Just A Couple Of Questions (new Owner)

[kev777]

Hi

Ive just bought a 94 2.0 8v xantia with 75k (full service history!) Realy good condition.(very pleased!)

2 things that I'm not sure about:

1. The speedo makes a ticking noise and jumps about a bit. Is it difficult to replace the cable. The Haynes book of lies gives the removal of the dash a 5 spanner rating, and references removing the steering wheel etc. Is this nessecary to get at the back of the speedo clock, or is there a work around anyone knows about.

 

2. Cam belt. i'd like to change the cambelt and tensioner in the near future. Is this pretty straight forward or a bit of a pig? Once again the Haynes manual gives the standard caveat that the tension requires Citroen to check (going on about SEEMs) I was going to do the standard twisting the belt through 90 degrees business., and removing engine mounts. Is this nessecary?

 

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Kev.

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Hello Kev. Yes, I'm afraid the removal of the instrument cluster is a bit of a pig. The wheel has to come off which invlolves diconnecting the airbag etc, followed by the steering column shroud. only then wil you be able to get the cluster out. I have a warning lamp out, the one for dipped beam, and the advice of the guys at the Citroen garage was "Live with it! It's not worth the hassle!" I can usually tell when the lights are on anyway! Your's is a bit more of an annoyance though.

 

Try asking for advice at your nearest dealership. Mine very kindly printed off the procedure from the REAL manual for me. That's why I didn't do it! Your guys may do the same and may even be willing to give you some pointers. No harm in asking.

 

The guys at my garage also kindly lent me the tool which citroen use to set the belt tension. It is merely a weight hanging from a lever by a chain. The cranked end of the lever fits in a square hole in the tensioner, and the weight causes the tensioner to exert pressure on the belt. You then turn the engine over twice with the pulley bolt to settle everything into place and do up the locking bolt on the tensioner. The dimensions of the weight and lever can be found in the haynes manual. After using the tool I found that I was able to turn the belt by about the regulation 1/4 turn!

 

A few months after I replaced the belt on my son's 1.4i ZX during a head gasket job, the belt tensioner bearing started whining due to lack of grease. I decided to replace both the tensioner and the water pump, as they are only pennies from GSF http://www.gsfcarparts.com/ At that time I just used the 1/4 turn method and all has been well since. Just make sure that the water pump and idler are running quiet. If they are making ANY noise the belt is too tight.

 

Cheers. Hope this helps. :(

[kev777]

Thanks for that Colin. maybe I might leave the speedo cable for now. Depends on how much it irritates me and howmuch time I have.

 

I'll give the cam belt tensioning a little more thought before I attempt it.(try and see if I can get my hands on one of the tensioning devices). I was thinking about doing the water pump as well.

GSF carparts, are very reasonable for the parts. (Theres me thinking that citroens were pricey on spares) I'm very pleased all round on the quality and cost of owing a citroen. (ex Ford man!)

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Hello again Kev.

 

Yes, parts for Citroens, and particularly older ones are very reasonable. Main Dealer prices for brake parts in particular are VERY competitive. Don't rule them out. I paid £35 for rear discs AND pads for my Xantia and £30 for Front discs & pads for the Lads ZX, both from the dealer. However they're not so clever when it comes to water pumps and belt tensioners. Also Wheel bearings are pricey at the dealer. £45 as against £11 at GSF.

 

Don't be intimidated by the cambelt on your 8 valver, it's little different from any other similar engine of the same era. Perhaps the worst bit of the job is the auxilliary belt which has to be removed first. The tensioning tool can be made up from bits and pieces of scrap according to the Haynes "Bible". I am sure there are many Citroens (and Peugeots) running around with the same engine that have been tensioned with the "1/4 turn" method quite happily!

 

Cheers again.

[kev777]

Hello again Kev.

 

Yes, parts for Citroens, and particularly older ones are very reasonable. Main Dealer prices for brake parts in particular are VERY competitive. Don't rule them out. I paid £35 for rear discs AND pads for my Xantia and £30 for Front discs & pads for the Lads ZX, both from the dealer. However they're not so clever when it comes to water pumps and belt tensioners. Also Wheel bearings are pricey at the dealer. £45 as against £11 at GSF.

 

Don't be intimidated by the cambelt on your 8 valver, it's little different from any other similar engine of the same era. Perhaps the worst bit of the job is the auxilliary belt which has to be removed first. The tensioning tool can be made up from bits and pieces of scrap according to the Haynes "Bible". I am sure there are many Citroens (and Peugeots) running around with the same engine that have been tensioned with the "1/4 turn" method quite happily!

 

Cheers again.

 

Hi Colin,

GSF look very good Value. Cambelt and tensioner for £37! The car is very very tidy for its age. Only a couple of jobs to do; Front pads need replacing soon, N/S TCA ball joint, cam belt and auxilliary belt. Otherwise in near mint condition.

I won't worry about the Cam belt. It doesn't look too difficult. Do you know the size of the bolts required for locking the crank and cam pulleys? I did a google of the SEEMS Gauge and it looks like an expensive electronic piece of kit, so I wont bother. My Haynes manual does'nt have the dimensions for fabricating a weight and lever tensioner. Do you know this or where I can get the info from?

I'll probably give it 6 weeks 'till I do the cam belt ( Better weather Hopefully).

Thanks for your advice mate. Cheers, kev.

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Not sure about the 2.0, but on the 1.4 it was 10mm (Cam) and 6mm (crank). They don't screw in, merely stick through a hole and stop the part turning. You can buy actual locking pins from people like Machine Mart and Sealy etc. but old bolts do just as well believe it or not! Most engines of that era relied on timing marks and were not "Locked" You just had to be carefull not to move anything off the mark.

 

Regarding the "Tool" I'll ask my mates at the local dealers and measure it up. It's not dificult to make.

 

Cheers. Hear from you soon! :angry:

[Guest Colin Hunter]

Hi again Kev.

 

I've been down to the garage to get the dimensions of the tensioning tool, only to be told it's only for the 1.1 & 1.4 engines in ZXs, Xsaras, Saxos etc. The guy I spoke to when I was lent it led me to beleive it was for all the 8v petrol engines. It appears that the 8v 2.0 may have a spring loaded tensioner, can't be sure on that one though as I've never had a petrol engined Xantia. If you have read the relevant section in the Haynes book of wisdom then you will have seen that they mention the 90 degree "Twist" or 1/4 turn method. The Citroen guys here reckon that should be near enough in the absence of the electronic tool. You could always try asking your local mob if you can "Hire" one . You never know, they might lend you it FOC. No harm in asking.

 

Cheers. Sorry about the duff gen. :angry: