New Owner, help with a few niggles with my new car

[Tim]

Hi all, I am a new member & this is my first post on here.
I recently bouight an XM & collected it last night. The two hour drive home was fantastic with a ride to match that of my DS, its a superb car for the motorway. However, there are a few little niggles that I noticed that I would like to rectify:
1. very slight clicking noise from behind instrument pod, seemed to be speed related and the speedo needle had a bit of a fluttering action at lower speeds. Is this a common fault and is it an easy fix .... or should I learn to live with it and turn up the stereo?
2. The ABS warning light seemed to come & go intermittently but for long periods, along with the "ABS out of use" warning. It did seem to come on (and go off) when I went across catseyes, or an uneven surface, and once went out when I braked. Dodgy contact seems favourite.... but where do I look first, second third etc to find it?
3. The accelerator pedal seems stiff/notchy/as if its binding. This makes kickdowns a bit of an effort. However, there is no resistance when the pedal comes back up on deceleration. Any ideas?
4. Rear wash wipe creates an internal water feature over the back parcel shelf .... Guess its just a pipe disconnected but it was dark when I got back last night & its raining this morning so I've not looked yet!

The car is a 91 Xm SEi 2.0 Auto which has done about 75k. Apart from the above it seems to be in pretty good nick & I am looking forward to many miles of motoring with it.

Tim

[xmexclusive]

Hi Tim

Glad you are on board and are enjoying your car.
As to your queries:

4. You will find the feed tube for the rear wash/wipe by removing the trim for the tailgate. The tube has some push on connectors and I expect one of these has parted or the rubber section at the wiper has perished.

3. Sorry no experience.

2. It sounds as though you are loosing the ABS 12v supply intermittantly due to vertical vibration. On the other hand it may just be the ABS detecting a little bit of wheel spin on the tyre while it rides over the cats eye. On this later ponit check that the two front tyres are the same size and are reasonably matched for wear as in my experience the ABS can be sensative to a combination of spin and different overall wheel diameters on the same axle. Different models of XM's use different tyre sizes and I have come across some strange combinations when cars change hands. If you find you have to go after the electrics then the ABS block on your car is below the battery and there is a plug for the electrical connections. There is also a 12v relay built into the block electronics. If you need to go further then the ABS system can be read for faults.

1. Taking the dash apart is real fun. My advice is to try living with it for a little while until you are a little more definite on what is actually at fault. Intermittant relay clicking from the passenger side of the dash is a stock fault (shorting Indicator stalk) but this does not seem to fully match your description.

Hope this helps, no doubt others will fill in the gaps and point out where I am wrong.

Regards

XMexc

[Tim]

Thanks for your response. I havent had time to investigate any further as I have been up to my elbows in DS at the technical weekend in centreville all weekend, however, I will get on with checking your suggestions later today.
In the meantime I have found two other items that need attaention:
a. nearside front strut has perished rubber at the top ..... am I right in thinking this spells imminent reshaping of the bonnet? and if so which is the bit I need to replace?
b. secondly, the rear drivers side footwell is very damp .... is there a common starting point to look for leaks?
and c. what is the recommended manual to be used on the car.... are we all Haynes fans or is there something better?

thanks again

Tim

[xmexclusive]

Hi Tim

Both Haynes and Terry Pratchet make interesting reading, most on this forum seem to think equally well of either for XM maintenance.
Seriously I use Haynes, Russek, Cit workshop manuals and this forum for XM queries. I have listed the in order of least to most use. To a certain extent it depends what work you intend to do.

Strut heads do rust. They are a single item and very expensive from Citroen (£250 each). The visible rubber on the top is the only non structral part of the strut head. I have one car where the previous owner seems to have removed this rubber carefully then cleaned up the metal of the strut head and rust treated it. It has passed at least 3 MOT's like this and is not the one worrying me about bonnet reshaping at the monment. I could not recommend this as a course of action and if you are concerned about the safety of your strut heads then you need to get them examined. Secondhand replacement strut heads can be found in scrap yards but ones in good condition are a little rare though some last much better than others. If you take this route struts are handed, not interchangable and there are 3 different versions that have been used on XM's over the years. It is usually easier to change the whole strut assembly than just the strut head and scrap yards do not usually sell just the head.

Wet in the rear footwell could just be that it has been through deep flood water and come in over the door cill or one of the blind rubber grommets is missing from the floor. It is not easy to dry this out and under the carpet is a thick foam rubber moulding that covers the whole of the rear floor. If this stays water logged then it is one of the areas that despite the rust proofing rust can set in.

Hope this helps

Regards

XMexc

[Tim]

Thanks Xmexc,

at least the fact that the perished rubber bit isnt structural gives me some confidence to continue using the car until I can get a replacement.

Having said that, how would I tell if there was a threat of imminent failure ..... where do I look? The top of the strut plate is covered in surface rust (as if water has stood there for some time) and the top rubber is well past its best. Looking at the strut from under the wheelarch everything seems ok .... no corrosion visible - although it is partly shrouded by the corrugated cover. Are there any online resources available that have information regarding this aspect of the car?

thanks again

Tim
'91 SEi Auto (RP5128)

[xmexclusive]

Hi Tim

The bad news is that you look at your bonnet from the driving seat. If you are sat a a slight slant and the bonnet has a hump like a camel in the lower top corner then you need a new strut head and a new bonnet. There are a number of entries on the web site and a link to the Aussie site that has an artical on strut head failures plus a link to Nylanders fixing kit. I have not found anyone who has used this latter kit in the UK. I have looked at a number of heads in scrap yards and am satisfied that the rusting does not usually start from the underside so that no rust here does not prove the strut is sound.

Sorry not to be more helpfull but it is not possible to do other than recommend that if you have doubts about the state of your strut heads then you will need to get a professional opinion.

Regards

XMexc