Today I visited Citrojim, he is in fairly good health, enjoying his retirement and is well involved in running and cycling events.
I reclaimed some Xantia spares that I had left with him about 9 years ago when I sold my previous Xantia. I also obtained a few other parts from his collection, so I can fix a few minor issues with my present Xantia.
I mentioned previously that the car was losing some LHM, I put it up on stands at Jim's and crawled underneath to find an LHM return line hanging unconnected behind the front subframe.
The cause was...
Should not look like this?
We had a good rummage through Jim's boxes of stuff left over from broken Xantias, but could not find a replacement, until Jim remembered an old subframe rusting away at the back of the garden. Fortunately it had a Blue connector which could be made to fit (the colour denotes the pipe diameters).
Good news all round then. Good to hear Jim is thriving and enjoying his retirement, I'm certain there are many of us who miss his contributions to our daily rambling, I know I do, so its good to hear all is well!!
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
I still keep in touch with him via Instagram. I wondered who it was visiting him in a French registered V6 Xantia. Now I know.
James ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
ex C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
A belated update... After the drive back to France, the Xantia was not used much, but it was still losing LHM, the same Y connector had split. Replacement connectors in various sizes are available, but the green ones were only fitted to the Xantia V6 and some BX, and are hard to find. I found some online and fitted one, it is plastic rather than rubber, and not easy to get all 3 pipes fitted simultaneously.
It did fix the leak... For about a month, then one of the return lines popped out. A few days later the same thing happened again. Examination of the Y piece shows that one leg did not have a connection to the other two, causing pressure to push the hose out. I drilled the offending orifice and it has not fallen off since.
Stickyfinger wrote: ↑05 Jan 2023, 22:14
I have a Xantia V6 (Auto g-box) ECU....with the code written on it
I am back in NZ now, but expect to spend a few weeks in the UK (Cambridge) in approximately June.
I can ask Jim to transport it.
Done and dusted... I'll take it home with me on my next visit Alasdair - which will be soon... I need my Somerset fix - starting to loose my accent and it needs topping up
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
We are back in France now. As usual, both cars started at the first turn of the key, the ES9 engine is very good in that regard.
I had some spare time in the last couple of days, and have been doing some small jobs on the Xantia that I have been postponing since I got the car 6 years ago!
The first thing was lubricating the boot release button, which was rather stiff and sometimes not returning when released. I removed the cover and the lock button assembly, but could not see how to dismantle it further. I gave it a good dousing of brake cleaner, working ait a few dozen times, then a squirt of heavy oil, and worked it some more. It still feels a bit rough, and I would like to dismantle it to polish the rubbing surfaces, but still cant see how to. Being a mk1 Xantia, the button has a key slot, so I can't just swap in a better replacement. It is 90% better than it was so will do for now.
While I had the interior cover off of the hatch, I investigated the non-functional rear wiper. The motor has obviously been replaced previously, as it had "XANTIA" hand-painted on it. I touched the wiring to the relay and the wiper sprang into life. I worked the connector a few times, but left it at that. If it plays up again, I will investigate the wiring and connector more closely.
The next task on the list was an interesting one: To make functional (not repair) the coolant level warning light. The RHD Mk1 Xantia V6 (and 2.1TD) has a coolant level sensor mounted in the header tank (note that on the V6 and 2.1 TD the clooant header tank is situated beside the LHM tank, not behind the ECU box where it lives on most Xaintii). The sensor connector has 3 pins, +12V, ground and signal. The wiring harness however has only 2 wires, +12V and ground. The level signal gets to the warning light via telepathy, and being French, telepathy seldom works.
Looking at the wiring diagrams for the V6, it seems that this was a design error, not a manufacturing error, as the diagrams show that the signal pin on the sensor is not connected. Given that the header tankis on these are notorious for splitting (not to mention the de-gassing tanks shattering) it would be a good idea to have the sensor connected to the STOP warning, as it is on all other Xantii. The sensor should be connected to the 405 wire from the Bitron fan controller to the warning light, but that is behind the LH headlight, so a new wire must be run, and the harness stripped back to connect it. The batter and tray need to come out for access.
I had some difficulty identifying the 405 wire (to pin 6 on the Bitron) as it was the only one in that harness not to have numeric markings, but it was the only white wire.
At the other end, there is another difficulty, the connector which plugs onto the sensor is filled with epoxy and has only 2 contacts fitted, so it is necessary to cut the connector off and replace it with one from another Xantia, or other PSA car using the same sensor, and then splice the wires. Having fitted the missing wire, the warning light comes on if the sensor pin is grounded.
There are several more minor and cosmetic tasks which I will try to complete over the weekend.
xantia_v6 wrote: ↑21 Apr 2023, 09:18
We are back in France now. As usual, both cars started at the first turn of the key, the ES9 engine is very good in that regard.
Mine is the same. It didn't get started for many months when it had the heater matrix leak and it started instantly, after topping up the battery first mind you...
I had some spare time in the last couple of days, and have been doing some small jobs on the Xantia that I have been postponing since I got the car 6 years ago!
The first thing was lubricating the boot release button, which was rather stiff and sometimes not returning when released. I removed the cover and the lock button assembly, but could not see how to dismantle it further. I gave it a good dousing of brake cleaner, working ait a few dozen times, then a squirt of heavy oil, and worked it some more. It still feels a bit rough, and I would like to dismantle it to polish the rubbing surfaces, but still cant see how to. Being a mk1 Xantia, the button has a key slot, so I can't just swap in a better replacement. It is 90% better than it was so will do for now.
While I had the interior cover off of the hatch, I investigated the non-functional rear wiper. The motor has obviously been replaced previously, as it had "XANTIA" hand-painted on it. I touched the wiring to the relay and the wiper sprang into life. I worked the connector a few times, but left it at that. If it plays up again, I will investigate the wiring and connector more closely.
My button does the same - it's OK in warm dry weather but in cold wet weather it always sticks. I've tried lubrication down the side of the button but it doesn't seem to help at all, and like you it's not obvious how to get it all apart. Quite annoying.
The next task on the list was an interesting one: To make functional (not repair) the coolant level warning light. The RHD Mk1 Xantia V6 (and 2.1TD) has a coolant level sensor mounted in the header tank (note that on the V6 and 2.1 TD the clooant header tank is situated beside the LHM tank, not behind the ECU box where it lives on most Xaintii). The sensor connector has 3 pins, +12V, ground and signal. The wiring harness however has only 2 wires, +12V and ground. The level signal gets to the warning light via telepathy, and being French, telepathy seldom works.
Looking at the wiring diagrams for the V6, it seems that this was a design error, not a manufacturing error, as the diagrams show that the signal pin on the sensor is not connected. Given that the header tankis on these are notorious for splitting (not to mention the de-gassing tanks shattering) it would be a good idea to have the sensor connected to the STOP warning, as it is on all other Xantii. The sensor should be connected to the 405 wire from the Bitron fan controller to the warning light, but that is behind the LH headlight, so a new wire must be run, and the harness stripped back to connect it. The batter and tray need to come out for access.
I had some difficulty identifying the 405 wire (to pin 6 on the Bitron) as it was the only one in that harness not to have numeric markings, but it was the only white wire.
At the other end, there is another difficulty, the connector which plugs onto the sensor is filled with epoxy and has only 2 contacts fitted, so it is necessary to cut the connector off and replace it with one from another Xantia, or other PSA car using the same sensor, and then splice the wires. Having fitted the missing wire, the warning light comes on if the sensor pin is grounded.
I don't know if I'm the only one to previously notice and report this problem of the mystery missing signal wire, but it boggles my mind that they would go to the trouble of still fitting a cable and a plug supplying power knowing full well that it can't possibly work, and that the wiring diagrams even show the absence of the wire.
Unlike you I have not plucked up the enthusiasm to track down exactly which wire it is under the headlight and run an extra wire... I don't suppose you took any pictures ?
Simon
2016 Nissan Leaf Tekna 30kWh in White
1997 Xantia S1 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive in Silex Grey 2011 Peugeot Ion Full Electric in Silver 1998 Xantia S2 3.0 V6 Auto Exclusive 1997 Xantia S1 2.0i Auto VSX 1978 CX 2400 1977 G Special 1129cc LHD
I did not take pictures, but it is the wire to pin 6 on the bitron box, should be labelled 405 and is probably white.
On my car the bitron has previously been moved from its original location and sits behind the headlight, so across was easy with the headlight removed. I would have done this year's ago, but I lost the wired connector that was salvaged from an XM, and only found it again recently.
I forgot to mention 2 other tasks completed...
Cleaning the contacts on the indicator switch, to stop the tickity-tickety when not using the indicators,. This is a bit painful on the S1 Xantia, as the steering wheel must be removed, and the shrouds ate always difficult to re-fit correctly.
Removing and cleaning a noisy A/C sensor fan. On the S1 this can be done without removing the dash by popping out the clock and carefully pushing out the sensor unit (very carefully). I did clean the dust from the fan and lubricated with a drop of engine oil, but I now think that the original rattle was caused by a wire rubbing against the fan blade.
