Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Do Xantias need the use of a 'charging bottle' to raise the height of the coolant sufficiently to get all of the air out of the system?
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

I know that there are few bleed screws on xantias
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

If the expansion tank filling port is not the highest point in the coolant system air can remain trapped in the system, which can cause problems. A charging bottle is basically an open ended bottle with a long pipe and sealing cap, so it is fitted onto the filling port, raised so it is above the engine, the various bleed screws are opened up and then coolant is added to the charging bottle. As it is now the highest point in the coolant system any air should no be forced out.
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

so you are suggesting trying to top off coolant and bleed it again with the screws?


Cuz i can clearly see there is coolant in expansion tank, but it is not at the top top of the tank
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Well, once you have made sure there is no air in the system you can eliminate that as a possible cause to your problem. Sometimes knowing what ISN'T causing a problem can be as useful as knowing what is causing the problem.

I know that there SHOULD be air in the expansion chamber, so that as the temperature rises the coolant (which will expand) has somewhere to expand into (as liquids cannot be compressed but gases can). However, there should NOT be any air anywhere else in the coolant system.
Last edited by Hell Razor5543 on 07 Sep 2021, 07:15, edited 1 time in total.
James
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

So thanks to everyone.. The order of actions i will try will be, bleeding the coolant system - if that doesn't help, change thermostat - if that also doesn't help, i will try and change the blue sensor


also will try to check the temperature of the top radiator hose and when and IF it starts to warm up when it needs to
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by white exec »

Bleeding the cooling system with a "header bottle"
Many of our cars have the coolant expansion tank not much higher (and some even lower) than some parts of the cooling system. When it comes to refilling the system, and bleeding air out, it is necessary to provide some extra pressure ('head') to help force air out of the bleed screws.

This is a DIY arrangement in place of the official service tool, and it works well.
Use a 1-litre plastic bottle, with the bottom removed, and a short length of rubber hose to connect the bottle into the neck of the expansion tank. For expansion tanks with a side overflow hole, the hose, if it fits snugly, will helpfully block off this hole.
header bottle.JPG
As an alternative, a spare expansion tank cap could be modified to allow the bottle to be connected. The short hose arrangement is probably the simplest.

Bleeding
Fit the header bottle, and use it for filling.
Open the bleed screws as you initially fill, and close each of them as coolant emerges.
With all the screws closed, top up the header bottle to at least half full, and try to keep it there.
Start the engine, and allow it to get up to full working temperature, indicated by cooling fans operating at least twice.
While getting up to temperature, firmly squeeze the top (or bottom) large radiator hose several times, to encourage air out.
Also raise engine revs periodically to around 2500, as this will help remove air.
Open each of the bleed screws to check for air-free fluid.
Displaced air (large and small bubbles) will be seen coming up into the bottle.
When no more air is removed, allow engine to cool with the bottle still in place.
When cold, remove contents of the bottle, the bottle itself, and set coolant level to normal.

Hope helpful.
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

this will definetly help.. cuz i probably discovered the issue

the issue is probably the one you mentioned - sticking thermostat.... today i started the car in chilly morning and top radiator hose remained completely cool even when it reached fan operating temperature, but when I moved a car a bit it opened and got completely warm as it should.. so the theory of sticking thermostat is 99% correct

so if the car reached quite high of tempretures couple of times for few seconds for example 110C could've now it caused significant demage? or it shouldn't have?
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

So long as the needle was not in the red for any significant period of time the engine should be OK. Even though it was sticking at first the thermostat is still doing its' job once it gets going.
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

Good to hear!
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by white exec »

110degC for a short time should not have damaged anything. It's only 10-15deg above normal operating temperature.
The cold top hose is the clue.
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

To renew this topic since I'm still running into this problem.. After changing the thermostat the problem didn't disapear, but the car started to run hot(around 100C) all the time even when eventually thermostat did open. Upon further inspection my coolant system needed a really good flush. So i flushed it multiple times and now its extremely clean. And the runs nice a cool. But the thermostat problem is still outgoing even tho cars coolant systems works really well.

What are the chances that the new thermostat is also defective and sticking(the other one was only 2000 miles old)?

What else could cause thermostat to miss behave like that?
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

Or should I just go ahead and change the thermostat again since they are not that expensive?
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by white exec »

Unlikely to have two duff thermostats in a row.
You might need to check that the temperature gauge is reading accurately (they often don't), by using a decent thermometer on the water outlet housing.
90°C is a normal temperature for engines to operate at (and good for efficiency), and so 100°C periodically is not a problem, especially when accelerating hard or going uphill.
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Re: Citroen Xantia coolant temperature is extremely hectic!!!

Post by August »

I'm 99% sure that the thermostat is sticking, because of this:
1) When its left idling it climbs to 90C degrees(on the dash) and the fans turn on even tho the top radiator hose is still completely cold, and the temperature keeps climbing till around 100-110c(its random, not always at the same time) then it opens since i can feel radiator hose getting warmer and the temperature DROPS really fast to like 82C(on the dash)

so it wouldn't make sense for fans to start working if the coolant system loop isnt opened in the first place.
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