SOLD: 2.1TD MANUAL Estate, 58K miles Erm Bought!

[Peter.N.]

Hi Chris

I don't think you will find that it has anti sink, none of mine have, I think its only on the 2.5. The suspension dropping is quite normal as long as it doesn't do what my red one does, and that's drop almost immediatly you switch the engine off. it drives perfectly OK so I dont worry about it, its generally mileage related as there are lots of bits to wear, the white one which has done 150k will stay up overnight.

I have comfort spheres fitted to the hatch and estate, the ride comfort is improved but the hatch tends to pitch on undulating roads but the estate rides more level. The hatch suspension seems much softer at the back and of course uses different spheres, the estate ones being beefier.

Dean

The 2.1 engine is a much improved version of the 1.9. The 12 valve head gives much better torque at low speeds and will keep pulling down to about 1200 rpm which I think is much of the reason for its econmy. Christine has a 1.9 ZX which although being a lighter car, wont return the fuel consumption that the 2.1 does and needs much higher revs to extract any power. The higher torque means that it can be have longer gearing which of course not only makes it more economical but also quieter.

The redesigned cylinder head has much more efficient cooling, you may remember that the 1.9s were not renowned for their tolerance to being boiled, as often as not it resulted in head gasket failure and quite frequently a cracked head. Part of the problem was air being trapped in the head especially after draining, the 2.1 has completely overcome this problem by having the thermostat in the return - which makes it a pig to change, but I think its well worth it. I have boiled two of mine with no after effects and I have never heard of one of these heads crack - there is always a first time of course

Peter

[citroenmad]

Hi Dean, i cant say i was aware of there being two power out puts for the 2.0 8Vs. The manual 2.0 16V would do over 40MPG on a run, which was quite amasing and noticably more than the auto. The auto does around 22MPG around town though.

The 16v does pull quite well low down, although it really gets into its stride at 4K rpm, especially the manual car. It sounds nice too but if your wanting a quick acceleration then it does need to be reved to get the most from it, but then all petrols do. Its nice to see how the TD compares and not have to rev it to make good progress, since i usually drive diesels reving a petrol high seems odd to me at first. Im more of a diesel person actually, i usually perfer the drive of a diesel car so the 2.1 really appeals to me, im looking forward to driving it more.

Peter, all Xms have an antisink sphere? Well all S2 cars anyway. Its quite a pain to get to as its above the rear subframe if i remember rightly, so this usually gets overlooked or forgotten about. Both of the 2.0 hatchbacks have anti sink and a sphere, the silver one used to sink down at first, even though the sphere was good and we fitted a new antisink valve, that didnt cure it either. After using the car for a weekend it started working and never sank down again. Since the Xms dont get used daily i usually always park them up in low when they are to be stood for a few days or weeks, but its nice to have everything working as it should.

After over 24 hours the car wasnt flat on the floor, about half way between normal and low it didnt take long to come back to normal with it started though. So i would think its the anti sink sphere is low on gass, either that or the valve is not working properly, which i wouldnt think likely as it would go down faster than it does.

Id say the estate rides similar to the hatch, although slightly stiffer but then we keep a close eye on the hatch spheres and regass them. Since the estate has new ones and the 3 dimple ones it should be at the right pressure.

Chris.

[Dean]

Hi chris

There was three or maybe 4 outputs for the 8v, cant find the citroen thingy i saw on the web now but im sure Bosal post the same data in their online exhaust catalogue i noticed the other day, interestingly the estate 2l 8v only ever came as 130bhp, probably because it didnt appear untill late on in the mk1 production run when the Bosch management was used???

D

[Peter.N.]

Hi Chris

The sphere in the centre above the rear suspension is the hydractive sphere, the one responsible for the soft ride, and yes, it is very often overlooked, its almost a waste of time changing the outer ones unless that one is changed as well. The anti sink sphere is an extra one at the rear, giving a total count of four. I have never seen a 2.1 with it fitted though.

Peter

[citroenmad]

Very odd, i was sure all S2 Xms have anti sink

This is where it is on the 2.0 hacth:



Top left of the picture, tucked out of the way, with the centre soft sphere in the middle.

Ill have a look at the estate later today, see if that has one. Doesnt look to be easily seen though.

Chris.

[jonathan_dyane]

Very odd, i was sure all S2 Xms have anti sink Ill have a look at the estate later today, see if that has one. Doesnt look to be easily seen though.

Rather than getting under the back end, it would be easier to determine if it has anti-sink by looking under the bonnet.

Single output HP and FDV = sinker.

Dual output HP and no FDV = anti-sink.

[hobblerian]

My 2.1 S2 Saloon has antisink fitted or are we talking estate only?

[Peter.N.]

All my XMs have had the single output pump, maybe its only the 2.1s. By what hobblerian says perhaps its only on the late ones, I gather his is a '97, most of mine are '96s made in '95.

Peter

[citroenmad]

Indeed your right Peter, there is no anti-sink sphere hiding under there!

Although it seems to stay up rather well, when the anti-sink wasnt working on the silver hatch it only took around 10 hours to sit down, but this estate still wasnt in low after over 24 hours. So it must have some way of helping stay at the correct height?

First ive heard of some S2 cars without an antisink sphere.

Anyway, we have been spending some time doing things with the estate today, firstly put a forte engine flush in and gave it a run around town, then drained the oil, changed the filter and filled with mobil diesel oil. We also changed the fuel filter, which looked to be original, lots of water in the bottom and rust which took a bit of cleaning out. Before putting the filter case back on we stuck in a forte diesel treatment in with the filter.

Then i had a good look at its tyres, got the spare out which is used but ok, the jack and packaging is there as it should be. So i pumped the tyre up and stuck it back under, after checking for an anti sink sphere, which wasnt there. All looks very clean and tidy under there though.

Took it to get some tyres, went with Pirelli P6000s in the end, same as we had put on the silver hatch and i really liked them. In my opinion they are better than Michelins. Well i like the Michelin E3A Energys, but the new energysavers on my C5 are not a good tyre, too soft and squidgy, always look flat, scrub off the edges early on and really make the steering very very numb. So i didnt want those again and couldnt get the E3As as the tyre fitter is no longer able to get them, so the PIrellis it was. Never had any problems with grip on the silver hatch and i doubt i will with this, very good tyres, i quite like Pirellis.

So it now has one very good Michelin E3A on the rear and one of its original michelins still, which i must get round to changing but the tyre fitter only had two pirellis and the good michelin is good. The new pirellis are on the front, as the rears dont match at the moment and i dont like crossing brands on the driven axel.

After that we set about lowering the front ride height slightly, which was a tiny bit high, looks better now with it the correct height. Then we waxoiled the underside after checking on the pipes, which are in very good condition. So hopefully that will make it lask a little longer

Chris.

[Peter.N.]

Hi Chris

The length of time the suspension stay up is dependent on several things, the condition of the height correctors, the suspension cylinders themselves and the electro valves, if its just the back that goes down could also be the brake valve, if it doesn't drop instantly I wouldn't worry about it.

I try and find the tyres that give the most comfortable ride, that's all I'm concerned about really, I don't drive fast enough to worry about anything else.

Peter