R9UKE's French Car Blog...

[KP]

I dont dare risk it over here, never mind eire!

[CitroJim]

Ohhh you don't want washed diesel! Bad for your pump and injectors. Nasty, nasty. Getting caught on Red would be cheaper than repairing subsequent damage from washed diesel.

Indeed Washed diesel would have had all its lubricity washed out of it....

Stop naffing around with these old smokers and get an HDi and then you need worry not about the price of diesel

<runs and hides...>

[robert_e_smart]

Aye, price of diesel would be the least of your worries! Is my Aux heater working? Are my fuel lift pumps going to get me there and back....???

[Chris570]

Aye, price of diesel would be the least of your worries! Is my Aux heater working? Are my fuel lift pumps going to get me there and back....???

For a man with as many XM's as you i'm not sure i'd question the reliability of the HDi's

[robert_e_smart]

On a law of averages Chris, the XMs have been very reliable cars.

[Citroenmad]

On a law of averages Chris, the XMs have been very reliable cars.

Ours too, all 4 have been faultlessly reliable needing only wear and tear items and never letting us down.

[Chris570]

On a law of averages Chris, the XMs have been very reliable cars.

Don't worry I was just joking with you, like most of the reliability scares with Citroen its more about how you look after them (or not) that determines how reliable they are.

I do have to say though a 2.0 HDi is a fantastically reliable engine, I think i can cope with a lift pump going after 150k and an Aux heater, not really the fault of the engine that it's so efficient is it

[robert_e_smart]

I think my first HDi car will be a C6. By the time I get through the Xms I have, C6s should be as cheap!

[CitroJim]

I think my first HDi car will be a C6. By the time I get through the Xms I have, C6s should be as cheap!

I don't think it'll ever happen Robert. By the time they reach our level they'll all have died through terminal electronics failure..

[R9UKE]

Are there signs of this now, Jim? Being "interesting" electrically might take some of the attention off that interior.

[CitroJim]

It appears that a few moderns are already meeting their maker because electrical failures can be so expensive and difficult to put right and seeing as a C6 is fearsome in that department it might account for more than a few scrappers.

Speaking as a time-served electronics engineer for the past nearly 40 years I see modern electronics as just about irreparable when it goes wrong - and it will. Gone are the days of getting the soldering iron and AVO out and fixing it on the kitchen table

Also the spares situation for the C6 is never going to be good or very cheap. Another factor. Spares already cost an arm and several legs but maybe all those that die from terminal electrical issues can provide mechanical spares for those that cling to life in their old age...

I guess we'll have to see how it pans out but I'm not hopeful...

Now most Xantia ECUs we can fix or work around them... Can't see the second option being viable on an old C6...

[R9UKE]

Interesting points. I've come a across a few Renault Scénic IIs (the oldest of which would be on a 53 plate) being sent to the grave for electrical reasons. Also funny how late versions of it's predecessor are worth more and easier to shift! Got rid of mine today for £1100, and it was a Y plate. I could go straight up to the auction and have a nice selection of 04 plates for little over £800. Ah well, that's the way all cars are going I suppose.

[robert_e_smart]

I think my first HDi car will be a C6. By the time I get through the Xms I have, C6s should be as cheap!

I don't think it'll ever happen Robert. By the time they reach our level they'll all have died through terminal electronics failure..

I said as cheap Jim, Xm prices are on the rise so the convergence of C6 and Xm prices may happen before they are extinct. Plus I'd have no qualms about going to the continent to buy a C6 and run a left hooker.

[R9UKE]

Big breakthrough with the Mégane today!

After finally sourcing the correct navigation discs, I then found out that the GPS aerial has had it's day - should have known this, they're always going on the Vel Satis. I thought it would be an absolute nightmare to find one, with the option being so rare on the Meg II, but I logged onto ebay to find some dealer selling old stock cheap. Turns out Renault realised how rubbish their aerials are and made a "back up GPS receiver". Just a little black GPS aerial that's magnetised and design to sit on the roof, as opposed to the original one which is integrated into the radio aerial base. £15 and looks neat enough, it plugged directly into the the connection behind the C Pillar and...

Result!



It's actually not as bad of a system as I thought it would be. Very comprehensive POI database, really easy to use, a little slow to load at times. The voice is very nice, the directions are clear and there's options to save the current car position to the directory etc. Very happy indeed!

I've also purchased a headlight washer from Renault to replace the one that just sprays out a stream of water in front of the car

All tyre pressure sensors now dead, but I'm going to put the full set of 17" Nervasport alloy wheels from my other Meggy on, which had a full set of sensors a year ago. £25 to get them all recoded to this car, and the wheels are much nicer!

Slowly but surely getting this Meg up to my standard

[lexi]

Nice result. But wait a minute! I can't be sticking magnets things on top of my Vel

I don't want drunks jumping in at the lights thinking I am some kind of Taxi to take them for a score man