Tales from beyond the grave AKA Dan & Emma's Black Xantia, pug 206HDi, Daniel's 206 Verve 1.4i, GTi180 plus XUD9TE 206!!

[daviemck2006]

It does help immensely having a very understanding better half

It helps even more not having an other half lolol


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[van ordinaire]

Since it seems to be confession time:

My 1st car was called "Beatnik Fly" - it was even painted on the front wings (but, c'mon i was 17 & still at school)
The 2nd - a Wolsley 15/60 (probably why I came to French cars so late - having been seduced by walnut, wilton & leather at an impressionable age!) became "the Giant Burble Machine" after it acquired an MGA engine, Riley 4/72 carbs, etc - & a Peco big bore exhaust
There was a Thames 400e Kenebus bearing the legend "Too Much" (the magic bus) along the sides.
A Wosley 6/110 (to this day one of my all time favourite cars - & it only cost £10!) forever known as "Mighty Meaty, Matey" after a friend's exclamation on first seeing it & a slightly battered but indecently quick MkIII Zephyr referred to as "Evil, Wicked, Green & Nasty!" - & after that it all stopped - mercifully, some might think, but then a relatively new, S-type Jag (still the newest car I've ever had - or ever will) just isn't the sort of car you name. Of course a 2CV is - but it's always been referred to as "the Deux Chevaux".

[CitroJim]

I believe all Bosch Injectors are the same Dan, Bosch and Lucas though are incompatible...

[ekjdm14]

I believe all Bosch Injectors are the same Dan, Bosch and Lucas though are incompatible...

That is fantastic news Jim, and I shall have a shufty under the bonnet momentarily to firstly swap the glow plugs as I think there's definitely a dead one & then I'll crack each injector off in turn and hopefully find which cylinder it's missing on.

Having started it from cold this morning though and noticed it seemed a lot worse for the minute I ran it for, than it was when I fired it up a moment ago, I will check the valve clearances. Probably tomorrow so it's properly cold again, even if the injector/plug swap cures it.

Interesting(?) point to note is that neither Black nor White have had the relay mod done & both blowers seem to work fine. Although I'm told the heater is still either fully hot or fully cold on White. Les mentioned you'd sent a replacement interior temp sensor to that end but that it turned out to be different to the one fitted, one for the future I think along with sorting the aircon maybe...

Seeing the car today for the first time in properly good light though, it's looking even better than I had hoped. It's even attracted comment from passers-by on how nice it looks.

[CitroJim]

Valve stem seals could be the cause Dan... Shame is, the head must come off to do them but after that it's a straightforward job...

Else Turbo oil seals perhaps.. How much oil is in the turbo hoses? Some is normal as it sucks crankcase fumes in that way but you should be able to judge if the amount is excessive.. A quick test is to run with the turbo hose disconnected at the top of the inlet manifold. An easy check too as the hose is so accessible...

Listen to and enjoy the deep throaty induction roar with that pipe disconnected!

Sounds like the car is well worth a bit of work to make it good... Well bought

[ekjdm14]

Yes it's definitely fit for saving, sadly the injectors I have in the garage are actually 130 BAR not 175 but out of interest I swapped number 2 over anyway (that one made little difference to idle when cracked off) and the misfire has improved, smoke at idle nearly gone but replaced by smoke under load/revs now so suggests to me that the injectors are a good part of the problem.

I'll have to grab the proper items next time we get to the scrapyard & test with those, unless I can get rebuild kits cheaply for the ones in the car... Know of a source? (I opened up the one I removed and there's a hint of water having been in there at some point, very slightly stained in parts)

I do have reservations about the turbo given the amount of oil in the intake when I was messing with injectors but as yet I haven't popped off any other hoses. there was more than a misting but it wasn't exactly running out, the turbo is louder than maybe it ought to be though so if I get a chance I'll get right under and see how hard it is to pop a hose off the actual turbo.

There's a few niggles around the airbag system (currently bypassed) which I suspect is linked to the non-functioning radio controls on the steering wheel, central locking needs a couple of solenoids looked at and plip re-synched and the air con is bypassed which I forgot to ask about. I'd imagine it was done due to pump bearings/electro clutch but will ask Les to confirm. Still well pleased with the car, and once moving it pulled like a train on a quick test up the private driveway *ahem*

[ekjdm14]

Progress this afternoon, removed the leather interior & wiring for the electric seats. Looks like they might be heated too as there was a couple of excess plugs, although I haven't looked properly as I have no need for a warm bum!

In removing the interior I've also discovered a potential suspect for the airbag fault & possibly related to the dead AC too. The scuttle below the windscreen has a couple of cracks in it & appears to have been leaking into the passenger side judging by the damp under the carpets that side. As I have read elsewhere on here, this has got into both the large & small multiplugs that reside in the footwell & caused corrosion to the pins.

Not sure as yet whether it'll clean up or if I'll have to re-pin/bypass the plugs but it can at least dry & air out while the carpets are up. Leather interior is now sat in the garage awaiting a clean and the carpets are drying in the garden. When time allows I'll repeat the interior strip-out on Black and attend to the wiring for the electric seats ready to go all leathery. Can't beat a Black on Black car IMO, specially if I can refurbish the shiny trim strips or find some better ones.

[ekjdm14]

Small progress this afternoon, completed the interior swap in Black so we now have leather electric seats and black carpets. Pre-wiring was not present for rear electric windows sadly so the manual ones & original door cards will have to stay, not a huge blow since IMHO the pattern of the door cards in the White car isn't all that nice & the grey velour doesn't look particularly out of place.

Black was noticeably cleaner under the carpets than White, and I would say it's never leaked at all which is nice. Will stick a bit of duct tape over the crack in White's scuttle & where I think the bonding has separated on the far end and hopefully that will stop the leak for now until I can either rescue a scuttle from the scrap yard or reseal & glue the original in acceptable fashion. (I know which I'd prefer, but what would my chances be of removing one without damage from a scrapper? any particular techniques or pitfalls to avoid would be handy)

Also, have to sort something with the insurance for Black since the creditor for paying by instalments has decided to cancel the agreement due in part to my mistake with bank details but mainly due to them cancelling said agreement the same day they processed the corrected details... Not happy about that & hope we can sort it out as there's no way we can pay the whole premium direct to the insurer

[CitroJim]

Enjoy the leather Dan I find they make a heck of a difference... So comfy

[elma]

If you have the old water ingress scuttle then give the big grey block connector a decent clean.
It's caused many of us different problems over the years.

I'd advise just regaling your scuttle with an appropriate sealer as removing a scrap one leaves you with exactly the same part in the same state.
It's secured in the factory (at least on my car) with some sort of rubber double sided tape.
I used silicone to seal mine but it's not ideal as it will peel off by Winter. Tiger seal would be my first choice but then it's not going to be easy to do a matrix later on.

[ekjdm14]

Yes, I believe this is the root cause of the airbag issues & hoping it's caught in time to give it a clean up. I seem to remember Paul (citroenxm) had this issue & it caused interior light problems and that one was so bad many pins had to be bypassed.

So you're saying the scuttle would pretty much definitely crack if I were to attempt removal from a scrap car? Would really like a good one as there's at least 2 splits in the one fitted, although it's only leaking at the nearside from what I can tell. Not sure why it'd be cracked either since the windscreen is original (and delaminating in the corners slightly). Perhaps it's had the matrix replaced at some time already that'd be nice.

[elma]

Mine needed bypassing too, I was missing remote central locking until that was done.

Sorry I didn't realise your original was cracked. In that case one from a scrap car makes perfect sense.
By this age they seem to want to come away but I'd advise going gently, applying moderate heat (hairdryer or similar) and using some sort of flexible spatula to help. Actually a fish filleting knife, with a flexible blade, might be good for that.

Water only tends to make it through on the N/S, thats totally normal. I sealed up the whole thing on mine but I think only the n/s is actually necessary.

[ekjdm14]

Ace, thanks. another thing to add to the list when we find that time/funds/weather and the yard owner being at "base" all align sufficiently for us to get to the S1 Estate & rescue the bits I want from it. Also hoping we'll see the other Xantia rumoured to be there, next time.

[ekjdm14]

Following on from the discussion in Davie's blog, on how easy it is for one to end up with yet another Citroen outside one's gaff, here's how we nearly gained a free Xsara Pic'!

popped in to the petrol station from where we bought the Escort last night for a quick tenner of diesel & the owner said "if you're into Citroens, take that off my hands!" (referring to the '03 plate Xsara Picasso that's been sat on the forecourt for the last 7 years or so).

It's a 1.8 petrol with 77k on the clock, alloys/aircon/pan roof etc... Started and ran to move it a week ago but now just cranks... MoT history shows last time it was entered for test it had advisories for 2 tyres and that was it... If we didn't already have 4 cars and a bike to deal with I'd have snapped his hand off grabbing the keys! (still half tempted, but where to put it? )

[CitroJim]

What a gift!!!