New Member

[dean]

hi there my name is dean, im 24 and from the isle of wight, i own a (better looking) s1 xm 20i auto prestige in immaculate condition, apart from the heater matrix which has given me a bit of an in car swimming pool, new one is on the way from gsf though.
very good site which im sure i will be needing regularly, its a lovely car despite its electrical gremlins.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Dean

Pleased you have found and managed to join us. When you fit your new matrix do not forget to get and fit a couple of new o rings just to make sure the pipes seal correctly. As you struggle to get the old out and the new matrix in without damaging it just think about how much easier that particular job is in a LHD car without the steering column in the way. Enjoy your XM.

Regards

XMexc

[Peter.N.]

Hi Dean

Welcome to the club. We have some very knowledgable members on here and most of us have had some fault that hasn't been suffered by the rest, so if you can help with the knowledge that you have - that's how it works. Enjoy your XM.

Peter.N.

[dean]

thanks for the tip, i dont want to have to drive around in my wellies again!

[Assich]

To get rid of a lot of electrical problems on a Mk1 I would suggest replacing the spade earth connector sets on each front wing with eyelets. They caused most of the elec problems I had on mine and the system was changed by Citroen come the Mk2.

[dean]

my xm has the eyelet type earths already???? r/p number is 5678 so would it have been a revised mk 1?.
most of my problems were (and will be!) with the 14 year old engine management loom, but at £300+ for a new one i think i will keep patching it up for a while.

[citroenxm]

Welcome Dean

NO the previous owner has there fore done a DIY job on the car already!

I have three S1's, 2 V6's a 12 and 24v, and 2.1td, the TWO V6's have had the mods done and are trouble free! The 2.1td has not been on the road for me to try..

ALSO the matrix replacement is a doddle compared to the Dash out job of Xantias and 306's!

Regards
citroenxm

[dean]

it all looks original under the bonnet and i dont get any hydraulic or lighting probs so it must have been done by citroen as there is only one previous owner and he didnt even change a bulb himself! ££££££££££!
the matrix went in last night no probs, so she's back on the road.
new sills!! i didnt think they suffered from rust???

[Ciaran]

Hi Dean, welcome to the site.

I'm also 24. Nice to meet someone the same era who actually knows what an XM is, let alone likes them! Most people our age are still into doing donuts in McDonald's carpark at 4 in the morning in 1.1l lowered Paxos with Lexarse lights and stick on Halfrauds tat, makes me appreciate my XMs even more!

Regarding the earthing blocks on your S1, its very likely one of the prev owners did it as a DIY job, its quite a common one. A task which I hope to do soon on my S1 actually, have even bought the wee eyelets for it, but not got round to it....

I've heard of one or two XMs with rusty sills. Someone on here (think it was Noz, or Peter, but could be wrong), had a theory that it could be caused by water ingress at the weak points... i.e where the jacking points are. If they get deformed (normally by some idiot at Krap F**K or similar who doesn't know how to jack it up properly), then this can cause tiny openings which allow water past the galvanisation....


Cheers

Ciarán

[dean]

i know what you mean about xm's being jacked incorrectly, i once returned to a popular tyre fitters to find two blokes trying to get a massive trolley jack under my car, which during the course of the day had sat down! how thick can you be! i remove the wheels myself now and take them in to aviod any confusion.

[onthecut]

Hi Dean.

If I had an XM for every ad I've seen saying they're galvanised and don't rust, I'd have the full set !

The key areas on those I've had that have been rusty have all been much the same -- although not inevitable. Inner sills, particularly right at the back. Have a good scrape at the underseal. Have had odd patches partway along and at the front behind the jacking point. Doors -- in a line along the top of the bottom weatherstrip. The small piece of rear arch by the back door. Front end tinwork ahead of the arch liner. Front and rear subframes. Strut tops. (Much correspondence elsewhere on forum about these). Rarely, at turret to housing joint. Fuel tank support. Without exception, although of no real consequence, the spare wheel carriers have all been naff and, quite often, the wheel itself. Also, without exception and of no real consequence (unless it's one of the longitudinal braces, and it's bad) towbars.

Overall though, they really are a cracking car and in terms of overall package still vastly better than most of today's offerings. Enjoy !

Mike.

[citroenxm]

Ciaran

It was my with the theory actually..

The cars get jacked up incorrectly, OR the "original" jack is used the wrong way, the car falls, and as the jack uses the inner sill structure it pulls it away from the outer sill, then unknowingly water gets in and its a rot inside out job!!

I'd like to hess a guess that your rear jacking points could be bent/mangled??

My 2.1 SED thats laid up has this, and they are mangled, also my S1 24v V6 has gone both sides at the rear and these also are bent, but my S1 V6 12v SEi is still perfect and the points are NOT bent..

XMExec, also has a theroy too on here some where..

The are Galvanised, but on the outerside of sealed body areas only, so when water gets into and sits on the un treated areas its inevetable it will rust.. Sills are doubled skined so I doubt the inner sides are treated.. Shame..

Another area, bottom of the passenger front door, but I think, thought not certain blocked drain holes prevent water exit..

I'm glad to see I'm not the youngest XM driver about.. although, the only one on Anglesey N Wales...

Regards
citroenxm

[DrTim]

Hey CitroenXM, the only obvious rust on my old one is at the bottom of the passenger front door on the inside! Sounds like this is common then? Must check it out some more,
one of the jacking points definitely is a bit bent. ho hum...

Also on the top at the rear OS theres a small panel that seems to be flaking plasticy stuff, and maybe starting to rust.

[onthecut]

Hi Dr. Tim.

Seen this on the doors on more than one of mine --- by the weatherstrip ? I wonder if what happens is that particles of debris sit in the gap between the strip and the door and with the constant opening and closing gradually penetrate the paint layers. Either that, or do they drill them for the weatherstrip fastenings after painting and leave bare metal ? One of the first areas I look at now when I'm looking at a fresh XM.

Mike.

[xmexclusive]

Hi All

The final varnish type coat on the body has a nasty habit of peeling particularly on the plastic panels. I suspect that this is what Dr Tim is seeing on the rear of his car. If so it is cosmetic only.

Failure of galvanising.
Galvanising is a superb process to protect steel but it has some limitations. The steel is pickled in acid to remove surface imperfections before it is galvanised. With highly stressed components the pickling if badly done can cause rapid fatigue failures. Not a failure likely to affect XM steel panels. The other type of failure is Pin Hole Corrosion where the galvanised surface has a small hole or chip. Electrolytic corrosion starts but the minute voltage difference is concentrated at the pinhole instead of across the whole sheet. This small area becomes subject to accelerated corrosion. Whilst both sides of the XM panels are galvanised the spot welding to build the body evaporates a little ring of galvanise from both sides of each sheet around the spot weld. Those on the outsides of the body shell get treated with the very high quality paint system. Those inside the closed box sections sit waiting for the right mixture of condensation to start rusting. Rough jacking can open up welds and accelerate the corrosion in these seams and joints. In the normal life of an XM apart from the odd car will have no structural effect and will cause few MOT failures. I have seen a N reg car with the closed sections over the jacking points half full of rust. For preserved cars I suspect that it will become a major problem that will suddenly appear on the body shell probably under the hammer of the MOT man and devalue what was previously a good well cared for car and presenting a loving owner with a particularly difficult problem.

Regards

XMexc

This post has been edited by xmexclusive on June 03, 2007 07:24 pm