Strange Noises On Acceleration - Auto Box?

Hi guys...

On to my second XM (Had citroens all my life (GSA, BX, Xantia and now second XM). This on is a '98 2 litre CT AUTO - which i love.

Recently it has started making strange gurgling (sort of) noises on moderate to hard acceleration and I want to know what that might be... Could it be dreaded Auto box issues?

The car has only done just under 72k miles and has been regularly serviced...

Also of note is that i don't drive it that much (i cycle on my commute to work - so it's a weekend and short weekday evening trip car...)

Any help greatly appreciated,

Cheers

OLIx

Is it a kind of fast ticking noise, rather like winding up a clockwork toy fast?
-
That is what my turbo sounds like from time to time?!

could be - would that be bad?

my late lamented auto made a sort of dry, rattly noise under acceleration, like someone clearing their throat. I never thought about the gearbox but come to think of it my new manual doesn't make that noise.

Hi. Oli.

Could it be coolant passing through the heater matrix ? Perhaps worth a look to see if the level is low or if there's a leak somewhere. You might get a gurgling when the pumps whizzing round at a fair few revs if the coolant is a little aerated.

Mike.

cheers mike - i'll check that...

I don't seem to have much luck with XMs and coolant - my last one a diesel drank the stuff (leading me to believe that the headgasket was on the way out) - i hope this one isn't going the same way...

OLIx

Hi Oli,

Could you be a bit more specific please. Is the frequency of the noise related to the engine speed or the tyre on road speed? Does it sound like its coming from down low or up higher? Is it coming from the engine bay or somewhere else? Can you feel as well as hear it? Through the seat, steering wheel, feet?

The favourite is the exhaust leaning against the body. When the engine accelerates it leans a bit more than iin the cruise position and the engine vibrations get transferred through to the body where the exhaust is touching. Its usually the first box to blame. This one is also, conveniently, the easiest one to fix.

Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers

noz

Well - Noz - hopefully you've hit the nail on the head... I had the same thought driving it home a couple of says ago - and since i had already booked it into the mechanics i thought I'd let them see what they thought - and that was their diagnosis too...

I've not picked it up yet, but i'll let you know if that has sorted the problem...

cheers for the advice...

OLIx

Hi. Oli.

Nice when you get a definite fix to a problem. Just crosses my mind that it might be sensible as well to check out the condition of the engine mounts and particularly the reaction bushes, as these have a significant effect on the torque reaction of the engine under acceleration. As per one of my previous posts, if you find the top reaction bush is tired, it is, in fact, replaceable, even though Citroen will try and stitch you up for £80 odd pounds worth of bracket. Don't understand them --- the bottom one is available loose !

Mike.

Hi, Oli,

I suggest you change the auto trans fluid, and check out the filter as you do so.
If the box is on its way out, you will probably find a great deal of filings and crap in the filter. Make sure you use a Dexron 2 fluid, (not dexron3).
I use Castrol Transmax M which is recommended by several members of the Aussiefrogs forum and so far have had no problems!
Ernie.