Replacing dash & facia bulbs

[Tony-D]

My car is a bit different, it was bought direct from Citroen, Paris via Citroen at Berkley Square, London. The reason was, I needed the car to have a French specification and that could not be provided via a UK Dealer. It was purchased in 1992, but seems to have a lot of facilities that don't match up to any similar model I have viewed. It has the FULL specification for extras including the Digital Climate Control, leather, sunroof, twin cooling fans, Manual 5 speed box, The XUD11 A TE engine, Alloy Wheels Colour coordinated mirrors which are electric and the list goes on! It was suggested by a main dealer in the UK that perhaps it was really for the V6 market and happened to be nearly finished when I ordered so they put the diesel engine in it!!

I have the task of replacing most of the bulbs in the fascia, plus the Radio which is the Clarion PC302. Have finished the Radio, but non of the reference books I have seem to address this one. I haven't got enough information to dissemble the dash, Central Console or door switches - Any ideas?

[Peter.N.]

Hi Tony

Welcome to the club. I haven't removed a Mk1 instrument panel for some time but its pretty similar to the Mk2 which I can have out in about 10 minutes or less now, having done it a few times, its mainly a question of knowing where all the screws are. Paul, citroenxm does a lot of Mk1s so I expect he will be along to help shortly.

Peter

[xmexclusive]

Hi Tony

The Mk1 dash comes to bits by releasing a series of plastic clips.
These are fairly flimsey and more importantly hidden.
They break easily particularly in the cold this time of year.
Knowing where and how to release and lever apart is well worth researching.
Diving straight in usually results in that breakage problem for reassembly.
Someone with recent Mk1 experience will be along fairly soon.
If it is the bulbs in the instrument panel that need changing then this releases seperately without needing to take the main dash to bits.
The instrument frame and hood has a bolt either side of the instruments.
These bolts are hidden under black plastic flush caps.
With these removed pulling gently on the hood should release the frame completely.
The instrument panel edges are now exposed.
There are two fixing bolts at the top and another two across the bottom.
It should now be possible to pull the instrument panel forward a little.
There will be the speedo drive cable to release and some electrical plugs.
The speedo drive on your car is a square wire one.
The plastic collar on the cable just behind the speedo is pushed back to release the cable.
The electrical plugs are along the bottom edge of the instrument panel.
The plug and sockets are colour coded to prevent reassembly errors.
Each plug has a small plastic release prong at its centre.
The aircon panel is held in place by small metal spring clips.
It is released by careful levering in the join at its base.
Once it springs out the bulbs can be replace without unplugging the electrical connections.

John

[Dieselman]

The only thing I would add to that is that to remove the binnacle housing you need to pry the edge up over the plastic dash panel before pulling straight backwards towards the steering wheel.

[Tony-D]

Many thanks for the reply and sorry its taken a while to reply as unfortunately my new password was being dumped as Spam!! Yes that is the information I want regarding the clips location, I managed to find them for the Digital Climate Control and the main Dash, but now its most of the warning light's and central console as well!

By the way is it common for the climate control to fail? I have not had mine working properly since it was converted to R134a!! Blower goes full speed and no air comes out is the big problem.

[xmexclusive]

Blower full speed is usually a blown darlington transistor on the fan control module.
Fan is under the passenger dash and drops by removing 3 screws.
Plenty of posts on here for module repair or replacement.

John

[Tony-D]

Blower full speed is usually a blown darlington transistor on the fan control module.
Fan is under the passenger dash and drops by removing 3 screws.
Plenty of posts on here for module repair or replacement.

John

Thanks John - Will have a look into that, it was fine until it froze one day and then is worked OK once the mist cleared. Since they converted it to the new gas it just isn't what it should be, works halfheartedly for about 30 minutes and that's your lot, great being as I spend most of my time in the S. of France - its cooler with the windows open!

[Tony-D]

Hi John - Just to update you, it appears the fault with the Digital Climate Control isn't that simple. Citroen of Toulouse are going to "interrogate" its little brain with their confuser next week to diagnose the offending bits!

Regards Tony

[Tony-D]

Hi - As stated in my last post, the XM has been to the main Citroen garage at Toulouse for a diagnostic check on the Digital Climate Control, the result is interesting! The result was a joint causing a leak which is going to cost €0.30 and €118.00 for the test and labour to fit!! A lesson to be learned here, I have already spent over €300 at an Air-conditioning Specialist with a negative result

My original Post was "Difficult to define XM" and perhaps this will shed some light on it, the main Citroen Garage have stated quite categorically that this car is a MK II which I find amazing. I bought the car new direct from Citroen Paris in January 1993 and explained the circumstances in the first Post. Superficially it looks like a MK I including the grill, but Citroen are adamant it is not, hence my confusion.They (the garage)

Hi John - Just to update you, it appears the fault with the Digital Climate Control isn't that simple. Citroen of Toulouse are going to "interrogate" its little brain with their confuser next week to diagnose the offending bits!

Regards Tony

feel that because of the urgency in providing my order, a later car was taken from a future assembly line and fitted to near my spec. That I cant comment on as I am not familiar with their operation, but it does have a lot of features associated with another model. So my apologies to all for the confusion

[xmexclusive]

Citroen traditionally used the French market and trusted regular customers to evaluate significant preproduction changes.
Much of these changes were done as small production batches and well documented in the workshop manual.
An example is Multiplexing where even by the end of XM production no UK cars were fitted.
There were regular batches of Multiplexed cars for the french market the first being some Mk1 TD's in late 1993.
Similarly Hydractive 2 suspension and redesigned R134a airconditioning were introduced at a similar 1993 date.
A VIN search of the Citroen records should list the full details of your car.
Someone on here will no doubt do this for you or tell you how to do so directly.

John