Citroen XM Forum

Julianw wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 24, 2023 7:43 pm

Caution: Personal opinion follows

The only reason to part out an XM is for unrepairable/uneconomic-to-repair rust to the shell.

I appreciate an engine out job is not to be taken on lightly, but it shouldn't be the end for the car.

Good luck getting this sorted. I'm sure help will be forthcoming from this forum. I'll pitch in as best I can...

Thanks for your response, I agree with you. The car is too good to scrap. Cheers…

Id hazard a guess that steering box they mean pinion valve leaking.. that can be changed in situ.. in fact, I wonder if the pinion valve is removed then the rack will come out from behind the engine put the side of the arch.. thats a thought..

Thanks for all of this Paul, it is appreciated. As you say, a lot of the failure points are not serious and are just bits and pieces. The big issue is wether the rack can be taken out, without removing the engine, or dropping the subframe. I can get a reconditioned rack for about £270, which in the scheme of things isn’t bad. I found a thread on the forum about removing the rack but as you say, I am not sure if the same technique will work on the V6?

The engine doesn't need to come out to remove the rack and the V6 is one of the easier powerplants to do this job. The Turbo diesels are the most awkward, but still possible.
From experience, the easiest way is to loosen the subframe front bolts, remove the side stays and rear bolts, undo the rack from the column and subframe and it will wiggle out.
I thought Pleaides had already done work to rectify the steering leak?

The rest is detail, hydraulic pipe, pair of front brake flexis, sort the parking brake, indicator, repeater and washer jets.

Barry and Peter at Bourne Citroen Centre will sort all this.

Dieselman wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:31 am

The engine doesn't need to come out to remove the rack and the V6 is one of the easier powerplants to do this job. The Turbo diesels are the most awkward, but still possible.
From experience, the easiest way is to loosen the subframe front bolts, remove the side stays and rear bolts, undo the rack from the column and subframe and it will wiggle out.
I thought Pleaides had already done work to rectify the steering leak?

The rest is detail, hydraulic pipe, pair of front brake flexis, sort the parking brake, indicator, repeater and washer jets.

Barry and Peter at Bourne Citroen Centre will sort all this.

Thank you for this. According to Peter, the subframe bolts are very rusty. Are these undone in order to drop the subframe? I will have a look at Bourne Citroen Centre, are you also saying you think they could deal with the steering rack? Cheers…

Oh dear, Google is saying Bourne Citroen Centre is permanently closed. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Hi Derek,
By strange coincidence I've had a quick word with Barry Annells this morning. He said he can't promise anything but to give you his number, which I will pm.
They are very much still in business but under a different name.
Best regards,
Jon

Dieselman wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:31 am

The engine doesn't need to come out to remove the rack and the V6 is one of the easier powerplants to do this job. The Turbo diesels are the most awkward, but still possible.
From experience, the easiest way is to loosen the subframe front bolts, remove the side stays and rear bolts, undo the rack from the column and subframe and it will wiggle out.
I thought Pleaides had already done work to rectify the steering leak?

The rest is detail, hydraulic pipe, pair of front brake flexis, sort the parking brake, indicator, repeater and washer jets.

Barry and Peter at Bourne Citroen Centre will sort all this.

Pleaides have already fixed a leak on the rack but apparently didn’t do anything about another leak and a split boot. I don’t know why this is, as I only get information 2nd hand, as Peter took the car in. I am surprised they fixed 1 leak and didn’t flag up the other issues. I would have thought they would have recommended a reconditioned rack. I am also surprised that they don’t want to quote for the job now, even though the car is with them. They also worked on the suspension hydraulic system which has another leak flagged up on the fail sheet and I thought they had sorted all of the leaks. As I say, it’s not me talking to them directly, so I am trying not to be too harsh with them.

Rusty bolt heads is as far as the rust goes as the bolts are inside for the threads I've never had an issue with any of the bolts into the floor the two front ones are more exposed on the thread nose and can be a bit more challenging but they aren't a concern at this point.

Thanks for all of the help and advice. I had a good chat with Barry Annells today and the XM is going over to him next week. I also spoke to Pleaides and they said they didn’t do anything on the rack, as it wasn’t leaking when they looked at it? Barry thinks he maybe able to repair the rack without removing it but he won’t know until he gets the car. He is also going to look at the suspension fluid leak etc. he seems lik a good guy, so I am hoping he can fettle these issues, without breaking the bank. Feeling better about things today. Thanks to everyone