Wonky Xantia speedo

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CitroenCrazy
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Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by CitroenCrazy »

Hi All

Has anyone ever encountered a speedo failure on a Xantia, in which the needle is stuck right over on the end stop, ie 150 mph when it's standing still ?

This happened between taking the instrument cluster out, when dismantling the dash to replace the heater matrix, and putting it all back together again. It was fine at the start & wonky when it all went back together.
Now, I have to own up and say that the elapsed time between the two was a couple of months (my attention span is short.........), but it sat it a warm, dry corner of my study in the meantime. It hasn't been dropped or mishandled in any way.

I took the car for a drive, hoping it would fix itself, but no luck so far.

Everything else works fine. The fact it's the same ignition on or off makes me think it's a mechanical problem rather than an electrical one.

Anyone got a spare speedo ?


PS I've done a 16 page "how to" guide on the matrix swap itself. I'd appreciate some peer review, so if you're interested, PM me with your email address & I'll send a copy (8 Mb, inc photos).
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by sparksie »

Hi CitroenCrazy

Not Citroen specific, because I've never had any dealings with Citroen instruments, but it's common for electronic instruments to go "overcenter" when being moved around. This results in the needle ending up at the max stop pin, if fitted, or on the wrong side of the min stop pin, next time power is applied (ie next time ignition is turned on) and the gauge takes the shortest route to zero.
You can sometimes pull the needle around with a magnet, but if that doesn't work, you'll need to take it out again and play around with it, to see what moves the needle.
It may be simply turning it upside down, or it may need some twisting, or shaking in a controlled manner. They're all different, so you'll need to figure out what works for the Xantia one, though it will be something you've already done, so its unlikely to be anything violent.
No doubt somebody who's already done it will be along shortly
Sparksie

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Northern_Mike

Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by Northern_Mike »

This is quite common with Xantia instruments, I'm sure CitroJim will be along at 3:52am to answer you and tell you exactly how to get it back. It's a well known issue though. I think you'll have to take the pod out again though..
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by c.morewood »

I think its an easy fix. Its just that you tilted the speedo when installing it and the needle can't get back again. Short of rotating the car on one of these.
http://www.cjautos.eu/NBN_CHASSIS_TILTE ... p/ct05.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; :-0
I've heard that you can move it back using a very thin wire through the Zero ing pin hole.
Hope this works.
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by Xaccers »

Pull the rubber off the odometer reset button as c.morewood says, then use a long stiff wire to knock the needle back into position.
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by xantos »

On mine I have tried pulling it back with a wire but didn't work. Had to change the whole panel.

But mine jumped to 40km/h on ignition and then back to zero on stop...
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by CitroenCrazy »

woo hoo, easy fix.
Luckily, I'd stopped reassembling everything once I realised what had happened, so it was only 20 minutes or so to remove the instrument cluster, rotate it to let the speedo needle fall back under gravity & put it all back together. Working fine now.

Thanks all.
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Re: Wonky Xantia speedo

Post by Old-Guy »

Memo to self: put note with spare instrument cluster "Make sure that speedo needle is on zero stop before installing. If not, rotate entire unit to make needle to return to zero under gravity." It's currently stored face down in bubble-wrap.
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