A few Xantia HDI questions.

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Stepto1
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A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Just a few quick questions guys.

Is it normal for these engines to run really cold? About 50-70 on the temperature gauge.

How do the doors 'know' they are open? The lights don't come on when the driver's door is open.

If the starter needs a knock now and again, is it just the solenoid? Can I strip and clean it?

Can I really expect 50+mpg?

10w-40 semisynthetic ok? 5k oil changes?

Ta guys.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by rory_perrett »

Yes they run cold, the gauge is marked 60 and 90 deg (I think) mine sits mid way between them .
I'm getting an average of 54mpg with about 80% motorway and 20% town driving. On the motorway I tend to do about 60mph.
Oil 10w-40 semisynthetic, oil change interval is 12,500 miles, no harm in doing it more often but possibly not necessary.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Thanks for that.

Now where is the switch on the door?
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by DickieG »

Stepto1 wrote:Now where is the switch on the door?
There isn't one :-D the CPH/body computer takes information from the state of the doorlock itself, do the interior lights work when other doors are opened or when they are turned on manually?
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Knew it would be something tricky! The lights work for the other three doors, even the boot light works!

I've noticed that the headlight left on buzzer does not work either.

Maybe a coincidence but the door lock knob does not pop up or down when the doors are locked.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by DickieG »

Stepto1 wrote:Maybe a coincidence but the door lock knob does not pop up or down when the doors are locked.
Does the door actually lock?
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Yep. It locks fine the button is quite wobbly though so I suspect the metal shaft goes up and down but the button stays still.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Timmo »

starter issues are generally down to sticky solonoids on the top, but also do suffer over time with the wires breaking down,
very popular mod on the peugeot/citroen gti's, wires loose some voltage to the starter, due to access on both the 8 and 16v petrol lumps (1.9) its common to pop a relay in the circuit before changing the unit over, have done this on 3 cars now, and has always given a lot more life out the starter, on the BX i fitted a starter button too as the wires from the ignition were quite weak, made a lot of difference to it!! full voltage to the starter helps! :wink:
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by HDI »

My HDi apparently ran cold when I first had it. Turned out to be a combination of a tired thermostat and defective temperature sensor, which was making the gauge read low.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by DickieG »

Stepto1 wrote:Yep. It locks fine the button is quite wobbly though so I suspect the metal shaft goes up and down but the button stays still.
Sounds like the plastic button isn't fixed to the metal rod, re the actual locking issue do you have access to a Lexia or one nearby? The reason I ask is that with a Leixa you can observe the state of each lock which makes diagnosing such a fault far easier.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Don't know anyone with a Lexia. I'm guessIng a microswitch is broken in the lock?

While I'm on the subject, what's the accepted interval for a cambelt on an HDI? The Citroën service book says 100k. It was done at 73k and it's now done 139k. Should I get it done or wait till 170k? I
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by DickieG »

Other than give the electric plug on the door lock a clean/good wiggle it's difficult to suggest much more without a Lexia to use, the fact that the door locking button isn't properly connected to the metal rod suggests that maybe someone has been having a play inside the door at some point, one way to find that out.

Re the cambelt, HDi's appear to justify their long change intervals as I've not heard of many failures, however the belt does operate the water pump and has a tensioner so I'd say it's worth checking in the not too distant future if only for peace of mind on the other two items.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by RichardW »

An Hdi should run at just a smidge under 90C - any lower and the stat is baggy. Don't fit a QH one though - they only last about a year.... :(
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by charentejohn »

In an outside temp of 10C my car ran at minimum temp shown on the gauge (40C ?) because of no thermostat. Only on a run at 70mph did it move off that a bit, at first I thought the gauge was broken, so given the chance these engines run really cold. Fitted a new thermostat and now a steady 80C showing.
May be worth fitting a new thermostat as yours may be partly open all the time so heating a bit but not enough. Might explain lower temp ? Only about £10 and easy to swap, rubber ring gasket so no messy sealer to use, you will lose about 1/4L of water when you do it.

Mine is a 90HDI with 120k miles and just done a mileage check, seems about 52mpg+ with fairly open roads and doing short runs or 50 or 70mph runs in equal amounts. All steady driving, no flooring it much.
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Re: A few Xantia HDI questions.

Post by Stepto1 »

Cool. (ha ha)

Daft question, but how do I know if it's a 90 or a 110?
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