Home Servicing And A Few Other Problems

[devavictrix]

I have a Xsara 2.0 HDI automatic on an 02 plate. 1 previous owner to 30,000 in the first 10 years of its life and now at 80,000m with full service history. It has been a sweet car! Ive attempted to sort a few things with it and there are a few things that I would like to try to sort out, but accept it may have to get sorted when the MOT is due.

 

Oil Change

I removed the oil filter, filler cap and dipstick. Then removed the sump plug. To my surprise only about 1 litre drained out. There was obviously a bit of spillage from the oil filter also. My first thought was ****, I was running the car without any oil! So I replaced the filter and sump plug and topped it up. But it only took about 1 litre! So I removed the sump plug again, jacked the car so that it was falling towards the sump and blew (using my mouth) down the dipstick slot. Yet again, only about 1 litre drained out. What might cause this?

 

Water temp

It has been sitting at 60c for about a month now and I have clocked I am doing just 38mpg on a 20mile motorway commute at 65-75mph. Hopefully the cool running temp explains the low mpg? I replaced the thermostat and still it sits at 60c. If I am sat in heavy traffic for 30mins it occasionally reaches 75c or above. Could it be the water temp sensor and roughly where is the sensor? The idle sometimes races to 1100rpm... again, could this be the cool running temp?

 

Coolant change

I guess to drain its a simple matter of removing the hose at the bottom of the radiator and the expansion tank filler cap? Is it ok to then flush the radiator out using a hosepipe stuffed into the expansion tank? And to refill... Do I just refill via the expansion tank? I was expecting a cap on the radiator.

 

Other issues, maybe for the garage

Heater

First the climate control stopped working, and the air con. Then it only blew at full pelt regardless on the setting on the dial. Even when it was turned off. Then it would only occasionally work when set to max. And now not at all. This is over a 2 year time period! How do I get it to blow cold using the air-con? And does anyone have any idea what might be broken with regard to the fan speed setting?

 

Massive loss of power

Whilst driving back from Glastonbury a few years ago it lost all power. Im talking 0-60 in about 90-120 secs. I took it to the garage and he said it was some flap getting stuck so he cut the flap off! It fixed the problem for 18 months and now it is doing it again. But only sometimes and usually during the first 5-10mins of driving, then all of a sudden it would erupt in power and ill be off again. Sometimes turning the engine off and back on again would sort it out immediately. When there is no power I cant hear the turbo spinning.

 

Engine management light

This popped on today. It seems to run fine. I have one of those cheap readers off ebay but it doesn't work on my car. I also have a dummy cable to plug my old Volvo into the laptop. Ive not tried it yet but id need the software. Is there any free software I could use, that's IF the dummy cables work on this car?

 

Open ended electrical cables

I have attached three images.

The first is under the cover on the right side of the engine bay. It shows a red cable that appears to have been cut.

The second is of a black and white wire located immediately behind the battery. It also appears to have been cut.

And the third is behind the battery just below the bottom on the windscreen. It shows three open ended wires that appear to the stripped, but not necessarily cut.

 

Can anyone shed any light on what these cables are for... I assume they shouldn't be in this state!! 

EDIT: The uploader keeps saying 'failed' :-(

 

Sorry for a mammoth post! If anyone could help me with even just one issue I would be very grateful.

 

Thanks 

Edited January 26, 2015 by devavictrix

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Is the engine the 90 bhp or 110 bhp 2.0 hdi ?

 

You could do with a copy of a Haynes manual but it only covers to 2000 so I am not sure how much of it will apply to your car http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=12867

 

Another option is the Citroen service box from such as ebay or easydiagnostics which comes on 3 dvds to install on your computer.

 

1. Oil.

There should be about 4½ litres of oil with 1.4 litres between min and max on the dip stick.

Are you draining it using a sump plug at the lowest point of the sump since the parts diagrams suggest there are 2 ? If you tap the sump before and after draining does it sound different as though the oil has been drained ? Do you leave the filter off whilst draining to ensure air can enter the engine so a vacuum is not created which could prevent the oil draining ? With the sump plug out have you tried inserting a rod and poking around to see what you can get on the end of it - oil or a thick mess that will not drain ?

 

If you still cannot get the oil out you may need to remove the sump since it could be full of thick old oil that will need scraping out.

 

2. Water temperature.

How are you measuring the temperature ? The best way would be using a code reader with live data that is compatible with your car to see the coolant temp sensor reading, then see what it shows before starting the engine when cold (should be similar to the outside of about 5°C), then as the thermostat opens (83°C or what was stamped on the new thermostat) and the top radiator hose becomes warm. The engine fan should cut in at 97°C but if the temp sensor is faulty then the actual temp it starts will be when the sensor thinks it is 97°C. If the fan is cutting in before the thermostat opens then the sensor probably needs replacing.

 

The temperature sensor is located in the side of the tank at the gearbox end of the cylinder head. If it is faulty then it will affect running and fuel economy.

 

3. Coolant change.

There should be a drain plug on the radiator (depending on engine) and one on the back of the engine block (new seal needed, torque 25Nm) so no need to remove any hoses. Also undo the bleed screws on the cabin heater outlet hose and the tank on the end of the cylinder head and possibly on the top of the radiator. To flush it, then fill with water in the expansion tank and then undo the drain plugs again.

 

Citroen use a funnel fastened to the expansion tank when refilling which helps push the air out of the bleed screws, obviously close these once air stops coming out of them, squeezing hoses helps push air out. Once refilled, fit the tank cap, run the engine a bit to circulate the coolant and remove any air, check the level again and top up if needed, then you should run the engine until the fan cuts in, then let it cool and check the level again.

 

The capacity might be 10.7 litres so you will need about 5 litres of antifreeze - add this before you add the water in case all the old antifreeze or water was not drained out.

 

4. Cabin heater.

The lack of air con may be it is low on refrigerant and needs regassing, about £50 at a dealer or other garage. I had this done on both our C5s at about 7 years old. The climate controls not working could be a flap motor or the flap spindle is faulty - if you use a dealer for regassing they can check this.

 

The cabin fan not working is likely the speed control resistor needs replacing, a common failure on many cars. It fastens on to the fan but it is also possible the fan will also need replacing if it is not running freely - this has been reported on here and just replacing the resistor has not lasted long. Note that the cabin fan needs to run for the air con to work so this must be fixed before having the air con regassed.

 

5. Loss of power.

A diagnostic check may be needed to find this.

 

6. Engine management light.

I am not aware of any free software but if visiting a dealer for the other faults then you could add this to the list to check.

 

7. Open ended cables.

Just a guess, did the car have a towbar and the last owner remove it and its wiring. You should follow the wires to see where they go.

 

To attach pictures to a post you need to put them on another website and then post a link to them.

[coastline taxis]

well done there paul

[Johndouglas]

It was only a few months ago that I sold my daughter's 2002 Xsara which she'd had from new. I never had any bother draining 4.5 ltrs of oil when I serviced it. Did you have the front of the car elevated?

 

The coolant sensor is in the end of the cylinder head, held by a clip which enters from the top. Air box etc. needs removing first.

 

To drain the coolant you will need to disconnect the bottom hose. There's no drain plug fitted.

 

When her heater started blowing at full speed, I replaced the resister pack which cured the fault. Unfortunately it returned about a month later so I fitted a new blower unit (from ECP for about £90). At about 85000 miles the aircon stopped working. A mobile aircon guy came and regassed the Xsara and my C5 which solved the problem.

 

As Paul said - to put a picture on the forum, first put it on photobucket or flickr. Then post the link.

 

Like this:- http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i53/Johndug/P1010883.jpg[/url]