Hi There From A Nw Owner

[candpdoyle]

Hi There

 

I have just bought a 1996 1.9 td for the princley sum of £275.. it is my first citroen so am probably going to ask some fairly dumb questions initially.

 

Have only given the car a cursory check over and it looks good to my untrained eye.. drove really well on the trip home(10miles), but a few niggles have surfaced..

 

the radio code is not with the car.. po has lost it so i am not quite sure what to do with that one??

 

there is also some sort of warning light which seems to flick on and off at random!! large red "stop" and a smaller red ! next to it.. can anyone enlighten me as to what they represent??

 

the mileage is high at 159000 but it does appear to have been looked after so i am hoping for a long and happy relationship..

 

Will have a better poke around tomorrow.

 

Cheers

Chris

[candpdoyle]

Well, today have a had a little look around and discovered hat there is a leal on the pipe to the p/s pump and that the hydraulic fluid was low which was causing the warning lights...... so need to sort a pipe and hope to sort that one out quickly as the fluid is not cheap :blink:

 

also seems to be a rattling noise???? difficult to place where it is from, but will have a look over the exhaust to see if it is secure.... could be something in the suspension though???

 

 

Chris

[Guest Colin Hunter]

I was going to say that the "STOP" light was probably caused by a low LHM level but you beat me to it!

 

Is the rattle only evident when you're driving over a bumpy road, and appear to be from the front of the car or from the centre and back. If it's the former it's likely to be the anti-roll bar drop links. There's one on each side which connect the strut to the rollbar and the little ball joints on the ends can wear and cause a rattle. Also may be a track rod end possibly (mine had both).

 

For decently priced parts try http://www.gsfcarparts.com/ and do a search in the "Online shop". Be aware that GSF refer to a track rod as a "Tie rod" as the yanks do. God knows why!

Another cheap place I have found is http://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/ They seem to be good for exhausts and stuff.

 

Centre and back rattles tend to be exhaust related and tend to be a heavier Knock if the exhaust is touching the car.

 

If the leak is on the pipe from the pump to the rack then it's not cheap either but you may be able to get one made up at a local engineering works. worth a try.

 

Cheers hope this helps!

[candpdoyle]

Cheers colin

 

The leak appears to be on the long pipe from the resevoir to the top of the pump.... my local scrappy has a couple of xantias in and he says i can take one for a fiver?? will check it over first and also see what the new part costs first.....

 

I think you might be right about the anti roll bars... it is a very small tapping type of sound... will have a litlle look when i get a chance

 

Thanks

Chris

[Guest callumrb]

Hi There

 

I have just bought a 1996 1.9 td for the princley sum of £275.. it is my first citroen so am probably going to ask some fairly dumb questions initially.

 

Have only given the car a cursory check over and it looks good to my untrained eye.. drove really well on the trip home(10miles), but a few niggles have surfaced..

 

the radio code is not with the car.. po has lost it so i am not quite sure what to do with that one??

 

there is also some sort of warning light which seems to flick on and off at random!! large red "stop" and a smaller red ! next to it.. can anyone enlighten me as to what they represent??

 

the mileage is high at 159000 but it does appear to have been looked after so i am hoping for a long and happy relationship..

 

Will have a better poke around tomorrow.

 

Cheers

Chris

[Guest callumrb]

radio code can be got from citroen dealer if original citroen radio. warning light:- put suspension in high,when fully raised check suspension fluid level. the little dome should show the plunger between the 2 indicators. get this level correct as your brakes & power steering work off this same reservoir! IT IS DANGEROUS TO HAVE THE FLUID LEVEL TOO LOW!!! You want LHM which is a green in colour mineral oil. SPECAL STUFF DONT USE ANYTHING ELSE!!

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Highly unlikely that you'll get a new one for a fiver! Try adding on a nought! Some specific parts such as bespoke pipes can be horrendously expensive for any car.

 

I had the aircon pipe from the Dryer (Black thing next to the coolant header tank) to the evaporator (Bit that cools the car) go where the rubber pipe connects to the alloy connector on the dryer. The rubber part of the pipe delaminated and blew up like baloon! The pipe would have been £175 plus fitting (Needs a special tool for the evap connection) and the dreaded VAT.

 

I cropped out the affected part and, using 10mm compression couplings, let in a new peice made up by a local engineering firm using Hydraulic hose, for a fiver! To be certain of a gas tight seal I coated the olives with araldite before tightening the couplings for the last time. That was 2 years ago and it's still ok. The only major cost was the re-gas.

 

I know that has nothing to do with your LHM leak but it's an example of what can be done if you put your mind to it!

 

Cheers and happy tinkering! :blink:

[candpdoyle]

Cheers for the thoughts.. Callum i got the radio code yesterday with no troubles from the main dealer in exeter....

 

Nice one colin :blink: I have just sold my series landy to get the xantia, so am well used to tinkering, just the citroen has so many electrics ;) I think i need to get my hands on a manual...

 

 

That pipe looks like a pig to replace :lol: , but it is going to have to be done....

 

Another thing i have noticed, although it is a bit early to tell for sure is the fuel consumption seems to be on the high side....

 

When i bought it it was very empty with the light on constantly........put £20 worth of pump diesel in which did not move the needle much at all... done around 70miles since then and it appears to be heading for the empty mark again.... light flashed on on a steep hill this morning :huh:

 

I will try to put as much fuel as poss in when i get paid later (will be a mix of veg oil and diesel) and try to check consumption over a week of commuting

 

Chris

[Guest Colin Hunter]

The Xantias tank is 65 litres and the warning light will illuminate when there's about 10 litres left. If we reckon the tank to be almost empty with the light permanently on then a £20 sqirt (about 17 litres here at £1.18 a litre!) would give you abot 10 litres before the light starts flashing again. Over 70 miles that's about 32 mpg (VERY roughly) but probably nearer 35 depending on the type of driving. As you doubtless know, the only real way to tell is to brim the tank and zero the trip meter, then do the same next time you need fuel. Whatever it uses it will certainly be less than a Landy! If it's stop/start urban commuting you'll be pushing it to do better than that.

 

Can you see where the pipe is leaking? If so have you thought of cropping out the damaged part and splicing in a "new" part reclaimed from another pipe or made up? If it's the pump suction pipe it won't have any pressure on it. You may be able to repair it with some steel or copper pipe and "jubilee" clips to join the rubber sections up.

 

If it's on the steel section (a pinhole or such) get a piece of rubber (a split hose for instance) and wrap it round the pipe so the rubber covers the hole. Put a jubilee clip over the rubber and tighten it so it seals the hole. Won't last forever but may give you a breathing space. You'll probably have to take the air cleaner and associated pipery out of the way to get better access when you do change it. If it's one of the clips come loose try replacing it with a new one.

 

You'll find bits of the Xantia manual here. http://my.opera.com/Brecknaheim/blog/

Have a look at my online pics while you're there.

 

Cheers Hope this helps. :blink:

[candpdoyle]

Cheers colin

 

You make me feel a bit better every time you post... :lol:

 

The leak is a hairline crack right at the nut into the pump, so not sure that a slip over repair will work, but i'm sure a bit of lateral thinking will solve that one!!

 

Next question is back to the knocking... stopped in at ats this afternoon and asked the very nice man to pop the car onto the ramp so we could check the bushes :blink:

 

It seems to be the near side front anti roll bar? It looks really simple to replace??? just unbolt, remove and whack on the new one????

 

Is it?? or is it one of those bushes that require loads of swearing, blowtorch, press, more swearing and then give up and get it done by an expert type of bush??

 

I live in a very rural area of devon, so no traffic(exept in summer) and mostly just pootling along at 30ish, so i expect a reasonably good mpg.... stuck £30(£1.11 p/lt) worth of diesel in today and will stick a couple of gallons of wvo in tomorrow at work and see how far that gets me

 

 

Cheers Again

 

Chris

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Do you mean the bush that mounts the roll bar to the body? If so I've no idea as I've not done one. I can't imagine they'll be too bad as others I've done are split and just fold round the roll bar with the mount cover over the top. Can't see that making a "Rattle" though. I'd have expected a rather heavier thump or a rumble perhaps. Honestly don't know!

 

Drop links are easy enough unless the nuts sieze on the rusty part of the thread and the whole thing starts turning. Best thing then is to hacksaw off the tread behind the nut because the link is buggered anyway!

 

Just a thought, You don't mean the wishbone "d" bush do you? The centres can come out of those and they need changing. Again it's not difficult, just time consuming. The steel "centre" of the bush can be filed down til it's nearly "through" then split off the wishbone pin with a small chisel. The pin is then cleaned up and the new bush pressed on, taking care to get it at the angle at which it will sit when the car is at normal height. I had to do mine at about 50 K but I don't remember any noise like the drop links or track rod end made.

 

Cheers again. Happy Tinkering! :blink:

[candpdoyle]

Hmmmmm i have no idea what the part is...i am used to leaf sprung vehicles lol none of this fancy stuff...

 

maybe i will take a piccie later to identify the part before i rush off and buy the wrong thing :blink:

 

 

Chris

[Guest Colin Hunter]

The d bush is the rear wishbone pivot bush. so called a "d" bush because if you look at it it looks like a d lying on it's side. the flat part of the d lies against the bottom of the car and the bush is in the "eye" of the "d". Draw a d with its back upermost and horizontal and you'll get the picture.

 

Cheers

[DaveK]

Hi There

 

I have just bought a 1996 1.9 td for the princley sum of £275.. it is my first citroen so am probably going to ask some fairly dumb questions initially.

 

Have only given the car a cursory check over and it looks good to my untrained eye.. drove really well on the trip home(10miles), but a few niggles have surfaced..

 

the radio code is not with the car.. po has lost it so i am not quite sure what to do with that one??

 

there is also some sort of warning light which seems to flick on and off at random!! large red "stop" and a smaller red ! next to it.. can anyone enlighten me as to what they represent??

 

the mileage is high at 159000 but it does appear to have been looked after so i am hoping for a long and happy relationship..

 

Will have a better poke around tomorrow.

 

Cheers

Chris