HI DrTim,

A belated welcome to club-xm. I see you have already settled in nicely with model details in signature and a list of faults. Usually it takes a few weeks to build up to that level I think you also get an award for one of the longest threads in the Introductions section!

Now that the introductions are well and truly over can I respectfully suggest that the technical discussions are taken to the relevant section? No-one is ever going to think of looking in the introductions section in 100 years from now for the answer to their missing pixels problem

I'm glad you've found club-xm useful so far and hope that it will help to keep the old bus on the road for a few years more than it would otherwise.

Cheers

noz

noz, I've had to make up for lost time because I wish I'd found this site months ago!

So you're giving me a slight "devil you know" vibe, I think. You know, the old red one still feels like its got some go in it.

regards

No...

Don't go believing the land of Xantia is all peachy and shiny either. These still invent new
problems to confound and astound you and your bank balance too - they were STILL made
by Citroen after all!!

Mind, if you want a cheap '95 1.8 16v saloon I'm planning on getting rid of one shortly!!
As it happens, I've been through a migration to Xantiae and have come round full circle
again to Cx's (got to love'em really you REALLY DO) and good'ol Xm's!

I feel a lot of ground haS amptly been covered already here and echo my feelings too and
I'd always be the first to fall into the devil you know camp rather than plump for someone's
hand me down with it's attendant 'issues' and dodged bullets...

The brakes aren't an issue and as you've been ebaying already, you've no doubt seen there
are good prices to pay if GSF is still a tad expensive.

As far as the head gasket goes, it REALLY isn't a big job. Honest. Not massively expensive
either - for me the only real git in the job is the hacksawing of the downpipe bolts on the
collar where it meets the manifold - and that's IF you see the need to split it there - sometimes
the studs DO undo off the head!! Generally from my experience an XU engine will need a
head gasket sometime in the same way a manual gearbox needs a clutch in it's lifetime!!

Just one of those things!

OH YES, I'VE SEEN AN XM SELF COMBUST WHEN THE FUEL PIPE PERISHED ON THE TOP OF
THE HEAD WHERE IT COMES OFF THE BULKHEAD. Well, that's what I think happened - the seat
of the fire was on the offside rear of the engine bay's bulkhead sending flames halfway up the
windscreen as I was doing 60 on a dual carriageway...

Twas either fuel or that 'I'll fix it tomorrow' leaking rocker cover gasket!!

Andrew

Dr Tim..

I have a CRACKING 2.0i Engine from a prestege sitting under cover waiting for some use!

It has an auto box ALSO good attached to it.. I rescued the two parts from a car as they were to good to let go..

It has everything except starter and altinator still on it, that being, HP Pump, Air con Compressor and maifolds etc..

As for your other VERY small problems and niggles, we do all have them problems or have had them ourselfs .. I have a pair of rear disks too..

Not sure how you feel about 2nd hand parts but they are all available to keep your pride and joy on the road as cheaply as possible..

The small problem.. I bet your a huge distance from me!!

Regards
citroenxm

Thanks for the new input Anmcit and CitroenXM.

CitroenXM, I am in Bristol. I don't really want auto box, had new clutch in 2003, only about 15k miles since then, have been wondering about the feasibility of new engine instead of head gasket job.

Realistically mine has used oil since I got it, also has slight LHM leak at front, and lots of the pipes are well dodgy. I've had a couple of bits of fuel pipe replaced due to leaks,
bottom hose apparently quite urgent to replace, and theres some white crusty stuff near the ignition coil thingy (is that what its called?) thats growing slowly. I'll grab some photos in the near future for advice from the group.

If you can smell fuel it is time to have a look at the pipes. The AA actually did one of my "repairs" in that dept.

Re Xantiae I know my brother has had a couple, he's wishing he hadn't scrapped his L
with dodgy tappets back Jan now. The P he has now "has good engine and gearbox but everything else is F***ed"" and my dad who had it before him spent loads when he got it in 2005. I do like the XM a lot more, for comfort and luggage capacity (don't fill mine up that often but sometimes it is necessary.

Still wondering about the R reg, it only has basic options but low mileage and quite cheap. It is going for an MOT next week on my request. Probably have to have the cams done and basic service pretty much immediately I guess. Someone commented to me that maybe it hasn't been driven enough!

Hi Dr Tim , I had to do both front and rear discs and brake pads and the discs are a doddle to do and the rear brakes are easy too. the discs took 1 hour at best and about 20 minutes for the brake pads. The front dics are easy too but the pads are another story having to be screwed all the way back in before new pads can be fitted.
Linkbelt through Eddie Walker supplied me at a reasonable price for the full kit but I don't remember just how much.
The head will be a major job but can be done. I rebuilt one completely when my belt broke but that was a BX. I even got new bearings made and line bored in an engineering shop in Stirling.

Best wish's with the XM

blobby, thanks for the tips, front discs and pads were done for MOT early aug 06, but rears do need doing.

I have been driving my XM to work and back this week, just a few miles around town,
done about 50 miles. Not loosing coolant or bubbling obviously, K-Seal does seem to have stopped the big bubbles. I guess as its quite a new product I am on unfamiliar territory as to how permament a repair it is, the bottle does claim permament repair for 80% of head gasket probs. I wish I'd known about it before I hadthe water pump replaced now.

However power steering is quite stiff so obviously need clean LHM in there, fix the leaks, then it could be LHM pump as advised by specialist or possibly aux belt tension.
How do you serious techy guys here tension up your belts. Even Haynes says it should be done by dealer.

Plus it need new cam retensioner fitting and all the little bits like blipper, radio, rear window fixing sigh. Oh, and the rear bumper eventually. I have to get it tarted up a bit to try and get a decent settlement for that still.

All in all unless I do it myself its gonna cost more than the R Reg one owner low mileage Turbo CX that I am hopefully gonna pick up on Sat, seller put it thru MOT this week. I have decided to stick with XM! I'll miss some of the Presteige toys and seats. Unless there's something badly obviously wrong with it I'm gonna go for it, but hang onto the Presteige one for now in case I can sort it out myself over the summer or my financial situation improves so I can get it sorted properly.

It would be such a shame to scrap such a great car that I have had for so long, I really can't see myself doing it now, The only rust is a little patch inside passenger door, it really feels like its got another 5 years in it if sufficiently coddled, its the economics of keeping these big cars on the road when they are worth so little thats the real problem.

have a great weekend everybody

DrTim

Were is your location???

citroenxm

R reg turbo CX? You don't mean R reg as in 1977!? What turbo is this then!

Hope this isn't the one and the same car I'm picking up from Richard on Tuesday...

Andrew

citroen xm, I am in bristol. Your are north wales, right?

i am not hardcore mechanic like some of the people here but realistically I am
willing to learn if it means I can keep xm(s) going. The only place I can work offroad though will be weekends/holidays only (Herefordshire), not at home, though my neighbour sometimes has cars on axle stands, bit scary really it is a moderately steep hill.

realistically what is involved in engine swap? Is your Prestiege 2L S1 engine non-turbo like mine? Will it fit with my manual gearbox? Maybe all I need is some pipes and maybe a hydraulic pump for now? Lots of questions. Did you keep any of the aircon bit apart from compressor (I had new condenser in '98, might still be viable I guess but has needed gas since 2002 :-(), do the CC modules in these cars fail often. I think I like the interior of S1 better than S2 you know.

Andmcit, no its 97-98 I think, one of the later XM's in the UK I guess. The seller is not called Richard. I have been Looking closer at the pics I havee it is Turbo Ct not CX actually, constant torque apparently. I'll be checking for bubbles in the coolant when cold, anything nasty out of the exhaust, basic suspension and that it drives OK. Any more suggestions? Engine is "very clean" apparently.




later

Thanks DrTim, I can breathe again.

I've arranged to collect a one owner 80k mile CX Turbo - there's not too many about these days and for a moment I wondered if I'd somehow been gazumped before I get to it on Tuesday!!

This is a CX Turbo:






[the silver one on the trailer...)


I still feel a head gasket job is your answer - I've managed to sort one in a weekend
- the petrol heads don't usually warp so much as simply fail on the actual reinforcement
inserts on the gasket's bore rings. The bolts, gasket set, an exhaust downpipe fitting kit
and the timing belt aren't really wallet bashing. If you're thorough it's all actually basic
big chunks of kit being undone and refitted. Check all the routing of cabling/pipes etc
and take loads of digital piccies to have as a reference so nothing is missed on reassembly.
In the past I've found it's actually great 'fun' taking everything all apart and seeing the
perished gasket though upon reassembly the poor pictures in Haynes suddenly leave a
bit more guesswork!! Guess practice now doesn'ts ee this happen so often but there's
a damn sight more going on in the 24v V6 and TD engine bays!

Andrew

yeah no problem Andrew its definitely not the same car:-)

Thanks for comments about Petrol head gasket. I've picked up enough so far to know the complexity of the job really depends on whether the head is warped, and that one needs a different gasket kit depending on the outcome of this, plus if it does need skimming that will require taking the head to a specialist (correct me if I am wrong).
Not easy on a car one needs to use to go top the specialist!

later

yeah no problem Andrew its definitely not the same car:-)

Thanks for comments about Petrol head gasket. I've picked up enough so far to know the complexity of the job really depends on whether the head is warped, and that one needs a different gasket kit depending on the outcome of this, plus if it does need skimming that will require taking the head to a specialist (correct me if I am wrong).
Not easy on a car one needs to use to go top the specialist!

later

Going slightly off track. Andmcit, I've been intimately involved with aircraft and car repairs for 57 years now (not so much over the past ten) and thought I didn't have too much left to learn - apart from electronics, ECUs and their ilk - but your suggestion of taking lots of digipics before and during disassembly is a great idea and new to me.

Thanks!

Derek

I bought new rear discs for my XM estate on ebay about three years ago, just because they were there, but I now believe estate rear discs are vented, not solid as these are. If your are solid discs you are welcome to these for nothing.