XantiaDaves Blog

[red_dwarfers]

Looking back through the service history of this XM it's had a solid diet of Michelin Energy's all its life
Until now that is...the fronts, according to our resident tyre expert, are rather old school Michelin's and they were starting to show, cracking up a touch and they had a tendancy to squeel if pushed even a small amount.

I've stuck Toyo Proxes CF1s on them, the same type I've got on the back of RUNN and I can certainly notice the difference, will be interesting to see the wet weather performance.

[RichardW]

I've got CF1s on 7 out of 8 wheels on our cars now.... Can't beat them at the price - a touch short lived at about 20k, but they are only about £60-£70 - about the same price as ditchfinders. Good grip and feedback wet and dry. Not all that hot in the snow, but I never got the Xantia stuck last winter - even when it was up near the sills!

[XantiaDaveEire]

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to this tyre stuff,so i just went for the best all rounder They had got the best reviews that i had come across and they're michelins so....

[robert_e_smart]

Michelins are the way forward, you did the right thing Dave.

[XantiaDaveEire]

Michelins are the way forward, you did the right thing Dave.

Good to hear

[Citroenmad]

Looking back through the service history of this XM it's had a solid diet of Michelin Energy's all its life
Until now that is...the fronts, according to our resident tyre expert, are rather old school Michelin's and they were starting to show, cracking up a touch and they had a tendancy to squeel if pushed even a small amount.

I've stuck Toyo Proxes CF1s on them, the same type I've got on the back of RUNN and I can certainly notice the difference, will be interesting to see the wet weather performance.

I though I felt my ears burning

Yes, that was an ancient design and what was probably fitted originally. Our XM estate came with both rear tyres still the original Michelins at 58K miles on the car. The tread was still chunky but the cracks were big, I could see rusty metal cord through them!

Toyos are good and they do grip and ride well but wear tends to be accelerated. I do tend to stick to Michelins, though I have used Toyos quite often in the past and find the CF-1s on my 206 very good. I put fatter wheels on and T1-Rs which were excellent tyres, I then fitted the same make and model to my C5 and they suited that too. More recently I have only purchased Michelins, costly mind, £260 for a fitted pair on my C5 now.

Our XM has those Energy Savers on, they are pretty good and suit the car well as they seem to compliment its ride.

[XantiaDaveEire]

Looking back through the service history of this XM it's had a solid diet of Michelin Energy's all its life
Until now that is...the fronts, according to our resident tyre expert, are rather old school Michelin's and they were starting to show, cracking up a touch and they had a tendancy to squeel if pushed even a small amount.

I've stuck Toyo Proxes CF1s on them, the same type I've got on the back of RUNN and I can certainly notice the difference, will be interesting to see the wet weather performance.

I though I felt my ears burning

Yes, that was an ancient design and what was probably fitted originally. Our XM estate came with both rear tyres still the original Michelins at 58K miles on the car. The tread was still chunky but the cracks were big, I could see rusty metal cord through them!

Toyos are good and they do grip and ride well but wear tends to be accelerated. I do tend to stick to Michelins, though I have used Toyos quite often in the past and find the CF-1s on my 206 very good. I put fatter wheels on and T1-Rs which were excellent tyres, I then fitted the same make and model to my C5 and they suited that too. More recently I have only purchased Michelins, costly mind, £260 for a fitted pair on my C5 now.

Our XM has those Energy Savers on, they are pretty good and suit the car well as they seem to compliment its ride.

The price i paid was 75 yoyos a tyre and i got four of them which im still to get fitted,I just worked it out,would be around £335 fitted for the four tyres ,which is decent imo

[XantiaDaveEire]

Nearly 7 weeks since my last update And in that time money has been coming in to one hand and spent straight away on my car

I took it for the Nct and it failed on 2 things:Indicator bulbs weren't orange and the ABS not working..

So i left it it to my local Citroen dealer(the first time i've done so since owning a Citroen) and let them sort it out for me.It turned out it just needed a bulb as the previous owner had taken it out to pass the m.o.t , so that cost me €155 for 2 hours labour and to change the seals on the vaccum pump.

I was then told that it would need 2 sensors which would cost €265 including labour to fit...no need to guess my reply to her

So i've got two brand new sensors off the net at a grand total of £38 ...it would make you sick the way they overcharge!!

I should mention that was the 3rd time i had left my car in to them within that month,i feel as though they probably taught i had money to burn,the previous two occasions been to fit the rear spheres and when to set the rear height correctly which i can never manage to do But since then the rear height has been very slow to rise and fall,possibly a sticky height corrector...but that can wait for another day

I'm after spending what i paid for the car and a good bit more in getting it up to scratch so far ....The old saying of " better the devil you know" has never been so true!!

Dave

[Citroenmad]

Your brave, I woulnd't let a Citroen dealer near my C5 never mind my Xantia. I don't think my local one knows a Citroen from a Ford Mondeo these days! On top of that the labour rates are high .. I paid £175 for them to do the C1s first service recently, for a oil and filter change that is colossal.

If I have to then I use one of two Citroen specialists, though usually do things myself. My MOTs are done at a Citroen Specialist. I don't trust garages, I have had too many problems with them, mainly main dealers.

Its usually the case, you buy a car which at first appears a good one but you soon find many things which need doing and money needs spending.

[XantiaDaveEire]

Your brave, I woulnd't let a Citroën dealer near my C5 never mind my Xantia. I don't think my local one knows a Citroën from a Ford Mondeo these days! On top of that the labour rates are high .. I paid £175 for them to do the C1s first service recently, for a oil and filter change that is colossal.

If I have to then I use one of two Citroën specialists, though usually do things myself. My MOTs are done at a Citroën Specialist. I don't trust garages, I have had too many problems with them, mainly main dealers.

Its usually the case, you buy a car which at first appears a good one but you soon find many things which need doing and money needs spending.

Similar to my local Citroen so ! they sell Mazdas as well I'm left with little choice unfortunately The indie i normally go to is the only garage that knows anything about Citroens ,but since the last time i left my car in to him i have very little confidence left in him..he is a very last resort atm.Every time i'v got my car back from a 'service' there has been something not done correctly or something else which has crept up and needs doing

I'll always try to give something a go and try and fix it myself,but there are some things that i just do not fancy doing without proper lift ramps and a very limited knowledge on the more detailed type of things like height correctors and pumps etc.

The labour rates aren't too bad in the main dealers do,they are an extra €15 over most places,which i don't mind paying if the job is gonna be done right and they are a hell of a lot quicker too ,it's just when they take the p**s for something which would take 1 hour and they try and charge you for 3 is what really gets me

[XantiaDaveEire]

I've almost got this car as good as i want it to be

In the last month i've fitted a new fuel pump which goes halfway to sorting my fuel gauge problem ,new fuel filter and 2 new ABS sensors.There won't be much original left on the car after i'm finished with it

I finally got it Nct'd last week but they only gave me an 8 month cert the four months being when i first registered the car

2 weeks ago do,i was driving at night and went into a lovely big crater and the BANG !!! the airbag light came on...I can live with it for now but what's interesting is that on start up it will flash, then stay on but in the last couple of days when driving along it will go off

Few things that will need doing do,the brakes are coming to the end of their life.So i'm going to treat her to new discs and pads when i get enough money together and put some hydraflush in her and see how i get on.Which will most likely be after christmas

I'm still not happy with the suspension,it definitely is not as it should be the rear is sticky and slow to adjust when driving and feels like the rear is in the high setting as you drive along...Thats probably the best way i could describe it Again i'm not going to touch it until at least after christmas,i don't want to sound naive but maybe the hydraflush might clean some of the gunk out of the height correctors

And maybe if i have any money for my birthday in February i might treat it to a whole new exhaust system because the one that is on it now has seen better days frankly, the back box is very rattly and annoying on start up

Other than that she runs sweeet

Dave

[Citroenmad]

Good work Dave

Chasing perfection with a Xantia seems a tall order doesn't it

Mine will never be perfect but its not bad, and mine is asking for a new exhaust for christmas too. I might treat it to one, maybe have time to fit the radiator too!

Is the rear suspension problem not just a sticking height corrector?

[XantiaDaveEire]

Good work Dave

Chasing perfection with a Xantia seems a tall order doesn't it

Mine will never be perfect but its not bad, and mine is asking for a new exhaust for christmas too. I might treat it to one, maybe have time to fit the radiator too!

Is the rear suspension problem not just a sticking height corrector?

I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect Xantia

As far as i can tell it probably is a sticky height corrector from the symptoms

Do you think a new height corrector would solve the problem? I don't really fancy taking off the old one and cleaning it out Does the plastic cap on the height corrector pop off and give you access to the valves inside

[XantiaDaveEire]

It's been all change car wise for my aul pair,the mother bought herself a new clio in black i think it's a 1.2 and last week my father decided to once again go back to a Citroen he bought himself a 1.6 HDi '59' plate navy blue C5 in Blackpool,he's just waiting to get it on the back of a transporter sometime this week.I'm looking forward to geting a good look at it He can't make his bloody mind up,he's gone from two Xantias to a merc to two C5's to another merc back to the C5 another merc and now this C5 .I said to him he'll be back to the merc before long

He doesn't know whether it has springs or spheres,either way he's not bothered it seems,i certainly wouldn't buy one unless it had hydropneumatic suspension
He took my advice in buying the 1st C5 that he bought and now i told him to buy one in England which he has done I'll get some pics of both of them during the week .

As for my car i've bought all the parts i need,new discs and pads all round and a brand spanking new front and rear height corrector .I ve also been a little silly and bought 4 hubcaps which are like new,no scratches, cracks or anything nasty so the car should look a little easier on the eye

The weather has been crap as usual so unless it changes drastically anytime soon i'm going to see how much i can get them fitted for

And it's the time of year where i have to hand over stupid money for insurance,i recieved my renewal forms in the post yesterday only €796 I've found insurance with the company that underwrites them for €674 so i've contacted them and i'll see if they will better it or at least match it,i'm not bothered really

Dave

[Citroenmad]

A 1.6HDi C5III will be coil sprung, shame really but they are supposed to ride ok.

I was talking to a chap this morning who has a 2.0HDi 16v C5 Exclusive, he says its the best car he has ever owned and its been no problems in the 7 years and 80K of ownership. He has had hydraulic Citroens since the 70s but says he doesnt want a new shape C5, oh well!

Your insurance is similar to mine