Citroen XM Forum

Thanks for your responses.

Unless I can get some dex ii at a lower price, it turns out my cheapest option is filling it with LHM even though it's all gonna leak out while testing - The other options (the flushing liquid, miners oil) are cheaper until you count shipping - shipping any kind of oil or fluid from the continent requires a courier, instead of the post, and getting shipping from the UK without getting shafted by customs is also tricky. The joys of living on an island . At least I found a good source of lhm here.

On joining the lines - has anyone any experience with the cutter-style flare-less joints (NOT plumbing-style compression joints)? I've seen the style used on older machines at work (the newer machines use thicker (20mm+) threaded pipes, or hoses, nothing new uses the thin lines anymore) - the type that has a steel ferule that is bevelled in such a way that it crushes/cuts into the pipe in such a way that the only way to get it off is to cut the pipe. I don't know the ratings, but they saw 100 bar at least when in use. The machines they're on shake a fair bit, so I'd say they're pretty vibration resistant, too.

And onto something that will be an issue in a year or two (or three) - after the car's running and driving - is paperwork. I live in Ireland, I am 21. No insurer here would even quote me (too young for a classic policy, car's too old for a normal policy) and I don't really want to go through "importing" and registering it here (RoI) unless it's the only option. Insurance here is ridicolously over-priced - without me getting into a rant, It would be roughly the same price to register the car in Poland (my home country), tax, MOT, and insure it there (that is counting a special policy that gives unlimited abroad insurance for the whole year) - and it's be comprehensive instead of 3rd party, and no mileage cap. The prices in ireland do come down once I'll be 25, but that's years of not being to insure the damn thing.

Another thing - the climate controls currently are not working, no blower motor, no actuator noises. I'd like to just get heat out of it - winter is coming and I'd like to be able to dry the inside somewhat. I'm guessing it's an electrical issue - any suggestions on where I should dig in to?

Stepper motors on the side of the heaterbox if it has the push button auto ac system in it. Otherwise stiff flaps inside the heater box. I recovered a car that had been sat in a garage for years.on standby.. it had very stiff flaps.. I stripped it down .. removed the heater box. Which was.quite a task as the pedal box is also part of the dash support frame..

Re blower motor - have you tried it on max speed? If the controller's blown it might still run on maximum. It's not hard to remove fan (includes controller). Remove panel from under glovebox (above passenger footwell), and it's held in by three self tappers. You can supply 12 v directly to the fan to see if it works.

Check state of fan wiring - you may have burnt contacts, melted wiring etc., as this fan pulls a lot of current. Not sure if XMs have the same problem as Xantias - the fan power supply runs through the ignition switch, so naturally burns out the contacts. A relay is needed to prevent this.

If water is getting into the scuttle it can run into the air intake and into the fan - this tends to blow the controller, which is easy to replace. HOWEVER do not buy a cheap (Chinese) replacement controller - none of them work properly.

Your insurance issue sounds like a wicked problem - hope you can come up with a better solution than waiting until you turn 25!

The xm fan has its own supply from engine bay fuse box..

Is look at the 5 pin plug that is in the bottom of the blower first. A recent road trip in our 2.1td had the blower in use and it stopped on the way home.. after a quick look the negative connector had high current burn on the connector... I cleaned it up best I could reconnected it and normal service was resumed.
Thats all that stopped mine .. after a wiggled a few of the other connector it was all OK again..

If the transisters pop the blower usually goes full speed with zero control as said above..

gwolfski wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 03, 2023 11:28 am

Unless I can get some dex ii at a lower price, it turns out my cheapest option is filling it with LHM even though it's all gonna leak out while testing - The other options (the flushing liquid, miners oil) are cheaper until you count shipping - shipping any kind of oil or fluid from the continent requires a courier, instead of the post,

On joining the lines - has anyone any experience with the cutter-style flare-less joints (NOT plumbing-style compression joints)? I've seen the style used on older machines at work (the newer machines use thicker (20mm+) threaded pipes, or hoses, nothing new uses the thin lines anymore) - the type that has a steel ferule that is bevelled in such a way that it crushes/cuts into the pipe in such a way that the only way to get it off is to cut the pipe. I don't know the ratings, but they saw 100 bar at least when in use. The machines they're on shake a fair bit, so I'd say they're pretty vibration resistant, too.

And onto something that will be an issue in a year or two (or three) - after the car's running and driving - is paperwork. I live in Ireland, I am 21. No insurer here would even quote me (too young for a classic policy, car's too old for a normal policy) and I don't really want to go through "importing" and registering it here (RoI) unless it's the only option. Insurance here is ridicolously over-priced -

^^ Apologies, that was meant to say mineral oil...auto-correct corrected it to miners oil. Mineral hydraulic oil should be pretty cheap from a local lubricants, or hydraulics supplier.
The example of Dexron2 Atf was just an example.

You work at a factory where they use hydraulic machines. Ask the maintenance Dept. where they source their hydraulic oil.

As to the pipe jointers.
No jointer that uses separate olives is suitable to use on car pipework. Not sure whether it would fail the Irish NCT, as Eu regulation has, I believe, allowed use of olive type connectors, whereas the Uk hasn't.

In a fixed machine, environment, such connectors can be used as they are not safety related and are visible for inspection.
If an olive connector slips off a pipe while driving the driver is unaware until the fluid is lost.
Making a Citroen flare die is pretty easy and can be done just using a drill. Complete pipes can also be purchased to replace a pipe from the original fittings.

A repeat of the information given in what was admittedly a long post on page 3.

If you don't have a Citroen flare tool, the dies are available for not too much, or it's easy to make your own tool. Citroen flares are simpler than Sae, or Din flares, they just create a fixed swage on the pipe by forcing the end of the pipe back to flare the pipe.

Read the below thread for a how to make a flare tool and the dimensions for each pipe and flare:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10390&hilit=flare+tool#p124512
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10390&hilit=flare+t ... 10#p124525


For insurance, an Xm shouldn't be too expensive to insure. Have you asked about classic policies? Most insurers consider any car older than 20 years old to be suitable for classic insurance.

Interesting your points on the olive connections.. I was advising against these on fb social page on bx s i think and that fairly well known rich kitch came along and said they are perfectly fine and he uses them with no issues.. basicly knocking me down.. he also has YouTube page upndown .. my personal opinion of was... well not for a forum..

Gwolfski.. work out if you can of you need a long pipe, short pipe, 3.5mm or 4.5mm brake pipe, I've got 4.5mm brake pipe in kuprel nickel here and flare tool, and I have some short 3.5mm pipes that may do depending which pipe has gone... I'm on anglesey just across the water..

citroenxm wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:54 am

Interesting your points on the olive connections.. I was advising against these on fb social page on bx s i think and that fairly well known rich kitch came along and said they are perfectly fine and he uses them with no issues.. basicly knocking me down.. he also has YouTube page upndown .. my personal opinion of was... well not for a forum..

The security of an olive connection cannot be guaranteed, or inspected, hence they should fail a Uk, Mot test.
They are specifically excluded, they should be covered under "unsuitable modification/Unsuitable repair".
The wording is.
"Repairs to the pressure lines of hydraulic brake systems are unacceptable unless suitable connectors are used. Compression joints of a type using separate ferrules are not suitable."

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspect ... ion-1-1-11

I am aware they are sold by some major motor factors as suitable and deliberately look similar to proper flare jointers, but testers take a dim view of them.
On a soft metal pipe the olive should bite in if adequate force is applied, but on hard steel pipe there is no guarantee the olive will bite.
When really hammering the brakes due to the motorway coming to a rapid halt isn't the time to be finding whether the olive has sufficient grip at full braking pressure.

I know that Will.. and never use them. I used old brake line joiners and proper flares for and long pipe joins.

I was a taken by someone who is highly viewed and know saying something like that... hence my low opinion.. I refuse to watch any video that gets reccomended of his now.

citroenxm wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 04, 2023 7:11 am

I know that Will.. and never use them. I used old brake line joiners and proper flares for and long pipe joins.

I was a taken by someone who is highly viewed and know saying something like that... hence my low opinion.. I refuse to watch any video that gets reccomended of his now.

As a "content creator"...one needs to take special care to be legal and accurate. If someone took notice of such advice and acted on it and it caused "a problem", then the content creator could well face civil and criminal proceedings.
They need to ensure they have insurance to cover their media, as they are acting as a professional.

I know it's not you... .

I hope it happens to him.. some have told me he is not a good character