Hi!
I'm about to buy a XM. It's a (according to ORCA) late 1990 green 24v V6 XM Pallas. The former owner abandoned it after a hailstorm damaged it in 2002 and since then, it's been standing outside.

The car has a new gearbox (fitted just before the hailstorm) along with a new exhaust (also fitted back then). We've been able to revive it and I believe it runs wonderfully (considering it was left standing for 5 years). The oil's just been changed and a preliminary exam done at service point.

Amongst the problem (that I need your help solving, please) are:
1) the K sign indicating a problem with the igniters or something shows up sometimes, usually after a few hundred meters. I had the chance to check all the jacks that I could find but I didn't get to the jacks that probably power the igniters. The owner says it didn't show before and that he believes it's probably a bad connection somewhere along the line. What do you think
2) the water temperature went up when the car is left standing with the engine on.
3) the 5-th door wouldn't lock
4) none of the doors would lock/unlock without the remote infra, I couldn't turn the key
5) the glove compartment's hydraulic "lifter" doesn't work
6) and of course, parts of the body are damaged by the hailstones
7) the driver's seat heating doesn't work

as you see, aside from 1,2,3, the problem are rather minor and I believe 1) isn't that serious after all.

I'm buying for what I believe is a very decent price and the owner (whom I've personally know and trust) himself has cherished the car for 100k km of it's total 170k km, never pushing it to the limits when it was cold etc.

any suggestions/possible repair price estimates etc welcome.

I might post some pictures once I get my hand on the camera if you want

hope you don't mind i didn't split it up into separate threads... I tried a little searching, but not knowing the exact English terms, I didn't find much.

thanks

Can it be assumed - reading between the lines - that you are not in the UK and that your car is a saloon (Berline) and has an auto gearbox and a petrol(gasoline) fuel system (not Autogas) ? Can you also suggest another word for 'jacks' - it may not be fully understood in the UK.?

I'm from Czech Republic, while the car is from Germany. My car is a saloon, has a manual gearbox and is a petrol (don't know what autogas is) (http://www.worldofmotorsports.com/car/tech_spec.asp?specID=12589&make=Citroen - this one I believe)

Jacks - connectors, a place where two cables come together/are connected. I also meant a place where for example the front light relays are plugged.

How high does the tempratures go up? Or do you switch it off before the fans come on? Do they come on at all?

If the temp goes high and the K light comes on this may indicate an engine which is running rich?? Does it smell of fuel a lot?

Car that have been standing for a while may have had the headasket gone soft over time, this may have caused oil/water to mix depending on where the leak is. Have you checked the oil and water for mixing? Can you do a compression test of the cylinders?

This may help others diagnose your problems. Of course, the problems may indeed be cabling/connectors, can you connect a fault code reader to it and see what comes up? Sometimes disconnecting a battery can erase some minor faults, I'm not sure whether this is the case for the XM 24v.

Nice car by the way.

A guy called Citroen XM would be able to diagnose your problems quite well as he has the same car as you, and knows his stuff. He will show up soon.

Good luck.

My 24V V6 manual is an identical sounding car in specification. It too IF allowed
will overheat due to the fans not cutting in despite the temperature passing the
cut-in point for them. I found the easy solution to this issue was to switch the
air conditioning on as this overrides everything and it DOES start the fans.

As far as a remedy is concerned I intend fitting a new water temp sensor on the
water pump housing when I can get around to it - too many other things on the go
at the moment though!!

If I can find it, there is a hand drawn wiring diagram I recall seeing on a forum
in the past that showed someone's modification to the wiring to get a manually
operated switch into the circuit. This should be reasonably easy to do if you trace
the correct wires and install a relay through to the battery feed.

That said, the relays for the existing circuit are very temperamental and I recall
are found above the battery side of the engine bay's headlight.

Congratulations on your excellent english - I have trouble managing English on
it's own!!

Enjoy the car - it's a superb machine!! Very rare being a manual V6 XM and
probably MUCH better than mine as it has DIRAVI steering!!

(THOUGH 3.5 TURNS LOCK TO LOCK IS QUITE POOR GEARING)

All the best,
Andrew

Hi all

Hi all

REFERING TO V6 90deg cars

If you unplug the sensor wiring on the front bank of cylinders, from the sensor below the distributer the fans will also cut in and it will also show the Excessive Water Temp Warning light on the dash..

My 12v has a duff sensor at the moment and the fans are on permanetly at full speed!

Rgds
citroenxm