Anyone know of a good Citroen specialist SE London

Tinsnail1 · Post by **Tinsnail1** » 11 May 2004, 08:30

Hi people
I've just recently bought a 1 owner M reg Xantia SXTD and am really happy with it. The odometer says 61000 miles however the speedo occasionally stops working so who knows the true mileage (I'll get to that one later). Anyway, the suspension appears to be doing funny things, (that my old BX didn't do) ie it sinks immediately upon starting it, (it then rises OK and stays up after about 5-10 seconds), I've tried the test of dropping it to its lowest setting and counting the clicks (approx 1 click every 9 seconds), and occasionally when stopping the engine after a drive, the front sinks and groans at the same time. I guess it's time for new spheres and accumulator. Point being, that don't have the space or tools to do the work myself unfortunately, so does anyone know of any good mechanics in the London area (or surrounds)who I can rely on? Any opinions appreciated! Paul

Post by **RichardW** » 11 May 2004, 13:19

There are several around Reading / Wokingham: Cleaver Cars in Reading, PTS Developments in Bracknell, and one in Wokingham whose name escapes me....
The sinking at the rear just after starting is almost certainly a flat rear anti-sink sphere. The 9s tick in low suggests the accumulator is flat, or there is serious internal leakage in the system. I think a full set of spheres and LHM change would be a wise first port of call!

adrianeaton · Post by **adrianeaton** » 11 May 2004, 20:44

PTS are in Wokingham - there is one in Bracknell as well, but can't remember the name. Used to live over that way.
I live down by Gatwick airport and I now use Witmun Engineering who are based in a tiny workshop in a place called Merstham - it's about 10 minutes from the Sutton junction on the M25 (J8)
John Witty runs it and he's very thorough and his fault finding is very good. Can provide phone number etc if you can't find it on yell
Adrian

Tinsnail1 · Post by **Tinsnail1** » 12 May 2004, 03:49

Thanks guys, I'll start looking and making phone calls. Thanks for the advice! I'll post the outcome when it happens.
Paul

Tinsnail1 · Post by **Tinsnail1** » 31 May 2004, 17:18

Right!
Took the car to a place in SW19 who seemed to do a good job on it. Had the main accumulator replaced as well as the anti-sink sphere, and it has stopped clicking so much and the rear no longer drops when I start it. Had them replace the speedo sensor in the gearbox too while it was in. Feeling more like a nice car now! One characteristic of the repairs, is that the rear does drop slightly when braking, because it always rises up slightly when I do come to a stop. Dunno if this is normal - it never did this before, but having looked through the forum it seems like it might be. On another note - replaced the air filter the other day - man what a difference that made! (after vaccuuming the rocks/dirt out of the filter box. Now I'm gonna replace the diesel filter and flush the cooling system - the liquid seems clear (with a slight coolant odour) and there's been some not-so-pleasant looking white powder around the thermostat housing. So much for 'Citroen Dealer FSH' - Do those stamps really mean anything in the book? I'm not convinced.
Paul