Dean's Activa/XM/V6 and now Talbot blog

[Dommo]

I used to get some weird fuel economies from my Activa.

Average was about 28mpg thrashing to and from work (driving an Activa properly that is), a 75 mile round trip.

Worst was about 24mpg.

Best was 35mpg (for reals!) when driving down to Ascot and back, from Stoke, when we went to pick up my VSX. Drove at probably 80mph there and a leisurely 60mph on the way home.

[KP]

It is worth it. Specially when it was cold and I could walk straight ino a hot car and zipping past people safely in the snow but the mpg is Shiloh after running veg on an xud and bio in a hdi90....

An Activa an be economical on fuel at the cost of its tyres

[myglaren]

It is worth it. Specially when it was cold and I could walk straight ino a hot car and zipping past people safely in the snow but the mpg is Shiloh after running veg on an xud and bio in a hdi90....

An Activa an be economical on fuel at the cost of its tyres

Shiloh Will?

[Citroenmad]

Average was about 28mpg thrashing to and from work (driving an Activa properly that is), a 75 mile round trip.

Its very difficult to drive one in any other way

Still, impressive MPG!

Yep, keep the speed up, let the tyres take the strain and save on your fuel, thats the way to do it

[Deanxm]

evening all

Just a quick update for those who follow my blog, now we are into February you may have a bit of money back in your pocket after the christmas/january sales expense, you may have managed to save yourself £70 by now, like i had. If this is the case and your £70 is burning a hole in your pocket here is a little suggestion of just one way to spend it.............

activa1 by Deanxm, on Flickr

D

[Citroenmad]

Im sure the person in charge of prices at Citroen just pluck a figure out of the air and state that its the price. £70 seems a little ott for that!

[Deanxm]

I was talking to the guy that runs the workshop at our dealers and aparently Citroen set out the recomended costings for all work you can think of on each car, so there is a book for the C1 and if you want to do a clutch you look up 'Clutch' in the C1 book and it gives times and costs and all the stuff needed, these are re printed at regular intervals with updated prices, well the new books were in and he was tearing his hair out with some of the prices, a C1 clutch (in the book) is an £800 job!!!!!!! so they were going through and re pricing stuff.

My £70 suddenly didnt seem too bad for some of Polands finest rubber craftsmanship.

D

[Citroenmad]

£800! I bet its only held in with a few bolts Mind, a C1 is £175 for an oil and filter change, don't know how they justify these insane prices, certainly wont be helping their reputation.

[Deanxm]

the car is cheap, money has to be clawed back from somewhere i guess.

D

[Deanxm]

Well work has finaly begun on the Activa's clutch, its only taken a year , since i now have a company car the Activa isnt really needed at all so last night i stayed up for a little moonlight spannering, i got the subframe down and fitted the new return hose, i did have a good look at it prior to fitting and no, its not got a gold core but its on and the car has a dry backside once more, well rust proofed now too .
Now ive turned my attention to the clutch and drained the coolant, removed hoses/boost pipes, lhm tank, abs block, driveshaft nuts and got it sat up in the air ready for driveshaft removal, hopefully i can get back to it after work tomorrow and make some real progress so she is all ready for its mot on the 30th march.

While im at it she needs a new steering column, that was shot since i took ownership, also the handbrake cables could do with replacing and the bottom engine mount has been shreded so i will take care of these while she's in bits.

After a recent clutch thread i am concerned about my bargain QH clutch kit, well it says QH on the box but there are no markings on the components which with hindsight probably wasnt my best purchase but an unknown clutch is better than its current one which proably looks something like a Rizla, nevermind, new driveshaft and crank seals too while im in there will be one less thing to worry about.

What do you guys think of QH these days, i have to admit their ball joints are fairly poor from what ive had......................

D

[Deanxm]

Well im now on the home straight as its all putting back together now.
The job is a bit of a fiddle as i couldnt get the box away to do the job in the traditional sense, by dropping the subframe about 2" and tipping the transmission end of the engine and engine end of the transmission downwards i had JUST enough space with a wiggle to get the clutch out, i then fitted the trust bearing (to replace the old one which dispite beeing rather silent had completly colapsed!) and wiggled the clutch ass into position through the cheese wedge of a gap, fitting all the bolts loosly left the friction plate loose so i could slide the box back into position on its dowels without having to align the plate at all, i then uised to slave cylinder hole to reach through and do all 6 bolts back up around the pressure plate.

Getting the thrust bearing to locate was tricky, the new one doesnt use a circlip but a nylon collar instead, i had to use a G clamp through the starter hole to push on the clutch fork hard enough, with a little cringing after a few minutes easing the clamp up that nice 'Click' was heard , i quickly rifited the slave cylinder and ventured into the car to release the strap holding the clutch pedal up ready for a test. SILKY SMOOTH with no noises at all, it feels perfect now, no judder or limpness at all so after torqueing up sme bellhousing bolts i called it a day

The old clutch was LUK and the thrust bearing was so worn it was about to let go completely, very very close indeed, here are some pictures, i think i got my money's worth out of this one if im honest.


Activa clutch1 by Deanxm, on Flickr

Activa clutch3 by Deanxm, on Flickr

Bit of a spannering frenzy this weekend, my brother brought up his Prelude for a service and door catch adgustment yesterday, then today apeared in a Octavia VRS he had just bought for some diagnostics, got to put some rear pads and discs on that next weekend and a coolant sensor, maybe an wheel speed sensor too if it arrives on time, its fair to say the tools are getting a bit of use at the moment

D

[CitroJim]

Excellent stuff Dean

[Deanxm]

thanks Jim, im sure you know what your doing but if you want more detail as to what had to be moved to do the job let me know while its fresh in my mind.

D

[CitroJim]

Yes please Dean! AS said in your other thread on this subject, Chris and I need to do his at some time (after his XM is on the road I expect!!!) and any useful pointers will be gladly received!

[Deanxm]

well im mid feed with ellie right now so its hard to type but i will write up exactly hoe it was done start to finnish, it should make chris's clutch quicker to do then without all the moving stuff when you come to shift the box and find its getting snagged.

D