Ticking Noise & Windscreen De-mister Problem & Others

[coopertron]

Hi Guys,

 

Well I loved my Xantia so much I went and bought another one for the missus :unsure:

 

It is a 1998 R reg 1.9TD, with Air con. It is almost the same as mine, except its red.

 

There are however some problems that I was hoping you guys might be able to advise me on, so here goes...

 

1) Ticking Noise

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The first thing that is concerning me is the ticking noise, which is occuring I would say approx every 10 seconds. It speeds up when you raise or lower the suspension, and becomes constant. I have observed in the LHM reservoir that when the tick happens, there is a little ripple in the tank.

 

Yesterday when I was raising and lowering the car, it went down ok, and the front came back up, but it stayed down at the rear, and I had to raise it to the max again, then lower it back to normal ride height. The same thing happened on the test drive when I adjusted the height to check it was working. It does seem to go up and down ok, and once at normal height, the ride seems ok, so I am assuming the corner spheres are all ok.

 

From what I have read on this forum, I am assuming that this might be the accumulator sphere. If this is the case, is it possible to replace this without a pit? can you do it by putting the car on ramps?.

 

2) Heater/Windscreen de-mister

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The second thing is the heater (I see that this in general is a pain for many owners, myself included in my previous posts). The previous owner has bypassed the slide fan speed control by wiring in a separate switch, so now it is on (full blast) or off. Does anyone know if you can buy a potentiometer or dimmer type switch that would be suitable to replace this?. I am assuming it would need to handle at least 30amps, which seems hard to come by (I found one place on the web that sold something like this, but it was in America).

 

The main gripe though, is that when you set the directional slider to windscreen de-mister, there is practically no air coming out of the vent at windscreen, and it takes an age to demist the screen. If you adjust it to the face vents or the feet vents, there is plenty of air coming out, so the blower itself is ok. I am assuming it is to do with the diverter flap (or whatever it is called that routes the air where it is required). There does seem to be some resistance when you try and set it on the windscreen on the slider, although when adjusting it for the other settings, you can hear it moving inside the dash.

 

I am assuming that something is blocking the flap, or the cable is snagging or something similar. How easy would this be to access, ie can I get in through the centre console with the radio out, or is it going to be a dash out job (please god noooo)

 

3) Clutch problem

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The clutch feels different to the one in mine, perhaps a touch heavier. However there does seem to be a fair amount of judder when you dip the clutch when coming to a stop or when changing gear generally. Is the clutch likely to be on its way out?. How much should I pay for the clutch doing on average?. With the clutch out is it easy to change that stupid little clip thing on the pedal?

 

Thanks for your help in advance. I know I've written a bit of a novel here so apologies for that. Any help or advice on any of the points is appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

[DaveWalling]

Hi Mark,

1) Yes, definitly sounds like the accumulator sphere is in need of changing. I would say that you can change it using a set of ramps, it is not a dificult job.

2) Must admit this one is out of my league.

3) I would say that the release bearing could be shot at, I think Colin might know the answer to this one, but at the moment he is having problems with the forum as he is unable to answer posts!!

If you need the Haynes manual here is a link to download it as a PDF. Download the first part, wait 10-15 Mins, then download the second part, unzip them both and you end up with the complete manual.

http://pdftown.com/Citroen-Xantia-Service-Manual.html

[coopertron]

Hi Dave,

 

That kinda confirms my fears...looking on ebay the goin rate for a clutch kit seems to be about £90. How much would the labour be do you think?.

 

Do we know what problems Colin is having exactly?, there is a chance I might be able to help him if its to do with his PC as I work with computers....

 

Regards,

 

Mark

[DaveWalling]

Hi Mark,

I am not a mechanic, but I would think about 2-3 hours to change a clutch, so cost depends on the labour charges. Colins problems I think are with the website rather than his computer, he can still send personal messages, he just can`t reply to posts, even though he can read them!! Very strange!

[coopertron]

Hi Mark,

I am not a mechanic, but I would think about 2-3 hours to change a clutch, so cost depends on the labour charges. Colins problems I think are with the website rather than his computer, he can still send personal messages, he just can`t reply to posts, even though he can read them!! Very strange!

 

Hi Dave,

 

Well my local friendly mechanic quoted me approx £230 ish today for a decent valeo clutch kit, which is more than I was hoping, but about average I suppose. Car only cost £500 so I'm not sure about keeping it now.

 

I wonder if Colin's problem is to do with a pop-up blocker or a firewall issue. Maybe the forum has stopped him posting because he's so helpful :rolleyes:

 

It's a shame cos I was hoping to get Colin's slant on the other issues I've been having.

 

Regards,

 

Mark