well, after a gap of 5 years i find myself back in the gently undulating world of Citroen again.

the new purchase is secretly sought after, but currently forced on me after major hassles with a 05 vectra c ECU .... still in intensive care after 8 weeks. originally given as a loaner, its a 2.5td S2 estate with "ahem" 44k miles ??!! as can happen when in the company of striking beauties, i fell in love , and bought her.

she's been pretty much idle since 2006, and completely laid up since 2009. obviously this gave rise to some idiosyncrasies (on the vectra they are problems, on the xm their "quaint") .... door lock barrels seized , plip not working .... all resolved now. also sunroof a teeny bit open , and motor is uninterested in closing it(though whirring away) judging by the forum, a very common problem ... we'll wait til the good weather ... no water seem to be getting in so ...

OK , so some things i'm not familiar with yet , perhaps ye can help :

1) The A/C controls (push button) trip out when the dipped beam tries to engage, along with the dipped beam, and the heated rear window ... clicking coming from the fuse box .... i cleaned the relays behind the P/S lamp ... in varying degrees of deterioration ... initially found 3 in the bracket , and another 2 , one behind each lamp in a loose wiring sub loom ... all no help.

2) the fuel gauge reads simultaneously full and fuel warning lamp flashing ... very occasionally seems to give a true reading ... already run outta diesel twice in 2 weeks

3) neither front nor rear fogs work

4) all interior lamps work , but none of the three in the boot ... whats that about ??

5) shockingly the drivers window drops as if its free from mechanism ... from posts here i'm guessing Citroen used some convoluted cable mechanism which gives problems

6) some rust issues with bodywork ... nothing major ... rain runoff mostly

7) when its been raining , the passenger foot-well seems to get wet from behind the dash , on preliminary inspection water seems to sit in the bulkhead under the windscreen , i'm guessing this is dripping through the vents , and is gathering as a result of a blocked drain ??

thanks ..... colin

• 97 xantia 1.9TD killed by a Pug when running great on 430k
• 93 S class 320 converted to 300d : retired with 370k with a rotten floor
• 96 XM 2.5TD estate with 44k ??? new challenge

Hi Colin

Welcome to Club-XM.
From your profile it seems that high mileage Citroens are more your thing.
The low mileage ones are never any good particularly 2.5 estates.
All the items you mention are terminal.
I will collect it for only a charge of £50 wherever you are in the UK.

Seriously, the pass footwell water will most likely turn out to be leaves blocking the scuttle drain hole or a washer filler cap lid that has broken off and got dropped in the scuttle. Drain hole is out near the wing. If blocked the water builds up until there is enough to run into footwell. It does this through the air inlet fan running all over the electrics. This often upsets the climate control system.
Also check out F2 in the engine bay fuse box. This is a under rated particularly in XM's with aircon. It regularly runs hot damaging the fuse contacts as well as the fuse.
There should be a little tool to wind the sunroof manually. usually found clipped near the main fuse box. Instructions are in the owners manual which if you are lucky will still be in the lid of the main fuse box.
On fuel you should get at least 600 miles of mixed driving from a full tank.
Reset the trip counter each time you fill up, put a round amount of fuel say 20, 40, 60 ltrs etc and use the trip counter as a temporary fuel gauge.

Let us know how you get on.

Best regards

John

Hi Colin,

Welcome to club-xm.

I see you've already got your feet under the table with your signature, well done. Thats the first hurdle overcome. We'll have the rest of those faults fixed in no time. Just outline any details in the appropriate section (sounds mostly electrical to begin with ) and you'll almost certainly find someone has been there before you. Wiring diagrams are available for most circuits so it shouldn't be too difficult.

cheers

noz

thanks XMexclusive , not entirely sure your motives are pure ??

Ye'll need to be patient with me , used to muck about with cars a lot , but outta practice , and 'fraid of Electrics , probably something this car will cure me of i fear

Hi Colin

Pure, of course not.
For me the only XM is a 2.5 and I prefer estates.
Not got one with mileage as low as yours though.
Irish car prices are a bit high for me then there is the ferry cost.
Have a friend your side of the water who may well be able to supply a window winder.
I will prompt him to post here if he can help.

Best regards

John

that would be great John , feckin window is driving me nuts

Hi Colin,

PM Sent.

not seeing it , am i doing something wrong ?? inbox empty ??

There have been some problems with lost PM's recently.
Robert will find a way to contact you.
He has some SH winders and a few wire repair kits.

John

I think I sent an e-mail instead of a PM. We got in touch in the end.