Rob's SED Now V6 Exclusive

[ragger]

All I am saying is that it happened in the car park of Dallas Carpets.

I was surprised to discover, once the blue air had cleared, that what I had taken to be a frame was in fact flexible rather than rigid.

Doh!

Rob

[CitroJim]

All I am saying is that it happened in the car park of Dallas Carpets.

Ahh OK. My imagination can do the rest Rob

[ragger]

I don't know about the rest of the world but we have had a super day up here in the bleak north east. An excellent day for fettling!

I spent the morning fiddling about with polish and various other lotions and potions from my Christmas Autoglym Gift Pack. The bumper and exterior plastic trim lotion did a fab job on the less than perfect "chrome" trim inserts, at first it felt like I may have discovered the cure for all the world's ills, but unfortunately the full effect was short-lived. Nonetheless the car is looking pretty good today.

I might have taken some pics but Chris arrived with a kind offer to help me fit the replacement height control lever assembly that Robert kindly supplied. It soon transpired that my role in this was to supply tea and coffee while Chris set about the work. It also became clear that actually it was a bit more difficult than initially hoped and in the end the entire central console had to be released to create enough room to refit the replacement part. However, that is another job now ticked off the original "to do" list from when the car was purchased; the only thing now left on that list is the glove box catch. I really couldn't have manged without Chris today and I am very grateful to him.

Chris also let me have a go in his Rover "Grandadmobile" a first for me as I don't think I have previously driven a Rover of any description. It was quite a pleasant experience, considering it is not a high spec model. The seats are supportive and quite comfy but the covering material is a bit naff. There is something of the tardis in reverse about it to my mind in that externally it seems a big car but when you are in it it is quite cosy and you seem well insulated from the outside world. It certainly seems well screwed together with no nasty knocks or rattles. I also like the look of the retro dials and clocks but I think that in use it would take a mile or two to adjust to the oval rather than round shape of the speedo. All in all an interesting car and quite pleasant too.

Getting back to the SED, I wasn't happy with the audio sound so I took a look at the front door speakers today and they're both completely shot, so it looks like I shall be shopping for those. On the up side, however, I now have fully working washers and silent wipers for the first time! The wiper motor replacement had been a success but then the driver's side washer jet decided to stop playing. Fortunately it proved to be a simple conglomeration of black gunge that was causing the blockage and that is now dealt with.

I am really looking forward to an end to salty roads so that I can make greaer use of the beast. In any case, I shall give it another 600 mile outing next week end to go and see the aged parents down south.

Rob

[CitroJim]

Excellent Rob Chris is good isn't he He was a great help top me with my Prestige and made a journey all the way down to here just to spend the day helping out. I'll never forget it and own him big-time...

It's been lovely here, both yesterday and today. Almost like spring Good use was made of it as you can see in my post in this section. Mostly not XM and mostly not even Citroen even but interesting none the less...

[ragger]

Tricky buggers, aren't they - our cars?

Having spent a full day fiddling and fettling yesterday, along with congratulating myself on having achieved working wipers and washers, I went to bed content. Today, however, it decided not to play. There was no starting to be done and the symptoms suggested that the hours spent yesterday working on the interior with doors open had drained the battery, so the boss's Multipla was called into service to provide a bit of a boost. Still nothing. On removing the jump leads it was apparent that the negative earth lead was not secure to the terminal and there was no possibility for further nipping up. Fortunately this has turned out to be a cheap repair and one I could do myself; a replacement terminal was purchased from Halfrauds and the old one separated from the leads. Replacement installed and with a little help again from one of Italy's finest she fired up with enthusiasm.

I gave her a bit of a run out and thought I would just make use of the wash/wipe, because I could - only I couldn't. Well not all of it anyway! The blockages have now transferred themselves to the previously functional passenger side jets, so it looks like I shall be dismantling the scuttle again before too long. Hey ho.

At least it now has a nice height control lever in place - and it works.

Rob

[CitroJim]

Tricky buggers, aren't they - our cars?

Tell me about it Rob Yesterday I treat my Xantia V6 to new discs and pads and today she shows her appreciation by splitting her radiator and sitting in a blue puddle

[ragger]

Another good day today in that the new battery clamp seems to have sorted out the starting issue, and two more improvements - one organised and one achieved. :-0

The one planned is a replacement innner rear screen sorted out by Will for the X Rally and the one achieved is the replacement of the front speakers which I discovered were completely shot the other day. I ordered some Pioneer TS-G1721i 17cm Dual Cone Speakers from Amazon on Saturday night and they arrived at lunchtime today (Monday) and are now fitted and working. They are a good price at £25-57 and seem to provide perfectly adequate performance in a 20 year old diesel. All I need now is a cheap CD changer fitted and my in car entertainment will be sorted. Actually I don't find that I use the radio a great deal, maybe that will change now there are some proper speakers in place.

Rob

[ragger]

I did a 600 mile round trip over the weekend to visit Mum and Dad in Gloucestershire and agin found the XM ideally suited to the task in hand, especially as it returned 45 mpg. Unfortunately, the car is now sitting on the drive covered in salt and other motorway crap and I really want to get it cleaned off and looking like my car again.

The only oddity I experienced was to do with the indicators. It was really rather strange in that suddenly out of nowhere the relay started clicking wildly when the indicators were cancelled; it didn't matter whether I had been indicating left or right. The indicators themselves were functioning as they should, or so I believe. In total this lasted for about 24 hours and to be honest I was pretty worried about the drive home as that kind of ticking would soon have driven me up the wall, even with the new speakers functioning well. However once I joined the M5 at Stroudwater the problem went away and so far has not returned - but then the car has spent most of its time on the drive becaue of the OMYGODSNOKAOS! We shall see.

Looking forward to the X Rally in a couple of weeks - surely the weather will be better by then... I wonder if Vince would like to clean up my engine bay at the rally , have you seen the magic he has performed on his own and other folks cars including a Clio?

I'm still thinking about a change from my Hyundai but haven't made any decisions as yet. There have been a couple of very nice Renault 4s on the Bay recently but unfortunately they don't fit my criteria at present. I'm currently tempted by a low mileage and one owner Xsara HDI in Doncaster but I am sure other members of the family would prefer something more modern. I quite fancy a C4 as they seem relatively well specced and cheap to insure whereas the older diesels still appear to have a premium attached to them.

Rob

[CitroJim]

Gosh Is the X rally that soon

Indicators Rob; Xantias suffer terribly from this and it's caused by conductive dust in the stalk bridging the contacts. I expect it's the same problem.

Often a blast of compressed air brings relief but if again, if like Xantia ones they can be dismantled and cleaned...

The XM is definitely the car for a journey

[ragger]

Nice to have a sunny day to get the XM washed: the snow even held off until I'd finished, don't think it will get leathered today though.

Rob