Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[CitroJim]

Gosh, that's spotless

I've had my thyroid function checked loads of times and every time it's OK... ME can give all the symptoms without any diagnostic tests revealing anything...

And still I suffer the cold terribly and out of all proportion to the general population

And be aware of a Vitamin D deficiency too... That can cause all kinds of related problems and most residents of the UK are deficient.. One supplement all should take in the duller months...

In fact, go for a good multivitamin/mineral supplement and see if things improve...

[Zelandeth]

Hmm...

Front fogs aren't working. Tell tale on dash is, and the fuse is fine. Oh, as are the lamps. No power getting to them.

Guessing there's a relay involved somewhere which would be the prime suspect. Anyone able to point me in the right direction?

[CitroJim]

I have all the necessary wiring diagrams here Zel...

Pop round one day in the week and we'll sort it... Any afternoon but Wednesday...

[Zelandeth]

Will be in touch Jim.

Probably latter part of the week, the guest we've had staying with us is returning home Monday afternoon, and will take a couple of days to recharge and get the house back into order. Hoping after that I'll be able to start getting back into stuff.

Did have a brief poke at the van earlier to see if I could track down what's squeaking. Nope. Not beyond "something belt driven."

It's really loud driving without the engine cover on. It's also hilarious how much heat an old 2.3 litre N/A diesel engine doesn't make...even the exhaust manifold was merely "hot" after half an hour. Comparing it to the blast of heat that greets you on opening the Xantia's bonnet after five minutes is ridiculous.

Gave me a good chance to see the engine mounts are good though, and the throttle cable is moving through the full intended travel just fine.

Will hopefully get the wiring tidied up a bit then button the cover back up tomorrow. Next step there will be to pull the belt and see if it's obvious what's squeaking. Belt is past it and wants changing anyways so it has to come off for that, may as well do that at the same time.

[Zelandeth]

Urgh...

I don't usually get colds.

The downside of this is that the once or twice a year it does happen they tend to hit me like a class 55 locomotive at full chat.

Can't even blow my nose right now it's so stuffed up... suffice to say naff all useful has been done the last couple of days.

Xantia is booked in for her MOT at 1000 on Tuesday though, so will want to give her a once over before that.

Hoping Steve will be able to tell me where the clonk up front is coming from. It's always done it, and only on very specific surfaces and hasn't got any worse in the last year. My money is on drop links.

Will also need to check if Two Wrestlers are able to do the test on the van too or if it's too big/heavy as it's up in the first week of December. That *does* have a few things needing attention before then. New brake pads need fitting and the exhaust sorted one way or another. Oh...and to attach the fresh water tank with something more permanent than ratchet straps...

[Hell Razor5543]

I will get you a large stick of dynamite. If that doesn't blow your nose nothing will!

[CitroJim]

All the best for the MOT Zel and hope the cold soon resolves... I'll be out on Thursday leading a ride - unless the weather is really atrocious - raining glass stair-rods or below freezing...

[Zelandeth]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the MOT. Only stuff which I'm expecting there to potentially be issues with is the front suspension in the bush/ball joint/drop link department given the clonk that comes and goes.

Not worried about that, if it needs any of them changing so be it. Two Wrestlers will just get a "give it me back with a fresh ticket" instruction. Stuff like that just needs changing periodically.

Cold has meant that productivity has been low. Only thing I've really managed was sorting out the wiring behind the stereo and slotting the engine cover back into the van.

Turns out it clips in a lot easier when you've not caught a bunch of wiring under the cover.

This evening when I should have been doing something useful, instead had a play around with low level colored lighting and long exposure photography.

Came out a lot better than I'd expected...might have to have a better play around with that. Oh...those were taken with my phone and hand held. Camera on this thing never ceases to astonish me.

[CitroJim]

Interesting pictures Zel

[Zelandeth]

So we have a fail, however a nice simple one which I was pretty much expecting. Worn lower suspension ball joint on the nearside.

Can someone confirm that this is the correct part?

Edit: struggling to get the image to display for some reason.

We have a Lemforder part with the following numbers on the box.

LMI-NR 11592 02
Vgl-Nr 027 260 027 581
Cross-ref 3640 71.

With a paper sticker also reading
13-11-08
N42414 A

Though I'm guessing that's just a stocking label from wherever it was bought from.

Edit to my edit, poking Google suggests that this is indeed the right bit. Armed with this info I've now had it booked in to be sorted on Friday.

Conveniently, I've not yet SORNed the Lada, so it will just have to deal with being used for a few days.

[RichardW]

I hope it relents easier than the one Mandrake and I did on his V6 last year!!

364071 appears to be the right part no for all Xantias so you should be good to go.

PS.... looks like it has failed on the B-J before in 2013, only 17k miles ago.... Might be worth getting a new heat shield as well - we looked last week and they were still listed as available.

[Zelandeth]

I hope it relents easier than the one Mandrake and I did on his V6 last year!!

364071 appears to be the right part no for all Xantias so you should be good to go.

PS.... looks like it has failed on the B-J before in 2013, only 17k miles ago.... Might be worth getting a new heat shield as well - we looked last week and they were still listed as available.

Will double check that the shield is still there and intact...if they're still available probably worth grabbing a couple from Citroen anyway as we know what they're like! Anyone got a part number?

Worth noting that just before last year's MOT she was converted to V6 spec brakes, which will have hopefully reduced temperatures in that area somewhat...even though it is generally driven in a spirited manner. Let's face it... that's the whole point of the Activa isn't it!

I'll not be worrying about the ball joint being stubborn as the garage will be changing it. I've done enough on Saabs to put me off the job for life.

[RichardW]

https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... =3&t=61248

Where

There's only 1 common to all Xantias - 362306; it's not listed as NFP and costs only £7.50 from the dealer.... common with BX and C5 MK1 and 2, so there's a good chance it is still available.

[Hell Razor5543]

Definitely get a pair of heat shields (they should also still be available), as they protect the ball joint. I will see if I have the number.

EDIT; Found it! 3623 06

[Zelandeth]

Meant to include this earlier but forgot.

Not a bad result for a 26 year old car, especially given she has been very much earning her keep in the last year!