Page 1 of 16

Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:13 pm
by xantia_v6
Well today was the big day..

A 300km train trip from Beaune (where we have a bolt-hole) to Paris, start the XM and then drive it back. Sounds easy.

The first hurdle was that due to some sort of maintenance, there were no TGVs running from Dijon to Paris, and the alternate route had 2 changes and was an hour longer.
The car has sat untouched for about 3 years so needed a battery to start, so I borrowed the battery from my Xantia, as well as the engine ECU (in case they had lost the code) and the coil pack (just in case). These items were put into an old wheelie bag, and my toolbox was carried in my other hand.

I had a brisk 2km walk to the station (couldn't drive the Xantia), but about a third of the way there one of the wheels fell of the bag, inspection showed that friction had melted the plastic bearings. So I had to carry the battery the rest of the way.

So I caught the first train OK, and had a 20 minute wait at the first transfer, but after 30 minutes, the train had not arrived, and there was something odd about the departure board claiming that it was still on time. Suddenly it dawned that the second train was a bus, and I should have been waiting at the bus stop , not the station waiting room. Obviously I had missed it. Looking out the door towards the bus stop, I see a bus pulling in, but as there was no-one waiting, he just crawled past and by the time I was chasing him (battery bag in one hand, tool box in the other) he had nearly left the car park, but he stopped and I showed him my ticked and he said that he was going to the station for my next transfer, but as he was a different company I had to buy another ticket..

Well we got to the next station dead on the minute that my next train was leaving, ran across the car park dragging the battery bag leaving a black trail of melted plastic and got on the TGV to Paris a few seconds before they closed the doors. My wife always says that bad luck always comes in threes, so after the bag breaking and missing the bus, I was hoping for the third piece of bad luck to occur before attempting to start the car. Fortunately it did, as the train was full and there was a woman sleeping in my seat, so I sat in a luggage rack.

So after that, things had to get better, which they did (apart from severe arm stretch carrying the battery through the Paris metro and to the final destination).

The vendor had found all of the documentation for the car and 2 plip keys and the starting code and radio code, so I was happy. The battery dropped in, oil and water levels checked and the key turned. After about 2 turns of the engine it sprang into life very quietly and sweetly and after a few seconds, the suspension rose, with no puddles on the floor.

The suspension was soft and supple at both ends, and the clutch wasn't stuck, so after a quick clean of the windows it was ready to go.

And very nicely it goes too... The wheels felt a bit square to start with, but after a few km, and getting the correct pressure in them were somewhat better.
Almost everything works, the cruise control is inoperative, the speedo and trip computer only started working after about 5km, but everything else seems OK, even the A/C.

The 300km home was really quite uneventful. Best thing is that (unexpectedly) my wife even likes it.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:29 pm
by Dieselman
Good job the return trip wasn't like the outbound one.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:37 pm
by xantia_v6
Some more about the car:

It is of course LHD, It is silver, currently with custom green flashes on the bumpers and wing mirrors (some form of parisian tagging?).
It has an ORGA of 8240 which corresponds to 1st June 1999 (does that make it a 2000 MY car?).
When purchased the odometer showed 70,500 km, it only did 2000km per year from 2005 to 2010, and nothing since then (until today).
It has Exclusive trim, but without winter pack or CD changer (is the CD changer the same as the Clarion fitted to the MK2 Xantia? What about cables and brackets?).

To drive, it is significantly quieter than any Xantia I have experienced, road surface noise is noticeably absent, and I think that there is less wind noise at 130km/h (although my current Xantia has more wind noise than my previous, so I might be biased).
The ML5 transmission is inoffensive, but doesn't have quite the positive feel I was hoping for.
The parking brake is "unrewarding".
I was driving fairly carefully today, so did not test any performance limits, top gear acceleration is good.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:46 am
by CitroJim
Ahh Mike that's brilliant :D What a tale of the train journey :twisted: Sounds like SNCF have been learning a thing or two from our lot!!!

Very pleased all is good with the car and you're happy with it. can't wait to see it...

I note you’re already found how refined it is against the Xantia. It's quite surprising the first time you experience it..

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:11 am
by xantia_v6
Thanks Jim,

Here are a couple of pictures, of the car as-is:

Does anyone have suggestions of how to remove the green paint, particularly from the textured areas of the bumpers?

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:43 am
by Eddie nuff
That's tagging? :? The French have an even weirder sense of humour than the yanks!

T-cut would be my first thought to remove that green mess.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:37 pm
by Jan-hendrik
The ES9J4 with manual box must be a rare beast in the UK and I don't think they were imported in Japan either.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:53 pm
by marc61
Hmmm manual gearbox eh. Now that is something worth having :) Is it a cable clutch or hydraulic?

My wife also liked the V6 to the extent that I rarely get to drive it now, think the motto is beware wife liking car!

Good luck with it.

Marc

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:25 pm
by Dieselman
You can't T-cut the bumpers, but can the metal areas.

It will be acrylic aerosol paint, so not very tough. I suspect a few doses of industrial cleaner painted on will loosen it off the original paint. The trick will be to try to keep it wet for as long as possible.

Re: Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive

Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:12 pm
by xantia_v6
Dieselman wrote:You can't T-cut the bumpers, but can the metal areas.

It will be acrylic aerosol paint, so not very tough. I suspect a few doses of industrial cleaner painted on will loosen it off the original paint. The trick will be to try to keep it wet for as long as possible.
That was my plan, maybe a careful rub with wet and dry on the flat areas, but which solvent is safe on the bumpers?