Mungkie's Activa Blog

[Mungkie]

So here it goes, the start of something beautiful or a grand folly.

Welcome to my Xantia Activa Turbo Blog

Here are some links to my related forum topics and posts

My initial enquirers http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =7&t=39407
the Actual Activa I bought http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =7&t=39765" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The story so far, as a kid I saw the advert for flat cornering on the Xantia Activa and always thought it sounded interesting.
A few years ago I was given an HDi Xantia and really loved the smoothness and way it drove.
This year my beloved Xantia started making an awful noise (now thought to be a fan belt tensioner) and it was coming to the end of its MOT so I stopped driving it thinking it was basically a gonner.
I tried out some other cars and realised that I actually love Xantias so I pestered my Dad for a different HDi that he had that had spent a year parked in a field. Once it was MOT'ed I went a little crazy and desperately started trying to get and Activa as a project. That is how I ended up with the two Xantias below.

DSC06407.jpg (79.81 KiB) Viewed 169 times

The silver one is the HDi and the red one is the Activa. When I collected the Activa I will admit my wife and I had a smile from ear to ear on the drive home. The cornering is so much fun and having a reasonable amount of power means that if you were to have a poser in a BMW tailgate you, you have enough pace to pull over and harass him back at high speed , not that I did that a few times on my drive home, I'm just saying that you could if you wanted to

Now on to the progress

Sun roof stuck open, I manager to get it to open and close with help but there is a brocken clip, but it seems that removing this clip is almost impossible so I' avoiding doing anything with it for now it tilts and raises electrically but it won't slide without getting jammed.

I took it in for am MOT today and it only failed on two things ABS light on (replacement ABS sensor provided with car when purchased) and a damaged brake hose which is pretty cheap from GSF and should be here tomorrow. So there are two nice little jobs for the weekend, soon to be followed by 6 new spheres for the suspension once I have a new MOT.

So far it seems plain sailing except that the rear ram seems to leak a little as it is covered in black dirt with a greenish tinge
Also the windscreen seems to not clear very well so either the car needs to dry out after not being driven for a while or the dreaded heater matrix is on its way out

Lets see what happens

[Deanxm]

Looking good, make sure you always mot your activa in the summer, they leak a bit in the cold weather.
If all it wants is the abs sensor and a brake hose then she cant be a bad car, hope you are both enjoying it.

D

[CitroJim]

Excellent stuff Mungkie, following with great interest

Great advice Dean, about MOT'ing in the summer

[Northern_Mike]

Are you sure it's the rear ram and not just LHM that's got on the strut from when I changed the spheres? One of the rears was ruptured and it sprayed a bit..

[Mungkie]

Hi Mike,

I'm not certain there is a problem with the ram. I'm going to get it though the MOT and then clean it up and see if it actually is leaking, if it is leaking I think it can't be very fast as I looked at it and saw no actual drips (I think) it probably is just that LHM went everywhere. I hope my comments didn't come over as a criticism, really I'm just trying to document my journey and get some good advice if anyone has any ideas . So far I'm really enjoying it and the few times I have driven the HDi I've really missed the Activa. Anyone looking for a 138k Silver 2000 X reg HDi Xantia? I might have one on the market soon if this Activa gets sorted out.

[Northern_Mike]

Hi Mike,

I'm not certain there is a problem with the ram. I'm going to get it though the MOT and then clean it up and see if it actually is leaking, if it is leaking I think it can't be very fast as I looked at it and saw no actual drips (I think) it probably is just that LHM went everywhere. I hope my comments didn't come over as a criticism, really I'm just trying to document my journey and get some good advice if anyone has any ideas . So far I'm really enjoying it and the few times I have driven the HDi I've really missed the Activa. Anyone looking for a 138k Silver 2000 X reg HDi Xantia? I might have one on the market soon if this Activa gets sorted out.

No, of course it didn't come over as criticism! I did them in about 5 mins on a freezing cold morning. One had ruptured. It made a mess. It was too cold to clean it all up properly, I just drove to work...

How much might the HDI be?..... I might well be interested!

[Mungkie]

Now you are just showing off Mike, really 5 mins to change the spheres?

Right having worked on the beast a little today it really does seem that every time you go near it you end up covered in LHM, bleeding the brakes was comical for the amount of goo that sprayed out.

I relation to this are they any rubbers or anything else that can get eaten away/damaged by LHM as I have a feel that for the time being the underneath of the car is going to get covered.


After work today I changed the o/s/f break hose which was pretty easy, I then spent ages trying to disconnect the ABS sensors at the front so that I could check their resistance, it drove me mental getting the clips apart then then using my awful multimeter without crocodile clips to check them. Luckily it was the o/s/f one and I didn't have to go through it all again on the back sensors. I got my wife to hold the brake pedal while I bled the brakes then managed to get the wheel back on just before it got dark. The only problem with rushing is that I managed to forget to put the handbrake cable back in the caliper (not sure why I took it out). So now I have to get up early and take the wheel back off so that I can leave it down the MOT garage so that they can check it when they have a spare minute( I didn't book it in because I thought I might not be finished in time.)

If I am lucky my wife might let me get under the car again tomorrow and I might actually get some of the spheres changed, I'm aiming to do the back 3 that need changing, but if I make good progress I might get all 6 done.

At the moment I think the car is riding a little high but I would guess that once I've spent sometime with the suspension it should become clear if its adjusted properly.

[Northern_Mike]

There is a very handy guide to testing ABS sensors somewhere on the forum. You don't need to go anywhere near the wheels, just unplug the multiplug in the ABS ECU in the engine bay and test using the pins on there.

Bleeding the brakes - again, there's a guide on here somewhere about changing the LHM. It covers brake bleeding in that. It's a piece of cake. All you need is more LHM, a piece of pipe that fits over the nipple, and a 8 or 9mm ring spanner to undo it. Start car. Get someone to press pedal down - don't pump it (or use a broom handle to jam it down as I did), open the nipple, wait for dirty fluid flowing out of pipe to be replaced by clean fluid. Do nipple up.

I changed the 4 corner spheres. It took me less than 10 mins to do them all, even with my crappy sphere tool. Don't for one minute think you'll get away with doing to rest so easily.. or I'd have already done them.

[Mungkie]

Just a quick update, Changed three rear spheres (not corner spheres) The Activa sphere was the nightmare, but I got it done. I'm not really noticing much of an improvement with the ride, is this normal? Do I need to do the front three to notice an improvement. The pressure regulator(?) tick sound seems to be every 15-20 seconds but it is very quiet compared to my HDi Xantia and I might be wrong that I can hear the tick at all(it might be something else as its so quiet)

Any one any opinions?

[Northern_Mike]

Just a quick update, Changed three rear spheres (not corner spheres) The Activa sphere was the nightmare, but I got it done. I'm not really noticing much of an improvement with the ride, is this normal? Do I need to do the front three to notice an improvement. The pressure regulator(?) tick sound seems to be every 15-20 seconds but it is very quiet compared to my HDi Xantia and I might be wrong that I can hear the tick at all(it might be something else as its so quiet)

Any one any opinions?

My opinion is that the fronts are in worse state than the rears. It was the front end that was much worse than the rear when I was using it. Do bear in mind that Activas are hard riding anyway...

[Mungkie]

I have now changed the three front spheres (not the corner spheres). It was actually really enjoyable after the difficulty of doing the rears. Looking at the spheres it seems that the front active control sphere( http://www.kolumbus.fi/~w496119/xw/spheres.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) that came off had a very different appature to the one that went on and a slightly different pressure on the label. Any ideas if there is a source for a closer spec sphere out there or if it will actually make any difference?

I haven't really had the chance to drive it or do enough citerobics yet but it now seems to not sink when parked and rise/fall a bit quicker. I would say from the small test drive that I have done it now seems a little more fidgety when driving over bumps. I'm not sure I described that very well. So now I'm off to do Citerobics for a while and see where we are.

I also had a half arsed attempt at cleaning the alloy wheels and they look much better even with the damage that is on them.

I think next action is to read a ton of information about electrovalves and height correctors and undertake some methodical checking of the system now that I'm starting to understand where things are.

I'm still enjoying having the car, but I am ignoring the fuel consumption and the fact the water is not quite as full as I remember it being......

[Mungkie]

I looked at the rear discs which look a bit knackered so I called GSF and ordered new ones, I got a bit carried away and ordered Hydraflush, oil filter, engine oil, oil flush treatment, fuel filter and air filter. I'm not sure I'll be changing them all but I'll be checking them all and probably want to spoil the car next weekend with more TLC. I already have some red antifreeze, does anyone know if this is suitable for and N Reg Activa?

I'm getting alot of noise from the back of the car over bumps so am thinking that the ram bush is knackered as this seems a common problem. hopefully I'll have a look at it tonight. I see that CitroJim can make them up rather than paying £127!?!?!? So Jim is there anyway I can persuade you to make me one are there any XM bits that you might want that I can swap one for I have access to MANY XMs which are going to get broken/scraped (probably none of the interesting high spec ones ).

[Deanxm]

Hi pete

The red stuff if it is what i think it is must not be mixed with any other antifreeze so make sore the whole system is flushed, paying particular attention to the heater matrix and other low spots, All the old coolant must be fluhed out, sounds like your having fun anyway!

D

[Northern_Mike]

I have now changed the three front spheres (not the corner spheres). It was actually really enjoyable after the difficulty of doing the rears. Looking at the spheres it seems that the front active control sphere( http://www.kolumbus.fi/~w496119/xw/spheres.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) that came off had a very different appature to the one that went on and a slightly different pressure on the label. Any ideas if there is a source for a closer spec sphere out there or if it will actually make any difference?
..

Those spheres came from Pleiades, so should be spot on. If they are not, I expect Martin will rectify it - they were bought by other Pete in December, so I'm sure he will help you out. I'd be surprised if he's sent incorrect ones though.

[Northern_Mike]

I looked at the rear discs which look a bit knackered so I called GSF and ordered new ones, I got a bit carried away and ordered Hydraflush, oil filter, engine oil, oil flush treatment, fuel filter and air filter.

Car had a full service, new rad, (therefore new coolant) new Y-piece, new LHM (as it had been running with hydraflush for a few months) and lots of other odds and ends last July. It went to PTS to be repaired/MOTd at the same time, so the work was done within a couple of days of the MOT date.