Xantia estate tailgate lights

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tim456
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Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by tim456 »

Hi all,

I have just bought a V reg Xantia 2.0 HDI SX estate so this is my first post.
My lights on the tailgate dont seem to work so I have no reversing lights or rear fog lights can anyone give me any ideas where to start looking to sort this out please.
All other lights work fine.

Many thanks...Tim
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Peter.N. »

Hi Tim

As you say they don't work on the tailgate I take it that the ones on the body do, in which case you possibly have a broken wire/s between the tailgate and the body, if its done a high mileage and the tailgate has been used a lot this can happen. You can check by pulling back the rubber gaitor on the top corner, then you can the examine the wires.

Peter
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by tim456 »

Hi Peter,
Yes all the body lights work and it does have highish mileage of 160k but its been well looked after and drives like a car with half the miles. I will pop out to the car in a bit and pull the rubber gaitor back as suggested and will post my findings.

many thanks
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by tim456 »

Hi again,

Yep you were right, just pulled back the gaitor and there are three wires that are severed!
I will pop out and get some crimp connectors in a bit and rejoin them and hopefully that will be that.

Many thanks for your suggestion...Tim
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Peter.N. »

That was quick, you must be keen :-D Pleased you found it.

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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Xantidote »

It may be worth thinking about why the wires fractured. Was it through much flexing with use, or has Citroen not been very generous with the amount of wire in the loom at that point?

If the latter, it may be worth thinking about letting in short lengths of wire into the broken ones. This problem does seem to afflict the tailgates of Xantia estates, and you may find it useful seaching this topic on the Forum, though I can't point you directly to relevant posts.
Martin

1995 Xantia TDLX (deceased :( )
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Peter.N. »

I did this with an XM because they broke again later but I was using the tailgate a lot as I was working then and opening it a number of times a day, the car had done over 250,000 miles, I think with normal use they should last quite well.

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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Estately »

Hi Tim,

It may be worth a shot of silicon spray if you have any insde each of the rubber gators, without the rubber seems a bit sticky and I thought that it would assist in spreading the twisting motion accross a greater length of the wire.

Hope that helps ... Andy
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by DickieG »

As space is rather tight in the rubber boot for crimp connectors you may find it easier to solder the wires back together.
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tim456
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by tim456 »

All done and working as normal , I added some short lengths of wire using connector blox and taped it all in place , thanks for the help , I would not have thought about looking under the gaitor...Tim
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Peter.N. »

Well done. I used crimp connectors but added a length of wire and pushed the joins back through into the body and tailgate.

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Post by addo »

This problem is unknown here; I reckon your cooler climate must make the insulation less flexible. In turn, this could cause wires inside to become fatigued...
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by Peter.N. »

That could well be true.
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Re: Xantia estate tailgate lights

Post by CitroJim »

It's a common problem on estates and is a combination of poor quality wires and Heiulitz (who built all the estates) being mean with wire lengths. It's a rare problem indeed on the hatch...

The copper conductors are hard and brittle and this, long with short lengths and hard insulation, sees the wires off.
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