard/soft mode.
Also Activa - fitted only to a few Xantias that automatically compensates for body roll using jacks on the roll bars.
Increasing suspension complexity means more spheres. Hydropneumatic makes do with 5, Anti sink needs 6, Hydractive I / II needs 8 and Activa a whopping 10! Hydractive III and III+ are different - I think 4 or 6 spheres, but there is small 'accumulator' hidden away somewhere I think (and they don't use LHM, so they're clearly not 'proper' hydraulic Citroens!).
Hope this helps (probably not!)
Richard
Peter Mann
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Post by Peter Mann »

What's the most amazing characteristic of the car to you?

I have a 1994 Xantia 2.0i with 80,000 km on the clock. Still like new, and it is the most exquisite driver's car on quiet country roads. I have owned a 74 DS, a 74 GS, and a 1989 BX TRi19, and the Xantia stands out for being much quieter, while having a true Citroen suspension with such canny damping that it feels far better controlled and makes for more confident driving.
Zummerman
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Post by Zummerman »

Richard,
Almost right, Hydractive I switches automatically between soft and hard (called "sport") modes when Auto is selected on the switch beside the gear change lever. Selecting Sport on the switch drives the system into permanent hard mode. It uses 7 spheres, 3 for each axle and an accumulator.
Kind regards
Ian
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