Hi Guys,

To get the thermastat isn't so bad, the metal hose (that looks like rubber). It's hard to see in the piccie, but this metal has is tied to one of the thermastat bolts. So reach up there and remove those 3bolts... The only way I find to remove and refit the thermastat is to bend the tag of metal where the metal pipe bolts to the housing, then bend it back on refitting. Make sure you get a new thermstat first. David Cavanagh at French Connection in Melbourne was the only person that could find the thermastat for me (Citroen, peugeot ... local places ... all bloody hopeless).



HEAPS of locktight on the bolts for re-assembly.



To try and get the highest point for bleeding higher, and wrapped then end of the funnel insulation tape so it would seal into the top of the reseviour.



The only bleed point I could find is moulded into the heater matrix feed hose.



Everywhere else that made sense there should be a bleed point there wasn't ...... instead there is a very small diameter coolant line back to the reseviour ( what a stroke of genious ). So the system will "self bleed" trapped air from these points. So the top of the radiator, and the top of the head when the coolant enters the motor, there is a small hose going back to the top of the header tank. No wonder these motors aren't known for doing headgaskets like most of the earlier diesels. There is so much thought put into the cooling system. The thermstat and water pump (that are situated in a :cussing: place for access.... Are also at the lowest point of the system, so will never starve for coolant. The hightest part of the system (radiator and head) self bleed back to the header tank.

This was so I could check the heater connections and 'O'rings for water leakage before the dash was refitted (what a sh!t of an idea bloody 'O'rings are, does it save 20cents at prodcution time or something :censored: )

It took a full hour to bleed and get the motor upto a temperature where the fans cycled on and off. I have never seen the temperature guage so high, lets keep our fingers crossed the new thermastat allows temperatures higher than 60degrees

It only has tank water in it at the moment. 'Rambo tells me the small diameter feed hoses back to the reseviour block up leading to problems. So I'll pull them off and check them when I refill with coolant (I always fill with water first, as just about everytime without fail I add expensive coolant first..... It pours out onto the ground somewhere ). I must say I am most impressed with how clean the cooling system appears on this car, so I'm not expecting to find problems with the hoses !.

seeya,
Shane L.

Well last night I went out and bolted up the frame across the front of the heater box, painted all the areas on the back of the dash that I thought would touch somewhere with the teflon lubricant (it dries if left for about 10minutes).... Then when I climbed into the car I noticed I was getting wet (great when it's probably 2degrees out in the shed ). Damn it the bloody heater core 'O'rings are leaking.... I pulled the b@stards back off about 3times, check and lub'd the new 'O'rings off (obviously having to dump the water from the cooling system each time). Before I found the trick is you must tighten the fastening bolt (that's through the plastic heater core) far tighter than you would think is safe to compress the 'O'rings enough. I don't like doing fasteners that pass through frail plastic heater housing tight ..... See why I never fill with coolant rather water first for a few days .

I turned the dash over and gave the dash vent edges a good coating of siliicon so they'd seal onto the top of the heater box (where the frail foam seal was). the reason I didn't try more foam is I've never seen a foam with the fragile yet soft/wet/squishy feel of the stuff in the car before. And by "gluing" them together with acid free sealer they shouldnt' squeak either.

Now brake pedal... this is one thing I wasn't looking forward to... Nice and warm outside, so lay across the car with your feet up onto the back seat (well it hasn't snowed for 12hours you know), head in the drivers footwell...... Damp carpets will ensure you don't overheat as the moisture gently gets drawn up by your hair and clothing :bs: ).

Now after your nicely soaked, and your arms are both dead from trying to hold them up under the dash (and you have thought and exclaimed quite vocally you ideas on what you'd like to do to whatever engineer designed this thing ....... :chair: :chair: :bat: :mallet: ) You will suddenly realise what must be done to get this to fit back in.



This is the pedal, the shaft the 3plastic spaces are on, also slides through the pedal... To make this extra frustrating, don't miss that arrowed rod at the back. This must pass through a hole up above the pedal and into the scuttle where the brake valve is. This rod is attached by a ball and socket joint with limited movement, that appears to be pressed together. I doubt you could seperate them without damage. If you could you would never get them back together with the limited space once installed.



This is the brake pedal bolt that passes through the tube the plastic spacers and pedal swing on.... Point this to the roof of the car so the bolt tip is pointing on a strong angle towards the floor of the car (there is no room to withdraw it straight out, the heaterbox and heater pipes are in the way).

Next trick is to wiggle/massage the pedal assembly up there, without the plastic spacers falling off, getting the rod off the back to point vertically up through the hole into the skuttle, while you try to angle it perfectly so it'll slide onto the slight bit of bolt protruding. Once you have managed this (trust me it'll take many delightful attempts, with the plastic spacers falling down onto your face constantly).... wiggle the bolt through the pedal while slowly straighting the angle so the bolt/pedal will line up with the hole at the opposite side. If you manage to do this, make sure that rod that passes up into the skuttle hasn't dropped out of the hole... otherwise you'll be doing it again !,



Pedal in place with bolt through both sides of the pedal mounting box.

This is a job that seriously deserves the Citroen badge the car wears.

It's actually starting to look like a car again !



seeya,
Shane L.

Ok,

I have got a little more back together of the last few nights...

squeeze the plastic lugs together on the base of the instrument panel (so they'll slot into there holes) and sit the instrument panel in the dash





To get the top nuts onto them, you will need to hold them into the socket (7mm, really small).... I used some bluetack. You WILL need one of these flexible extensions to get to the right hand nut. Possibly you will need to wrap some extra bluetack around the socket for extra weight, so the extension will bend down enough to allow you to screw the nuts on.




Now the wiring plugs arrowed need to be coming out under the instrument panel as they plug onto the displays and warning lights...... Guess what .....

Well that was a good practice run fitting the instrument panel, so whip it back out, remove the dash mounting bolts and you should be able to ease the wiring plugs up high .... sigh .... I do everything twice.... always....

Did I mention, when I fitted the dash subframe.... I CHECKED ABOUT 20TIMES THAT I HADN'T TRAPPED ANY WIRING CONNECTORS....'COS I SURE AS HELL WASN'T PULLING THE B@STARD BACK OUT TO FREE THEM !!



Don't bolt up the steering column without fitting the switches .... 'cos they can't be installed/removed with them inplace... (I love doing things twice).


That's not a bad nights work !

seeya,
Shane L.

OK, time for a break from being inside the car.

First I whipped the TX valve off and fitted the new green seals....



For the life of me I couldn't see what the hell the head on the TX valve studs were.... I went upto the local bearings shop and found the right socket in a part of one of the big Teng tool sets (ie: really, really expensive). The appeared to be called "E torx".

So I did a search on ebay for "E torx"... and found nothing, so I did a search for Torx and found some chinesse sets for about $40bux delivered... hmmm, I didn't think they went small enough though. These studs are 4mm Etorx, so I'm glad I didn't buy the chinesse sets.

I found this (I think it was a tool shop linked from ebay).

http://www.transquip.com.au

They have an e torx kingchrome set for about $40 including delivery. As soon as I saw them I realised these are also what I need to remove the wastegate and turbo exhaust stuff on the mighty CX too.... (I always thought I'd have to somehow destroy the fasteners if I ever needed to diss-assemble any of that).



You can see I did damage the heads on the studs last time I removed the studs, as I used vice grips on 'em



This is where the hoses meet off the evaporator with the TX removed.

Ok new seals for the hose plate.... lots of rubber grease for assembly again.



Once again this @#$#ing sh!t of a plate I couldn't line up to get backon... Words fail to describe how p!$$ed you get after an hour, and you have given up and found when you go inside, your hands are so weak you can barely hold you glass of beer :eek:
Showing the connector the sledge hammer in a (very) threatening manner didn't appear to help either.

Anyway I went out the next night again....



This is it without the rubber boot in place.... It should simply just slide on (yeah :cussing: right)

After another 20minutes spent verbalising my, er, enormous displeasure at it, the bloody thing suddenly just slipped on :confused:. Gee's you wouldn't want to be the sort that gives up easily grrrr.

I chucked the old receiver/dryier back on, and vac'd it down. It held the vacuum without loss for several days now. I won't gas it up yet, I'll get the car out of the shed, clean under the bonnet and whip the compressor off and change it's oil first.

fun and games for sure.

seeya,
Shane L.

Ok lets see how many challenges this car will want to present me with tonight...

OK, on with the steering column shrowds, switches, and trim....



Do not under any circumstances do the screws up tight, just let them touch down snugly and go no further. There is no strength there. I tried to glue the threaded bit of plastic back on to the steering column top shrowd. Dunno what plastic it is, but it doesn't talk to superglue or epoxy resin. Neither of them stick to it. I found by using a much longer screw I could grab the remaining bit of plastic.



As I plugged all the switche in ... I found I was one short .... DON'T TELL ME IT'S BOLTED IN UNDER THE DASH SUBFRAME LIKE I CHECKED 100times for :eek:



I can see it down here, the dash had snared it as it was slid into place.... Sigh... I love doing everything twice, I found when I removed all the dash mounting bolts from this side of the dash I could move it *just* enough to work/ease the switch plug out.

The centre console assembly has all just fitted back into place easily enough ( about now your incredibly thankful you labelled every single wiring connector and plug !).

I also installed the brake valve bracket and wiper mechanism back into the skuttle... I reckon one more solid night and I'll have it back together. The steering wheel will be the last thing refitted otherwise it'll be in the way.



seeya,
Shane L.

Hi Shane

Most of the XM plastic mouldings are ABS. A pot of standard plumbing ABS waste pipe cement will repair the broken and cracked bits easily and strongly.

Regards

John

Doh !!!!

I have a tub of that stuff in the shed too !!!

seeya,
Shane L.

Ok getting close now...



Pry the clips of the 'A' pillar trim and ensure the rubber strip that stops it vibrating against the screen doesn't fall off.



clip them into the A pillar making sure you contain the wiring harness.





These vents were a mess. One of them was missing the rubber bits that hold them together. If you look closely at how they work, you can put them back together so they swivel correctly.



Looking almost like a car again. The heater was blowing nice and warm by the time I backed it down off the ramps and out of the shed. I still need to fit the scuttle and wipers, but she's pretty much all done.

now to change all the fluids and dump some gas into the air-con. I should see about getting something done about those ugly daggy seat inserts that appear to stain very easily (they might be nice to sit in, but full leather would last much better).

seeya,
Shane L.