G'day from Australia

[Dieselman]

I would just crank it over and dribble some petrol down the intake to get it fired up. It may even run properly once it's been warmed.

[Salman]

Thanks Rob,
Will be going to it on Saturday,last weekend the battery went flat after trying.My late friend said he could not start it,but never got to diagnosing.Glad he had it covered with old bedsheet and canvas,kept the vicious australian sun away.

[Dieselman]

Glad he had it covered with old bedsheet and canvas,kept the vicious australian sun away.

We have the same problem here.

[Dean]

Its worse down here, im closer to the vicious Australian sun........

D

[Dieselman]

LOL...

[Salman]

Pilgrim's progress:
Thanks to Matthew for inj wiring diagram,I checked the relays work ok,got fuel pressure at Rail,pulse at injectors and spark.It did want to start when I sprayed quick start in throttle,so I think injectors are clogged due to 8 years of sitting.Sadly starter died,so will get picked by tilt tray to a workshop.I noticed two bits of wiring chopped off near the ecu housing,as seen in photo the green and gray wires,can anyone kindly look in their early V6 and tell me what is missing.

[Dean]

Ive not looked into it yet but the V6 i bought had a whole bunch of green wires that look like the plug has been hacked of them just like it shows in yuour picture, it still ran ok and dont seem to be part of the engine loom so ive not given it any attention.

Did you find a small green wire that had been cut off one of the relays in the ecu box?

D

[Salman]

Hi Dean,
The single cut piece is a dodgy pin I replaced on one of the relays.

[Salman]

Good news after four weekends of work, flushed stale fuel, the out of curiosity removed distributor cap and found carbon contact jammed in and cracks in cap.It is same as BMW 320 and Alfa 164, replaced along with rotor.Last weekend the starter died, it was a struggle getting to it with car sitting on pavement, found the "expert" that worked on it last tightened only one bolt, one other was finger tight and third was 5cm loose, had a 406 2.0 starter, I swapped the front housing and it works fine.Removed injectors and found one blocked, the others were not spraying well, intensive cleaning fixed all.Checked compression to be ok.I had noticed the pulse on injectors to be weak compared to same engine in my 605 Peugeot, so recrimped the earth eyelets of injector wiring and added an extra direct to battery -ve .Started up well, what a relief, as my late friend had it for 8 years and never got it to run.I highly recommend this extra earth link and recrimping for petrol early V6s.Now main concern is the height control being stuck in normal position, I think its rusted, will get on hoist to check.Sphere pressures, two rack boots and a service.To get a quick Idea of Spheres on BX when pushed down the car moves soft and is this how XM should feel while pushing down by hand?

[Jan-hendrik]

To get a quick Idea of Spheres on BX when pushed down the car moves soft and is this how XM should feel while pushing down by hand?

You've got to develop kind of a feel for this test. I owned and drove BX TRS19 and BX GTi for 7 years and since XM V6-12 and currently have an XM V6-24. Pushing down on the front with engine running and at normal height it should move down smoothly a couple of inches, but you need a little more force than needed for the BX, I think. Pressing down the rear, like with the BX, proportionately less force is required It seems you've been making great progress with your XM 1. Good on ya!