Yes geroge.. of course, its an LHD car... thats what the strange un recognised item is..



Rgds
Paul

Hi cmacedo,

Congratulations on what looks like a pretty good XM 'find' and good luck with getting it up and running again.

As others have commented, the reasons for fitting the strut top straps are intriguing when the tops appear to be in excellent condition. I presume that the straps must have been fitted fairly early in the cars short driving life - I wonder who supplied and fitted them.

I checked your VIN number on the Citroen Service website and the attached Word file is a copy of the vehicle characteristics which you may find useful.

Regards

Ken

PS Sorry the table hasn't turned out properly formatted - I'll try again!

2nd version now attached - hope this is decipherable!!

This seems to work (thanks Robert!)

Right click on doc file below and 'Save target as' to your desktop (index.htm)
Right click on index.htm and select 'Open with' then 'Microsoft Word'

Hi Ken,

If I double click on file I get jumble of symbols and words. If I right click and do a save as , name, and save as htm document. Then right click on the saved file and open with Word the format is as original but missing all info below "Fuel Supply Engine"
If I do a save as, name, and type .wrd after it, also select "file type" as all files and then <save> Then right click on the saved as file, then under "open with" select Word for windows I get all the information in paragraph order but without the lined boxes. This is perfectly ok.
Thought this might help others with my low level of computer literacy. I got there by trial and error. Apologies to the computer savvy, is there is an easier way the likes of me might arrive at ALL the information AND the original format? Just curious.

Robert.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for that Robert!! I'm sure someone will tell me what I'm doing wrong!!

Regards

Ken

Hi Ken,

I think you did very well as I got the complete information in a useful format. It is much better than my efforts to obtain a file of similar information for my own car off the Citroen site. I ended up printing off the information piecemeal in the end!

Regards,

Robert.

That's a sweet looking car. I'm going to get some plastic coat rated chain to contain the struts on mine here... (ie: just weld the chain to a tag that can be bolted down !). I might even use D shackles instead of welding to make removal easier.

It might pay to hose the car off, that's the same metalic green as mine .... Look how it ages .............. Hopefully yours has been resprayed at some point !



Does that motor has shitty cambelts in place of proper chains ? If so it might pay to replace them ASAP !!

seeya,
Shane L.

George, Ken, Paul, Robert, Shane and everybody else

thanks for your help.
Tomorrow I'll talk to the dealer, asking about the damn strap!
The problem: the car is in the garage level and there's a very bad ramp, how can I tow from there w/o engine? The towing truck doesnt have access to the parking lot, its impossible to raise the susp to avoid crashing underneath. Any tips?
Shane, I dont know much about the engine, but I suppose its a belt drive cam.

camacedo

No The engine is a CHAIN drive, so with that low milage theres no worries there....

Try and fit a FULLY charged battery on her and get her started...

Rgds
Paul

as Paul says, the engine is the original 90-degree V6 (PRV) and is chain drive, so shold be ok. Assuming it has been turned over reasonble often, then hopefully the chains wil be in good order and the engine not seizing. As it turns over then it's probably ok.

Try a good fresh heavy duty battery as suggested. When you first turn the key to 'ignition', do you hear the fuel pump whirring briefly (it's under the rear seat) probably hear it better standing at the rear of the car, filler cap side.

Re-seat the electrical connections on the coil and ignition amp, check the plugs and then try starting. Should turn over freely, if you can, check for sparks to be sure the ignition is operating ok. May be worth checking compressions while the spark plugs are out.

What is the fuel level like? If it has sat for a long time, then it maybe worth draining the tank and refilling with fresh fuel too, as it can go stale. If the level is low, maybe just adding fuew would do it.

The suspension needs to be raised, which may be possible using an electric motor connected to the HP pump via belt, but would need a powerful motor and a lot of care. You just might be able to do this on the starter motor, but would take time and put a lot of strain on the starter, so probably not a good idea.

good luck getting her started
Dave

Shane

do you have more pics of your open dash? How to replace a dot matrix`s bulb?
cheers

From my modest year-long experience with V6, here's the checklist I would go through by only looking and listening without opening anything:

ENGINE
- check for oil leaks or splatters on seals
- listen for smooth running, there should be no faint rattling of distributor chain nor hydraulic lifters clicking
- depending on battery capacity, the engine should start up after 2-4 revs
- automatic choke should hold it above 1.000 RPM when cold
- idle should be around 900 rpm
- check vacuums: after releasing throttle, it should return down to idle and stabilize quickly
- depending on weather in your country, operating temperature should not exceed 100-105 C under normal driving regime

HYDRAULICS
- the car should rise smoothly and prefferably with both ends at a time
- clicking should be at 30 sec max (any longer interval is a bingo!)
- look for eventual green fluid leaks underneath the car which was static overnight
- observe how fast the car sinks when off - should easily survive overnight

With all above OK, chances are you got a nice specimen which you can now safely board on. We'll be here, waiting for your next question about some strange fault coming out of the blue!

judging by how long the car has sat - by the covering of dust, I would EXPECT the tappets to rattle for a short while whislt they build up the pressure again...As long as they go quiet after a couple of minutes or so..

Smoke, of course, none except while "steam" type smoke from cold starting.

I cant really see whay at about 40k miles why the chains should rattle ... I could be wrong though, but I wouldnt expect it unless its NEVER had an oil change..

Rgds
paul

I found a record at dealer, will post later, last maintenance was in 2003, changed spheres. The owner is a rich guy, never saved on maintenance (well, to keep a car almost five years without even looking at it, parked far from home, and paying for the lot!!!)