bobpm45

Thanks for that . I have owned the car for the past 8 years , so I have known most of its history from 11600 to 163000 miles ! before that it was an RS spares reps car with full documented history , so was well cared for. My gut instinct tells me its a sticky valve , as the problem clears when I operate the suspension lever back and forth . And it looked like a pressure valve under the adaptor that I took out , so if i can get a schematic drawing of the pump or as you say speak to a technician at the dealers , then I can recheck under the adaptor to make sure the correct bits are in there and fit the new o-ring at the same time. Regards, Bob.

Me again. An update on my problem. Today my son was driving the car when the STOP light came on ! He did not realise the significance of the light , and thought it was to do with the hand-brake! He carried on driving ,and about two miles further on , the brakes failed as he was coming up to an island!! He narrowly missed an articulated lorry and thought he was a "gonna" !! He managed to stop in a side street , and when I got to the vehicle , I carried out the same procedure as last week and operated the suspension adjusting lever back and forth a couple of times whilst revving the engine .Suddenly the STOP light went out and I drove home normally . Has antbody an idea as to a possible cause .These problems seem to have started since I removed the adaptor out of the pump to repair the leak !has anybody ever stripped one of these pumps or know what inside them , or got a schematic drawing of one . Cheers.

Hi all, Today the power steering failed for a while on my 95 1.9td ! When the steering wheel was turned onto full lock , the pumps usual sound of fluid going back to tank , could not be heard ! I operated the height level from max to min. and it rose and fell okay. I checked the level in the lhm tank and it seems okay. I then raised the car onto max. and operated the steering wheel again , and low and behold ,the power steering started working again ! Going back about a week , the car failed the mot for a really bad leak coming from the front /top of the hydraulic pump . I removed the steel pipe and then unscrewed the screwed adaptor fitting , where a spring came out with it . It appeared that the "o-ring" was failing. I did not have an "o-ring" , so I wpapped some ptfe tape around the thread and refitted the adaptor with the spring placed in first, and then reconnected the steel pipe . The leak now cured ! Then a couple of days later the STOP light came on and the suspension would not raise after I started the engine ,and would not go out until I finally operated the height adjust lever a couple of times and and then left it on min. whilst I revved the engine . Is there a possibility that something is amiss with the pump where I removed the adaptor , as it appears there is some kind of pressure valve beneath it . Does anybody know anything about this part of the pump ? Could this be connected to my problem with the power steering , or does anybody have an idea what that could be , any advice gratefully received.

For many months my abs light would come on then go off again( 1995 1.9td) ! Then one day it stayed on all the time. Now its failed the m.o.t. ! When I phoned my local specialist , they said they would plug it into the diagnostic computer to indicate where the fault was for £25 . When I got there ,there was no computer. The mechanic stated that in his experience it was usually a front sensor gone , so he put it up on the ramps , removed the under belly cover , pulled apart the sensor plug where it joins the loom ,and then put his continuity tester ( ohmeter) on the two prongs of the plug going to the sensor . The reading was about 1000 ohms (okay ). He then did the same on the other side .Reading was showing no continuity , therefore the sensor was gone ! He quoted me £80 pound for a new one ! I told him I had seen them for £45 on ebay.I gave him £20 for his troubles , I then went home grabbed my meter , went down the scrapyard to a xantia that I knew was there , accessed the sensor and pulled the plug apart , tested the continuity , reading was 1000 ohms about , removed sensor from car , paid man £10 , fitted it when I got home . Hey presto light went straight out !!

What I found out from a mechanic in the know , was that by cracking the sphere a quarter of a turn while it was on the high setting , was because it held the housing more securely than trying it when the system was depressurised , and preventing the bracket from being damaged . Then when it was cracked open , the system could be depressurised to allow safe removal of the sphere .

Having done all my own car repairs over the years, I decided to do the clutch myself after doing a read up in the Haynes manual. The clutch kit cost about £50 , but it was a nightmare of a job which takes a fair amount of mechanical knowledge and patience ! Also it took me about two weeks working on it when I could. Would have been easier with two people . I fitted long pieces of "all thread " into the bell housing when re-fitting the gearbox to help with the alignment of the forked clutch pulling arms . When all was in line and gearbox mated correctly , I replaced the all thread wiith the correct bolts. Getting those arms to line up with the rear of the release bearing was probably the most annoying part(torch required) , but there was lots of satisfaction when I finally got it back on the road !! Finally , if your plastic clip broke , then it will probably break again soon if your clutch pedal is stiff to press.

After replacing the plastic cable retainer on my xantia with one "acquired" from a scrap yard , it broke again a few weeks later ! I then made one from a piece of aluminium , and that bugger aint broke ! But this problem stems from the fact that the clutch pedal was getting stiff , which was because the clutch was on its way out ! I have now fitted a new clutch ,which coupled with alumininum retainer , means I should have no further problems. By the way , as previously mentioned ,it is possible to do the clip yourself .But you do have to be quite agile and patient and not too big !

Well done ! Though I did mine on my own !! And yes aligning the pull type lever with the back of the release bearing was a pig ! I fitted longer pins to the bell housing so that I could slide the gearbox back and forth until I got it right ( with the aid of a torch shining through some of the holes in the bell housing ) .

I had a right game trying to get the gear box back on , but I found that fitting some longish pieces of all thread into the bell housing in the top mount holes ( of the same size as the mount bolts ), assisted with the alignment of everything as it was being pushed on. Overall it was a swine of a job that I wouldn't wish on anyone working at home on the drive , but as it only cost me the price of a clutch kit , it was worth it financially !!

Hi all, When I turn on the ignition but do not start the car , all electrics work perfectly. As soon as the car starts , the battery light comes on ,the radio goes off , the indicators stop working ,the rear stoplamps stop working ,the speedo stop working , the electric windows and sunroof stops working !! I have fitted a spare alternator ,and its just the same . I have checked the voltage accross the battery while the engine is running and its showing 13.7 volts. If I then switch off and then back on without actually starting the engine again , all works ok again ! Has anyone experienced this before , or have any idea what it could be .