1998 2.1 VSX Auto new project

[citroenxm]

The pressure in the rear struts is locked in by the anti sink valve.. its mechical. It won't open to release the strut pressure until the anti sink sees system pressure on the feed side from pump.. or height corrector..

Only way to release it is to crack off a sphere very slowly until its seal pops and then let the fluid drain out from between the sphere and cylinder..

[citroenxm]

Had a bit of a move around today after replacing some pipes on the G reg Si. The very leaky 2.1 auto is now in the workshop on axle stands ready for the pipes to be checked. It was spewing LHM everywhere but strangely the back end is still up. I was going to release the pressure but couldn't even see the valve behind all the cooling pipes etc.
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The underside (including the pipes) is covered in underseal and it looks like most of the pipes will need changing. One of them has been flared but is still quite badly corroded about 6" further up. This was quite a contrast to the S1 car where the pipes were sound except for one small patch at the back.

Once the subframe is down I'll hopefully have a better idea of what's going on. I also had it running for the first time today, which was encouraging, although the ignition switch / starter wasn't 100% reliable. Another job to put on the list!

Looking at those pipes they are dire.. our m reg mega miler pipes are in far better order and I've only fitted a couple of front to back.. one brake (4.5mm in kunifer) and a suspension one 3.5mm I think also kunifer..

[Dieselman]

I find that the newer an Xm is, the less well rust protected it is generally.
Series 1and erly series 2 cars, the pipes rarely fail, later S2 cars fail fairly often.

I suspect there was some cost reduction taking place during the manufacturing life cycle.

[Citjon]

Managed to get a couple of hours in this evening to drop the subframe and found a few nasty surprises.

The sills are pretty solid, as is most of the underside, but where the rust has started it has really taken hold. The pipes appear to be sound again inside the plastic tray so I'll probably join them there.
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The previous patch repair at the back of the offside sill also needs redoing while I'm at it.

[Dieselman]

It looks like the rust has been present for some time and the only remedial work has been to patch it once it needed it.

A rub down and paint would have saved most of that.

[Citjon]

Does anyone have a photo of the anti sink valve and pipework? This is fortunately the only pipe that has been removed and I want to make sure the routing is correct. I think it just follows the pipe above over the top of the subframe.
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The rear sphere pipes are also badly corroded and will need to be replaced. Other than this it just needs a good clean up and rust treatment in various places where the underseal has lifted.
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[citroenxm]

Havent got an actually picture but this diagram is fairly accurate for showing which pipe from which port goes where..

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[Dieselman]

Not sure if this image will help.



Judging by the rust on those rear strut pipes, that car has been parked in grass for some time.

[Citjon]

Thanks for the info, that gives me a much better idea.

The car wasn't MOT'd between 2015 and 2020 so could have been parked on grass then.

[Citjon]

Turns out it wasn't the first time someone gave this car away:

https://club-xm.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.p ... 71#p103071

Previously owned by member Joe90 it had a few issues with the climate control and various other things back in 2011/12.

This will come in really handy as there is no history with the car at all.