Pulling Out The Evaporator Modem Buster, an exercise of sheer insanity.

[DoubleChevron]

Hi Guys,

Well I started on the fun job... Please Note: I'm following Pauls instructions and sent to me on the XM list (listed here under the XM air-con thread).







This is the first car I've even drained the coolant on without flooding the work area and missing all the drainage dishes. What a ripper, hook a hose upto the drain point, then loosen the screw and it'll slowly drain




The scuttle end pieces I could figure out how to remove, one was loose so I pried it off and found it was stuck on with sikaflex... As was the other side. Roger W turned up not long after and said they clip on if not broken. I'm guessing lifting the top edge over the skuttle is the easiest way to unclip them.



Remove the centre retaining braket both sides, and unscrew the skuttle both ends from where the end pieces were removed. Close the bonnet to lift out...




I peeled the boot off the wiper motor and found some rust to clean up... One of the retaining bolts has the socket on it.



Right side retaining bolt



Left side retaining bolt... The wiper assembly should drop down now.



The brake valve lever.... The first time Ang drove this she said "Gee's the brakes a terrible, you'll have to fix that "... Echoes my thoughts exactly !



After I had unbolted the brake valve lever, peal this boot back to remove the spring unit.



This rod connects to the brake pedal inside the car. Yes the edges on that compliance plate a very sharp ...

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/showpost....309&postcount=1

[DoubleChevron]

The Xantias brakes Ang thought were fine when we first got it (though I complained bitterly how disgusting they were).... Well guess what, the XM's aren't as bad as it was, and she hates them :joker: I think having proper brakes is rubbing off on her



I thought the fix would be identical. This is the Xantias spring unit.



Bugger the XM's is very different















It can't be diss-assembled like the Xantia spring unit. Oh well, we'll just have to try something different. I clamped the spring unit down and drilled two small holes through it, and put two split pins through. In this way the split pins only hold the spring down, but do NOT in anyway carry any braking force from the pedal, the spring unit works as it always did, however the spring can't "uncompress", so doesn't bounce

Now for inside the car !

[DoubleChevron]

Ok,

All I've done inside is remove the seats:



Wind the seat all the way forward, remove the plastic cap, and 16mm bolts...



wind seat all the way back and remove nuts.




Unplug wiring and remove other nut... Lift the back of the seat and slide back to remove.



M25 torx head screws everywhere inside this car....



Remove the 3 plastic cover screws (tilt the seat onto it's side for easy access).



This will allow you to get to the seatbelt mount.



Seats out, lift out through the front doors... That's all I got done tonight.

[DoubleChevron]

The trim along the sills will unscrew all the way to the back doors (it's one long peice). Make sure you unscrew the bit in the front footwell first... There's another screw under it !



Remove vents ....... Damn that's easy to state. In reality I spent easily 1hour trying to get this vent out. I found the plastic clips were already broken except for the top corner.... I tried everything, made up a variety of special tools to try and get down the side of the vent and release the clip (as I still had the drivers side to get out... I didn't want to smash it).

Using a flat blunt object... A 'non' sharp screwdriver will lift the speak cover part of the vent easily. Remove the speaker, tear the glued down foam from it's connector plug and unplug/remove. This will allow access to the two top screws.



I never did succeed in getting the last clip undone... It's as simple as this. You will either smash the plastic clips off the vent, or not remove it. There is no alternative. I imagine if warranty work was performed on these cars, they would just replace the vent covers if removal was required.



Eventually I realised I could unscrew the vent by lifting the bottom out and unscrewing the tiny torx head screw. I used a precision screwdriver with a standard flat blade as I don't have a torx head driver that's so small.



This is how hard I tried to release the @$#@ of a plastic clip, look at all the scoring from various tools being pushed down the side.



One of the "tools" I made to try and release the clips. The only thing that may "possibly" work I can think of it a neede with a fish hook barb on the tip of it to "grab the clip if feed down the side and rotated.



I resigned myself to the fact I would have to smash the drivers vent out .... To find it lifted off with no effort.... Yep, someone had smashed all the clips off already for me ...... Why didn't I start this side and save myself some grief .

However as always, nothing is ever easy, I found that the lower little screw was spinning it's captive nut at the back.... I couldn't remove it..... In desparation I tried to drill the head off the little screw, and as usual had no success. Let me explain, I tried sever of my razor sharp (serioulsy they could cut you just handling them) Sutton Viper drill bits..... The problem is Citroen fasteners are such good quality all I did was "spin" the drill bit with no effect in the head of the screw... the razer sharp drill bits wouldn't cut :eek: Great, Now I'll have done is round out the head of the screw so I can't turn it ..... Imagine my surprise when I find I hadn't even damaged the torx head, I could still turn it :eek: :eek: Damn Citroen make good quality fasteners, they are harder than any known drill bit to man.



I scrutinised the captive nut on the other side where I had removed the vent, and found the captive nut is basically locked into place with a spring clip.... It should pull out ?? So I managed to get my vice grips really tightly clamped onto the screw head, and heaved so bloody hard on them I was sure something would smash (or I'd go @rse over through the back window of the car).... And the vent just "popped" out .... Why does everything have to be so :cussing: difficult for no reason.



These are the vents in the side of the dash, they guide air into the door vents.



Just look down the hole where the dash vents were and you'll be able to see where the plastic tags are that retain them

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 12, 2008 01:37 am

[DoubleChevron]

The top vent will withdraw easily enough, pull the rubber covers off them, then push a screwdriver into the dash where the vents were removed down to the plastic clips to disengage them. Careful with the clips on the top vent, they aren't really strong, but hold bloody tight. The top one will come out ok.

The lower one picture .... It damn tight, using a screwdriver to hold the vent out as shown and another screwdriver to push on the plastic clips from behind, I managed to pry it out to this point using substantial force.



However the clips that retained it from the bottom were still hanging on extremelly tightly. So I unscrew the bottom of the dash to get at the base of the duct from below. Then Imanaged to get it out.



This is the drivers side ... All this fun is to be repeated.



This is the (very strong hold, yet fragile to break) clips that hold them. Once again pry them out, however this time you can't get to the lower duct clips from below. You will need to be very forceful to get the lower part of the duct out. I'd be surprised if you don't break at least one of the clips off.



Following the directions, next is the climate control panel. Pry it out using something that won't damage the plastic.



The instructions state "remove vent". They must be for a Series I car, this is a Series II, as far I can see, the vent doesn't come out.

[IMGhttp://www.shanescitshed.com/xm/removing_dash/d17.jpg[/IMG]

If you push the lower vents in and grab the centre bit with your fingers, you should be able to pull the plate off exposing a screw ... That doesn't remove the vents, rather the whole section of dash.



This is the clip that retain it.




Note: The door covering the electrical connector must be opened to unplug it.
Like every wiring connection, unplug and label.



All these switches will take ages to label, so unplugged the switch, fed the wiring out, from the dash, then plugged each switch back onto it's wiring connector.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 12, 2008 01:59 am

[DoubleChevron]

Ok, remove fan, 3 screws, don't forget to label the wiring.



Next... Center console. I started at the back and worked forward. Lift out the ashtray... The whole section will lift out very easily without breakage.



Remove switches and label wiring... remove blanks. All blanks appear to have a wiring plug. Labelled BLANK We'll spend an eternity trying to find something to plug them into on re-assembly.



Nuts to be removed.



Ok move forward a bit. I wanted to remove the little pocket, this would give great access... It hangs on far to tightly. You will smash/damage it if removal is forced.

This is what I did:
--Pull the gearshifter surround up, this is easy and will lift without damage.
--pry the first switch up, and label it's wiring connetor and remove... Work your way across the switches labelling there wiring connectors as you go. The first switch is the hardesest to get out. Once you have pried it out, you can reach through the hole from the last switch removed, to push the next switch out from below.
--Push the electric mirror switch out from below, label wiring.
--Now you should be left with just that pocket. Now you can reach it from below through all the switch holes, it should push out without damage.

Once again, all the blanks had wiring connectors.... Label BLANK for ease of re-assembly !



Now you can reach through all the holes and ease the whole switch plate out.



I was buggered if I could see how to get the arm rest out.... I could feel 'holes' through the carpet at the base of it .... Hmm, false floor. The carpet is glued down well, so lift a corner and peel it out. Then remove the four nuts underneath and pull the armrest out.



Underneath the armrest .... more fastners ... I unscrewed these, but don't think I needed to !



More nuts under the wiring. This is under the switch wiring we removed.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 12, 2008 02:00 am

[DoubleChevron]

small cubby hole... Put both hands in there and push upwards and the back of the box... It'll pop the front lower edge out allowing removal without damage.



Urrrggghhhh.... Bloody radios... It took quite a while to release as I didn't know what it's "anti-theft" retianing clips were like, so I wasn't sure how to release them. However I managed in the end.



They are just spring loaded... I slid a ground down hacksaw blade down there to release. I don't have the "keys" required.



How can removing a simple centre console be so much work ??





Remove screws and vents, socket shows hidden fastener. You soon learn to run your hand over any bit of carpet and feel for 'holes' beneath that nuts/bolts are hiding in. The side will then lift away.



Unscrew the duct tube and remove.




Both sides... Someones been this side before..... Were missing screws and the ducting wasn't hooked up. (car phone installer in the distant past by the looks of it).



Pull the shifter back to first (engage handbrake first, don't worry we can release it manually even with the release mechanism unhooked). Lift the centre console from the back. It should lift easily if you haven't missed fasteners. gently work the dash end of the console out and over the gearstick.



Glovebox... You don't need to peel the false floor from this. Remove all the screws around the edge...

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 12, 2008 02:02 am

[DoubleChevron]

text to come soon...



Unscrew all the screws arrowed.



pull the cover off the lock, and remove the single screw behind it. I grabbed the back of the glovebox by the gas strut and eased the back out first, the front then clear the handle/lock from the dash.



Remove all the screws....



Drop the bottom off the steering column, label and unplug the cruise control stalk.



Not sure what this is .... Imobiliser settings hardcoding ?



Plugs into this wire here.



Unscrew the screws and drop the lower dash panel down.



Remove screws.....



There still something holding the lower dash in. It's just above the steering wheel... So I'm guessing I need to remove the steering wheel and top cover from the column.... I see why UFO said globe replacement isn't easy !

seeya,
Shane L.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:40 pm

[DoubleChevron]

Ok... Lets try removing the steering wheel. rotate it so you can reach the two bolts through the holes in the back of the wheel, loosen these.

The 21mm wheel nut... Loosen this off but ensure you leave a few threads still hooked up. I removed this nut on the Xantia, then while thumping on the wheel to try to remove it, it came away in a rush exploding the rotating coupling for the airbag into about 50 peices... Destroying it. So leave the nut screwed on a little until you have broken the steering wheels hold. Once broken, gently lift it away and makesure the wiring doesn't snag.



gently lift the airbag away, a straight pull will disconnect the wiring.



The airbag.



The top cover still won't come. It snags on all the wiring. In the end I had to unplug the light stalk, and remove the wiper stalk.



You can get the wiring connectors off by pressing the release tag with a screwdriver.



Snip the cable ties on the wiring both sides, they tie the wiring to the steering column top.



The steering wheel moves up and down, and it and out, push it down, and pull it out from the dash as far as possible, then ease the steering column top shrowd up past the wiring and off. No sign of any dash retaining screws... hmmm..



This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:42 pm

[DoubleChevron]

Hmm... These plates must be there for a reason !



Pry them out, hopefully without damage.



Once the screws are removed you can ease the lower dash forward.



Luckily all the wiring connectors are colour coded.



globes galore, the only globes that look bad are the globes on the dot matrix display.

[IMGhttp://www.shanescitshed.com/xm/removing_dash/d72.jpg[/IMG]



Remove screw, and you'll be able to remove the instrument housing cover.





The two lower instrument panel screws... Just turn ... Captive nuts gone ?? How on earth do I get this out now ??



This is the underbonnet, these will be the entire dash screws though....

Hmm, I guess I'll ask on the XM list and hope I get a Haynes manual really soon

seeya,
Shane L.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:43 pm

[DoubleChevron]

There is two tiny 7mm nuts retaining the top of the instrument panel... You better hope you forgot to return Rogers flexible 1/4" long extension to get to the left one :eek:





The bottom of the instrument panel where I thought the screws captive nuts were broken free "pops" out.



The screw expand plastic lugs like in a similar way to a dynabolt. That's why they don't unscrew much.




Dash retaining bolts.



Note this wiring connector is retained here (so it doesn't rattle).



More retaining bolts.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:45 pm

[DoubleChevron]

It was still hanging on tight, so I thought possibly those bolts in the firewall are holding it. two plastic clips hold this in.



Pull the grill off the inlet duct.



Drag out the vacuum cleaner and clean up all the leaves & cr@p exposing these two bolts. However they appear to be to "deep" in the dash to be retaining it... hmmm



However looking through the windscreen I spotted this screw...



Another bolt under the glovebox ... (woops how didn't I see that before).

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:46 pm

[DoubleChevron]

There's one in the middle that my torx socket set couldn't get too. Luckily the "torx" screwdriver that's slightly to small would get in there.



The plastic 'A' pillar trim seems to be still holding it. Peel the door seal back.



Starting at the 'B' pillar, pull back the plastic trim.




Pull the wires off and the trim should come away with no damage.





Looks like I'll need to remove that indicator switch now for room.



Ease dash forward and feed the wiring out.



Gee's running out of shed space for all this junk.



Hmm, there's a "little" wiring in this car it would seem.



Remove the frame over the the heater unit. Mount at drivers 'A' pillar.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:49 pm

[DoubleChevron]

More mounts.





Note: I'll need to run the wiring down through this clip. (damn there's a lot of wiring over the top of the heater unit).





Lever up the wiring plastic housing, to reveal more bolts.



put new cable tie here on refitting.



First mount out.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:51 pm

[DoubleChevron]

Yep ... I'll have it out tonight ..... famous last words



Ok, lets remove this front cover... That should expose the internals of the box. Remove mount, and screws....



Bugger !!! Nothing there, the front cover just creates duct outlets.



Remove mount on the other side of heater box.



Seperate and label ducting.



Can't remove upper ducting because of conveluted route through dash... Pry off and lift up ...



Heater box top mounts.



This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on August 26, 2008 01:53 pm