I just bought today a Xantia 3.0 V6 Exclusive

[kentc5]

Hi guys,

I bought a Citroen Xantia 3.0 V6 Exclusive 1998 today. It will be delivered to me sometime next week (auction purchase lol) The car had 1 lady owner for the last 15yrs, and only has 68.000 miles so it is looking as a time travel.
I am so looking forward to drive it properly and give it the tlc it needs.

While I was testing it. The suspension is going up and down ... however if you put it all the way down, then you put it the next up place, the rear will stay down, the front will move up ok. Then you put it in normal driving height same thing continues happening, the rear continues to stay all the way down, but the front goes to normal driving position. The if you put the suspension all the way up the rear will rise to the highest setting along with the front.
Now if you drop the suspension on the normal driving position front and rear will go down to normal driving position. The rear will not drop further down than that.
Am I right to believe the rear sensor is the one I should look out for?

Everything else seems to be working as it should be. I need to figure out what the "spring" button does on the dash. Am I right this is not the active suspension?
Love how soft and plush the leather interior feels

Cheers guys
Happy to be back.

[CitroJim]

Excellent Well bought!

The suspension issue could be something as simple as a broken 'dog bone' link between the Anti Roll Bar and the Height Corrector...

Or the height corrector mechanisms could be partially or fully seized at one end or the other.. Plenty on here about it but when looking do please take great care to fully and independantly support the car on high with axle stands before diving under to take a look. Hydraulic Citroens can kill if the they suddenly sink to low with you under there..

It won't be too difficult to sort whatever..

The 'Spring' switch selects between normal and sport setting on the Hydractive suspension.. It just changes the thresholds that govern where and how the suspension switches from soft to hard.

Just pressing the button will not cause an instant reaction or sudden change but you should feel the suspension subtly tighted and firm-up a little on hard cornering in sport mode.

Do enjoy, they're lovely cars...

[lexi]

Great cars. Engine, handling. individuality. Good looks and as fast as you could really need or use on the roads today.
Pics please

[CitroJim]

Great cars. Engine, handling. individuality. Good looks and as fast as you could really need or use on the roads today.
Pics please

Agreed on all points

Only one other Xantia beats it..

A V6 Activa....

[kentc5]

I cannot wait for it to arrive it needs a lot of cleaning.
I was looking for an Alfa Romeo 156 Estate fully loaded last month. But it went for a bit more than I would like to pay.
Although the 156 might be concidered pretier. I love the Xantia for the rarity value on its own amongst other

[CitroJim]

Kent,

We'll certainly be able to assist you in getting all the problems with it solved so that the excellence of the car can shine through!

[kentc5]

At last went to pick her up today...
The Auction would not deliver it ... as they could not get insurance due to the age of the car they said... lol

Anyway I am pleased I picked her up my self (although I had to make work arrangements and ask for favours for a lift) as I had to top up about 1lt of LHM ... it wouldn't have been good to be driven for about 120miles with low LHM.

Once on the highest settings the pump was making strange noises... a sign of now more LHM in the tank I guess... so I filled up until the orange disk was in between the lines.
I have done some Citrobics. .. but I think I might need to do this thing with the bleed screw.
The car will go to the Lowest setting
Then it will go to the Normal driving position
Then it will go to the Normal High position
And then it will go to the High position.
Dropping ...
It will not go from the High position to the Normal High position
But it will go down to the Normal position directly from the High Position

When I put the car on the High position and check the level it looks like it is above the levels... so overfilled... (but I am sure it is not...) I am certain there is an air bubble somewhere, as it was driven at High position by the auction staff... the pump was trying to suck whatever was in the tank..... air... LHM anything.
Once I filled it up the strange noises from the pump have gone.

Here are a couple of pictures... more to follow

[kentc5]

oh I didn't say ... she drives like a new car !!! motorway cruise at it's best. So quite and refined with loads of pulling power.
The gearbox is nice and smooth.
And no rattles or noises what so ever from the interior.

[Zelandeth]

Very nice, basically the V6 Exclusive twin to mine. Thought this was a car I've seen in MK before, but checking my photos showed it to be a different car, though the reg only differs by 50 or so.

Looks tidy from the photos! Are my eyes deceiving me, or have you actually managed to find a Dante Red Xantia that doesn't have serious clearcoat peeling issues? Well done if so! Get a new set of number plates on and that will help tidy it up.

Sounds like you've got pretty classic symptoms of a sticky height corrector, shouldn't be too bad a job to sort. You may be lucky and find the linkage just needs to be cleaned and lubricated properly. Ride height probably needs a tweak as well, from the photos I'd say the front is an inch or two high at the moment, though that may well resolve itself when the height corrector is freed off.

I know it's been said before, but want to echo the warnings that the car *must* be properly secured on axle stands before you even think about going underneath it - irrespective of whether you're touching the suspension system.

[kentc5]

Indeed Zelandeth there is no problem with the paintwork what so ever. No rust etc... at all. I can only assume the car has been garaged all it's life

I will have a look at the height correctors. I assume there is one on the rear and one on the front right?

As I am going on holiday on Thursday I will get the car checked when I come back
I have a set of ramps I used to use for my old C5 and old Xantia. The should work for this one too at least they will enable me to lower the car to the lowest setting so I can work on suspension.

I have lowered the car to the lowest setting and will leave it like this until tomorrow morning.
Does anyone know where the bleeding valve is? or how it looks like... ie a diagram etc? so I know what to look for?

Cheers
Vasilis.

[Hell Razor5543]

I would do a few more Citrobics, but I would also bleed the brakes, as it is now possible there is air in their lines (based on what you wrote about her being driven at service high when low on LHM). It is not difficult, as the Xantia will help you here.

[Zelandeth]

The suspension is effectively self bleeding as the fluid always circulates. Just do a few more Citrobics sessions to help flush any remaining bubbles out. Any significantair at this stage in the system will be in the brakes as they are effectively "dead ends." Just keep an eye on the LHM level while bleeding them so you don't have to start from scratch again!

Worth doing a check sooner rather than later for any leaks if the LHM was that low...it must have gone somewhere...

There are two height correctors, the front one is attached to the anti roll bar, can't remember precisely where the rear one is though...it's not something I've had to poke on mine yet.

...though like yours mine sits a bit too high...keep meaning to sort that...

[kentc5]

What do the 4 dashes mean on the radio display?
When I switch it on it comes up with that. But it will not let me enter the code? the memory buttons are non responsive mmmm

[Stickyfinger]

Car looks great, vgj

"if" the radio is buggered, I have another with a code, do you have the books with the car ?....the method for code input is in there.

[CitroJim]

Kent, excellent news Looks fantastic...

The radio code, if you don't have it, can be got from any Citroen main dealer on production of the V5 showing VIN and proof of ownership...

Look for an LHM leak if it needed topping up that much