Hello all.
I have just purchased my first Citroen. A 1997 Xantia Athena vxd TD.
It only has 38000 on the clock,and is in exeptional condition. However I have found a couple of things that have got me thinking. First the brakes, when I brake hard all is well and the ABS works fine but when I am just resting my foot on the pedal almost without pressure I have noticed that the ABS seems to be operating for no reason and the brakes come on and off by themselves, a little disconcerting when you are just pulling up behind stationary vehicals in traffic and the brakes stop working and then come on again.
The other problem is MPG I have been doing mixed motoring and covered about 500 miles in the last week. I am careful and have not gone above 80mph on the motorway and when on urban roads have driven with economy in mind. But when doing a check last night found that The car has only returned 32 mpg this is worrying.The system used was to refill the tank and divide diesel used into miles travelled. Surley the xantia should return better figures than this ? Can anyone comment on the points I have raised ??
MPG
Moderator: RichardW
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philhoward
If the brake pedal feels like its "buzzing", then this could be the brake (doseur) valve playing up. Not had this problem myself, but others on the forum may be able to help with a better diagnosis.
As for MPG; the last Xantia TD I had would not do better than 37mpg; This one does 47mpg! 32 does sound low, but there are 101 reasons for high consumption - Tyre pressures, binding brakes, split intercooler pipe, out of tune pump...the list is endless!
As for MPG; the last Xantia TD I had would not do better than 37mpg; This one does 47mpg! 32 does sound low, but there are 101 reasons for high consumption - Tyre pressures, binding brakes, split intercooler pipe, out of tune pump...the list is endless!
The car was probably sold because of the consumption if it really is that high; have you calculated it over just one tankful or more?
What things have you checked so far? Is there a lot of smoke which would indicate fuelling problems? If there is, what colour is it and when does it occur?
Also, 38000 miles is very low; it could just need an Italian tune up i.e. a really hard caning in the lower gears-right up to the governor and hold it there.
Have you jacked the car and spun the wheels by hand, you could have binding/sticking brakes, the discs could be warped, the handbrake sticking, all that sort of thing.
When the brakes on my BX started to get a bit weird under light pedal pressure in stop/start traffic it was down to the discs being so worn that the pads were grabbing or not grabbing depending on which bit of disc rim they dug into! They worked fine on heavy braking as they went past the rims all the way to the full disc surface.
What things have you checked so far? Is there a lot of smoke which would indicate fuelling problems? If there is, what colour is it and when does it occur?
Also, 38000 miles is very low; it could just need an Italian tune up i.e. a really hard caning in the lower gears-right up to the governor and hold it there.
Have you jacked the car and spun the wheels by hand, you could have binding/sticking brakes, the discs could be warped, the handbrake sticking, all that sort of thing.
When the brakes on my BX started to get a bit weird under light pedal pressure in stop/start traffic it was down to the discs being so worn that the pads were grabbing or not grabbing depending on which bit of disc rim they dug into! They worked fine on heavy braking as they went past the rims all the way to the full disc surface.
I get 40mpg from my 97 Renault Safrane it weighs 1550kgs I have also turned up the boost compensator and rotated the eccentric cam inside the pump so I drive 60 mpday on the motorway at 80-90. the milage of your car is low I have the same year with 130000 on the clock ,the
engine could be choked up with carbon try some injector cleaner and every time you tank up put some diesel additive in after afew weeks you should see a difference.also check for leaks and look at the pump settings it may need adjustment
engine could be choked up with carbon try some injector cleaner and every time you tank up put some diesel additive in after afew weeks you should see a difference.also check for leaks and look at the pump settings it may need adjustment
Are you sure you're doing your calculations right? Mine always does at least 600 miles on a 60 litre fill (minimum 45mpg), usually more. I don't take any special driving precautions either - in fact sometimes I cane the nuts off it.
The only time my fuel economy really suffers is on motorway trips - the last time (200 miles or so) it returned a miserable 35mpg for the return trip, at a steady(ish) 75mph.
My old 2.0i petrol Xantia managed 39mpg on the same run, at higher speeds too!
Moral: Leave the motorways alone if you want decent economy from a TD Xantia.
Stu.
The only time my fuel economy really suffers is on motorway trips - the last time (200 miles or so) it returned a miserable 35mpg for the return trip, at a steady(ish) 75mph.
My old 2.0i petrol Xantia managed 39mpg on the same run, at higher speeds too!
Moral: Leave the motorways alone if you want decent economy from a TD Xantia.
Stu.
Thanks for the reply`s have sorted the fuel problem It was my fault I had converted litres into us gallons insted of Imperial That sorted, it pushed the figure up to 37mpg. Not wonderful but better. I have also put some addative in fuel this has made a huge difference to exeleration so hopefully this should help with MPG. I hav`nt sorted the brakes yet,but as I have only had the car for a couple of weeks and as it was purchased from a Citroen main dealer maybe they should have the honour of sorting it out. Thanks again
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philhoward
Got a refund on my last Xantia because it kept getting more faults (on-off brakes was one of them). No arguments (a bit of discussion, but he had nothing suitable to swap), just a full refund. You (IIRC) must give them a chance to fix it, I think, but then you can ask for a FULL refund, or replacement.
The fault has now progressed to a loud grating noise from front Brakes. So I have today taken the car to Citroen Manchester for inspection of brakes. (I hope never Again ) Kept me waiting nearly 4 hours and then pronounced that they could not find a fault and all was well.I insisted that the technition come for a test drive with me. We travelled aprox 100yards and I eased the brakes on, the grating sound was so loud that it could only be metal to metal on the pads, and the ABS came in stopping and starting, However the technition insisted that was all normal.I then got a bill for 68.00 for there time. I refused to pay and told them to send me an official invoice with there findings. Which hopfully will make them look pretty stupid if it comes to legal action. There was also a fault with the radio which they told me would be very expensive to sort, Even though the car has only been purchased three weeks ago. I found the the level of sevice to be very poor. Arogance and almost intimidation, not forgetting incompatence to be among my gripes.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for listening.
Ahhh Citroen dealers, great aren't they, some people say only buy a citroen with full dealer history, What a lot of old toss......
In comparison Skoda dealers (since the VW takeover) really do treat you like royalty, nothing is to much trouble, great tea/coffee and cars repaired on time for a reasonable cost, read recently about Fabia owner who's car was late being serviced was delivered to her home with full tank of fuel and bunch of flowers.
But at least Citroen dealers give you a full set of (oily) fingerprints all over the interior for that personal touch.[:D]
In comparison Skoda dealers (since the VW takeover) really do treat you like royalty, nothing is to much trouble, great tea/coffee and cars repaired on time for a reasonable cost, read recently about Fabia owner who's car was late being serviced was delivered to her home with full tank of fuel and bunch of flowers.
But at least Citroen dealers give you a full set of (oily) fingerprints all over the interior for that personal touch.[:D]
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philhoward
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by paranoid</i>
But at least Citroen dealers give you a full set of (oily) fingerprints all over the interior for that personal touch.[:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
And that "empty wallet" feeling as well...
Example: 1994 Xantia SX (my Dad's old one); hydraulic pump went. He asked the local Cit dealer for a quote...£1400 +VAT! In their defense, they did say that they would only replaced EVERYTHING on the hydraulics, so doesn't actually sound that bad. It was, unfortunately rather more than he paid for the car, so chopped it in for a Rover 600 instead!
But at least Citroen dealers give you a full set of (oily) fingerprints all over the interior for that personal touch.[:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
And that "empty wallet" feeling as well...
Example: 1994 Xantia SX (my Dad's old one); hydraulic pump went. He asked the local Cit dealer for a quote...£1400 +VAT! In their defense, they did say that they would only replaced EVERYTHING on the hydraulics, so doesn't actually sound that bad. It was, unfortunately rather more than he paid for the car, so chopped it in for a Rover 600 instead!