Xm Written Off Or Not ?

[mark]

Hi all,

Thanks to all of you that got back to me with my recent problems.

Before I scrap or consider repairing my XM i'm looking for help in deciding whether my gearbox is needing replaced.

Last week I had to drive the car home with one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator as the car was drawing air and cutting out.
The next day I drove the car and it ground to a halt, when I got it started I had a loud bang going from "drive" to "reverse".
I can now on only get drive in 1st and reverse which is the same when I disconect the automatic gear selector cable and change the gears by hand in the engine bay.
The car will change from 1st to 2nd when the revs get up to about 2k.

Mackies in Glasgow are saying the governor in the gearbox has gone.
Topgear in Glasgow are syaing the one way clutch in the gearbox has gone.

1: Can anyone from the forum give me a second opinion on whether the gearbox is knackered before I make any decisions ?

2: Can insurers write the car off for engine damage as well as accident damage ?

3: If I decide not to repair the car is it worth anything damaged or is it possible to sell it as parts ?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers,

Mark.

This post has been edited by mark on December 29, 2006 01:43 pm

[Peter.N.]

Hi Mark

I am afraid auto box failure on a car that old almost inevitably writes it off, that's one of the reasons I dont like them. Probably the cheapest way out would be to fit a manual box, but its a lot of work. If you really like the car and can afford it, fit a new gearbox but I am afraid it wont make the worth what the gearbox has cost. If you really want an auto without the hastle of the work, buy another car and hope you dont get the same trouble again. The only way you will get any ammount of money back for yours, is to break it for spares but thats a lot of hastle as well! Sorry to be so gloomy.

Peter.N.

[mark]

Hi Peter.N. ,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I take it you feel the gearbox is knackered after my description ?

Cheers,

Mark.

[Little&Large]

Hi Mark
Sorry to hear of your woes. It is difficult for people to diagnose a fault sometimes from a description.You have had 2 "experts" look at it and from your description there appears to be a major fault with it.The problem with XM's and particularly autos is that the repair costs can be many times the value of the car,if you go to the expense of sorting it out there is no guarantee that the next major problem won't develop.The best way to run an XM is the way many of the members do on here and that is to maintain them themselves and do most/all of the work yourself.
At a risk of getting shot my philosophy is to buy one cheaply and hope to get as many miles out of it for as little as possible.I look after mine as well as I can-I check the oil and water regularly and replace filters/oil at the recommeded intervals,my car is immaculate in appearance but as soon as something major happens to it then I won't spend more than a few hundred pounds on it-I'll try and find another and if not I'll change makes!Having said that I am only on my 2nd one,the 1st one was a 2.1td Estate that I got C20K out of.The second and present one has done 19K since May without too many problems and only cost me £620 with A/C!I also think any car needs to be used regularly,mine is well used virtually everyday which allows everything to heat up and circulate nicely.As soon as the damp gets into everything I think that is where many electrical gremlins start.
I did break the 2.1 and there were quite a few people after many bits...unfortunately the council collected it 7 days before they were due to and not everyone got to remove their bits!!!I priced most things(alternator,pumps etc) at £5 or £10 and the tailgate at £30.Think how many bits you can easily take off that you might be able to sell.Also if you buy another one you can take the best bits off yours to make the new one better.
Don't give up on XM's yet but don't spend more on one that you can afford to write off tomorrow,and spending a lot on one with a service history is no guarantee of a long and happy life with it.
Regards to all and Happy New Year
Rob

[demag]

Hi Mark,

From your description and my limited experience with autos I would say that something has failed inside the box. Either way (governor or clutch) it is going to be expensive.

I think you have to make up your own mind if the car is worth that much to you regardless of repair bills. If it is then get it repaired, if it isn't and money is tight then get rid of it.

Who are Mackies and Topgear? Are they auto people or Citroen people? It might be worth checking out the alternatives. Or maybe see if you can get a 2nd hand box. Look in the scrappy section on this forum. I got a rear suspension cylinder for mine for £30 + Postage. And it cost £60 to fit it. I hate to think what Citroen would want for a new one.

All the best.

[bigjohnh]

I partly agree with the others but perhaps am a litle braver. My soluton for a blown box would be to find someone breaking a similar car and transplant the entire engine and box thus saving much faffing around splitting them. I know that's a big job but probably less labour hours than doing a repair.

If you have time (and use of a spare car) you can do a lot of the work yourself and just get the experts in for the hard stuff.

Best of luck

John

[Peter.N.]

Hi Rob

I used to have that philosophy, buy it cheap and run it until something expensive went (usually the head gasket) and I got 40 -50k from most of mine, but unfortunatly, you cant do that any more as you cant get a cheap replacement or in fact any sort of replacement for a Mk2 2.1 td manual estate! Thats why I fitted a head gasket to mine last year.

There are some cheap ones about if you dont mind what kind, but I do, if this estate wasn't such a superb car I wouldn't put up with the hastle. You have got to be some sort of a nutter, like me to run an XM, but what can you replace it with?

Mark - If you are not going to do it yourself, and this is not the best time of the year, check out garage labour charges and I think you will see our point.

Peter.N.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Mark

Sorry to hear of your problems. I do not think there is an easy solution unless you can identify a minor (low cost to repair) fault with the gearbox. Paying someone to investigate is likely to be expensive and may well not lead to an economic repair. In the same situation I would want to be sure how much I was commiting myself to before I authorised any work other than the most minor paid inspection. I suspect from my limited knowlege that driving with both the accelerator and the brake applied caused the auto box severe difficulties. It may well be designed to expect/allow only one or other of those inputs at any one time.
XM auto's share a common problem with clutches on 2.5TD's. That is that the engine and box has to come out the car for repairs. On a 2.5 which I have more experience of pricing a clutch replacement it is likely to cost around £1500 with a car worth typically £1000 at current prices. Fortunately the typical life of a 2.5 clutch is around 200k miles when the rest of the car is pretty nackered however good it looks. With XM autos the average auto-box life is probably not much more than 100k miles though you will find a number of us with the few high mileage surviving autos. It is unfortunately a bit of a lottery and I only bought my 2 exclusive auto's to strip for spares for the diesels and only paid near the value to me of the bits I knew I would use. The fact that both are still whole is just that I have got to like driving an auto XM and they were both so mechanically good it has been worth using them for a year or so each.
Sorry to ramble on when all you want is to be told how to get your XM repaired cheaply. As I said at the beginning I will be surprised if there is an easy solution but do let us know what happens.

Regards

XMexc

[colinxm]

Hi Mark, sorry to hear of your problems. I had the same choice to make, I think it basically comes down to how much you love your car and how much you're prepared to get your hands dirty to get it under way again. I chose to convert my 2.0 petrol auto to a manual gearbox, it was a big job but was worth all the effort, the parts for the conversion can be bought for relatively little money too

If you choose to do this and require any advice, don't hesitate to contact me.

Good luck, Colin.P

[citroenxm]

Mark

I have a SPANKING good engine and MANUAL box 2.1td..

Its done 130k! and it starts FIRST TIME even after standing idle for 3 weeks!!!!!

I'm not sure what to do as the sills have DISSAPERED from it (Tin worm)

Its too good to break up, but however, it looks like It may be the only choice I have ..


So, if you decided to do that, ALL parts are there to convert to manual..

IF it goes to save another XM from being lost then thats good enough for me..

Certainly as yours is probably the best year to have. Last of the Series ones, but with better electrics and Suspension ECU's etc etc

Regards
citroenxm

[combwork]

Hi,

I'm joining this discusion late but what happened to me might be relevent. On the V6 auto, there's a seal under the autobox held in place by a small plate secured with three screws. On mine, one of these screws lost it's head. I've no idea how; maybe a fluke impact with a road chip but the plate twisted slightly, and the fluid drained out. First I knew was the box started changing gears at weird road speeds. I drove some 20 miles with it like this. Got home, took the plate off, removed the remains of the broken screw, refitted the plate, filled the box with fresh oil and it was fine until it was taken off the road six months later for other reasons. A year after that, it's back on the road and the gearbox is still good. Is there any chance that your box is ok; just the oil almost gone? ............... Jim.

[mark]

combwork, citroenxm, colinxm, xmexclusive, Peter.N., bigjohnh, demag, Little&Large,

Many thanks for your getting back to me with your helpful advice.

Best wishes,

Mark.