Xantia V6 broken exhaust (update: and rough low rpm running)

[Hell Razor5543]

It might be useful to call into Waitrose first (before CitroJims). They might still be doing PG Tips decaf at £3 for 160 bags.

[CitroJim]

It might be useful to call into Waitrose first

Good thinking James Wednesdays is my normal shopping day and I need plenty as I'm planning a good bit of baking so Steve, if I give you my shopping list could you call in at Waitrose on the way to seeing me and do my shopping for me!

That way you know you'll get fed

Oh, and could you nip into Wickes on the way and get me three fence panels and a couple of fence posts please? I need to rebuild my garden fence after one of my neighbours chopped down a Lilac tree which turned out to be structural!

[Mandrake]

I could get there quickest. I'm currently in Carluke I am not sure where Simon lives but willing to bet it's quite close to here.

Not far Davie, Coatbridge, at least that's where the inlaws live, which is where we are staying at the moment!! (We're "in between", while we're trying to buy a house)

I drive through Carluke on my way to visit RichardW in Lanark...

You're a long way from home, unless there is another Macduff ?

[daviemck2006]

I am home in Macduff now Simon. My sister lives in Carluke, I was in by there on the was down, and home from the national. I need to break up long journeys now. I'm often down for a weekend at Carluke. That's one of the reasons I went for a c5, for the cruising abilities on the 220 miles from here to there. It does 55 mpg on the cruise at 65 mode which I usually am content with on the A9 and A 90.

[Mandrake]

Well, its the end of an era - Will (KP) picked up the "problem child" at 9pm tonight and will be on his way back down South with it right now...

A bit of a sad moment to see it go after all the sweat and tears (and parts!) that went into that car over two years, but also a great weight off my shoulders especially now that I have a much better condition, much lower mileage Xantia V6 that just flew through its first MOT today. I hope to look forward to more time enjoying driving the new one and less time working on it...

I wish Will well with the old one, its still a good car in many ways, I believe he will be taking it for an MOT on the off chance it might pass but whether it gets driven for a while if it passes, gets stripped for parts, or gets made into bake beans tins is still unknown!

In typical contrary fashion the engine has actually been running rather well in the last couple of weeks worth of warm dry weather....

[CitroJim]

As you say Simon, the end of an era. As one chapter comes to an end another opens. The book is far from finished yet...

The epilogue is a long way off...

I'm sure your new V6 will provide just as interesting a story as this one has these past few years... I look forward to reading it.

In typical contrary fashion the engine has actually been running rather well in the last couple of weeks worth of warm dry weather....

Of course What do you expect? It is a Citroen after all. Has it been near an XM recently? I ask as that's typical behaviour when they have been.

[Mandrake]

I also went to show Will how noisy the tappets are after showing him how quiet the tappets are in the new car (silent) and of course they were also silent, just to contradict me...

Mind you they usually got noisy when the engine warmed up and were sometimes quieter when it was cold. Or maybe that fully synth 10w-50 that went in as a last ditch measure a couple of months ago is starting to work!

[CitroJim]

I also went to show Will how noisy the tappets are after showing him how quiet the tappets are in the new car (silent) and of course they were also silent, just to contradict me...

I refer you to my previous post Simon

[Trainman]

Didn't sound to throaty just when Will passed my work place. Looked tidy at least from a distance

[Mandrake]

Didn't sound to throaty just when Will passed my work place. Looked tidy at least from a distance

You were watching out the window for him when he went by ?

[Trainman]

No stood on the platform, and happened to see the Xantia, then realised it was your old one when I saw the plate number

[Mandrake]

Haha... what were the chances of that happening I wonder...

[CitroJim]

Haha... what were the chances of that happening I wonder...

Well... I don't know but... My dad lives beside the Westbury to Taunton railway line. I was visiting him one day and Kev (RedDwarfers) text'd me and said he'd just seen my Xantia out of a train window as it sped through Langport...

He was returning to Exeter from delivering his old Xantia to Northern Mike...

But then we're always on the lookout for Xantias aren't we?

[KP]

Didn't sound to throaty just when Will passed my work place. Looked tidy at least from a distance

Strangely Steve I wasn't sure if you would be out the front or not and didn't want to boot it too much as it is only but a stones throw from the police station

There is a little rattle on the down run when decelerating in sport mode coasting down between 4.4-4k revs but I think that's a loose back box or heat shield

So far I've been making sure she gets fully warmed through. The v6 compared to the tct has so much more smooth power above 110 it's strange but then it is 50% larger so I'm attributing it to that and can see why many convert activas, but to me I'd still want for we induction but the noise is getting addictive

[Mandrake]

Trying to think what the rattle at 4k might be - I don't remember it having a noise there. The back box isn't that old, it's got one of the £75 eBay exhausts that I only fitted a year ago, and all the mounts on the back box were changed a few months ago as some had split or started to split.

The heat shield I've had out before to do the hand brake cables, I had a bit of trouble with that and had to mould the shape a bit but it should be fitting pretty well now and no bolts or clips are missing.

The V6 really comes into its own at higher speed - where a smaller engine starts to run out of steam at 100 or more it just keeps going, even up hills... Gearing is perfect too, if you kick it down into 3rd at 70mph you're doing just below 4000 rpm, which is the sweet spot both for maximum torque and engine note.

It becomes very addictive overtaking around 70mph as the engine song at 4000 when you kick it down is very sweet. The new one is a lot quieter, both engine note itself and exhaust which actually takes a little bit of the fun away, although it does still come on song nicely at 4000, just a little bit quieter and smoother...

Remember when you're gunning it though that that gearbox is on borrowed time Did you try for an MOT ?