KP's growing amount of Citroens...

[kingp]

Well I'll have to have a good look at it later. Annoyingly the weather has turned so will make it that much more fun without a ramp

[CitroJim]

Annoyingly the weather has turned so will make it that much more fun without a ramp

Hasn't it just Woke up to torrential rain this morning. I got as wet walking to the pool as I did swimming in it...

Cleared up now though...

[kingp]

It was horrible and then i had to spend 10minutes in the data centre. Then it turned out to be about 2 hours after 2 pdu strips had munched themselves so i knew the weather must be better while i was stuck inside.
Come out and the sun was just trying to get thru and it hadn't rained since i had gone inside! typical as i know tonight when i get home and get the trolley and axle stands out it will turn to sh1t3 on me!

[kingp]

Well I ordered the boot today bad news is that it may be here on Friday but can't guarantee it

So to console myself I tortured myself some more...

I took the front wheels off one at a time and looked at the park brake cables. They seemed a little loose and one easily popped off the hook by hand and the nut was loose on the other so I've tightened them up a little bit now but I think the cables have just stretched too much so will be re reading the above incase there is anywhere but the cable ends to tighten up. Don't get me wrong it has improved it as the pedal doesn't go to the floor anymore, maybe 1/2" up but without putting too much stress on the clutch I can't move the car with it fully applied. Ideally I'd test it on a brake machine but I don't have one of them

I cleaned up the front struts with some brake cleaner to get them nice and clean, I think the drivers side was a little moist through having had a leak off return replaced at some point and not cleaned up.

Will get a little spray bottle at some point and put some petrol in it to clean the rear up but I haven't seen any drops on the road.

In other news I got a service filter kit for it for £20. Strangely the fuel filter is a cartridge type and not a canister body so I'll have fun with that once I've run some veg thru it to really clean the system out

[kingp]

Well the gaitor has landed and is £6.59

I've also asked for button 7465P0 to be ordered for me, these are the little 90' turn buttons for the boot trim panels and one fell apart on me while checking the other day

Also need to get the interior clips for the panel as well but keep forgetting to ask as i want that plastic trim fixed back onto the roof


Had another person view he C5 today and offer me a silly low price. I'd already explained to them that £750 was as low as i would go as mechanically its solid and while not pretty will outlast the other trash that is being peddled by most on fleabay and has a much lower mileage as well with most sitting at 150k for similar age and mileage cars for about the same money. Added to that the work its had in the last year they can't really complain.

[kingp]

Think i must be being dense as i cant see how i can slip the gaitor off

Do i just unlock the tightening nut and twist the whole lot and it comes off at the steering rack end?
IE undo this nut then twist the top part until it pops off and then pull it out of the rack??
Sorry to be a pain but im totally lost with this as i have never touched a steering rack in my life depsite doing plenty of engine and mechanical work its the only thing i have never been near in any shape at all!

[xmexclusive]

The hollow threaded rod has a set of flats at the inner end and a swivel under the boot that lets it rotate freely.
The flats can be seen right under your finger.
Just keep rotating those flats with a spanner until the track rod end unthreads at the other end of the rod to the flats.
As you wind the rod off it will splay the wheels right out into a V shape.
There is just enough play to release the outer end of the rod completely.
For this operation the rod and end come apart at the lock nut end (wheel end) not the inner end.
Make sure you clean the rod well while it is free as the boot is going to be a tight fit.
Only grease the inner swivel not the rod or the boot will fill with grot off the shaft.

John

[kingp]

Cheers John

There wasn't much of any straight edge at that end when I looked before but will take a wire drill to it and clean it all up, petrol wash and dry it before I try and slide a new well warmed boot on

[kingp]

Burger me I'm glad that's done!

I got told off as well by the other half for using kitchen stuff for car work!!

I took the ceramic unit out of the slow cooker, it comes out anyway to make cleaning easier, filled it with hot water and put the gaiter in while I went and removed the old one.
Messy it was indeed so cleaned it all up and gave the arm a really good clean and petrol dowse as well to be sure. Then got the new unit and took a few minutes to slide it over but boy was it tight and not happy about it!
Then the real fun started. All in it took me 30mins-ish to get the rack end of the gaiter on.
With it on I put the track rod end back in and did it up as per a picture I had on my phone. Fingers crossed it's all good. Then refitted the wheel after giving it a degreasing as it had a cv boot in the recent past I'd say from the grease splatter on the tyre. All tightened up and then on to the next job.

I put the rear wheels up my dads drive on ramps and looked at the exhaust failure points. The rear box to mid section clamp was rusted and not holding on properly so I used the angle grinder to get it off and then the wire brush drill to clean the surfaces up. I made this a lot easier by dropped the back box off it's from hanger.
I then used a load of exhaust paste on the mid section face as it's a cup and ball type arrangement.

Then got the clamp on and held it in place while I did it up as it could have done with being a bit wider with its V shape.
Then after I started it up I checked along the under side along the whole length upto the engine bay and good another holes joint. This one just needed cleaning up and some exhaust putty as it was barely even 1cm across. Engine started up and left to idle while I checked round the car and got it off the ramps into normal height. After 5mins the exhaust was getting quite warm so set it on high, chucked an axle stand under the drivers rear just incase and checked the exhaust again. No leaks! Hoora!!!

Next I checked what the suspension leaks were all about. While I did the steering rack gaiter I reseated the strut leak off collector which I think had slipped down over time. The engine oil leak isn't dropped but i can see it it's slightly moist but more coagulated and gel like than oily. The rear isn't leaking either but is just wet so I need to go down sainsburys in my scruffs during day light and get under it with the hot jet wash.

Next I did the exhaust repair on the xantia as well and Aussies out the abs sensor. Think I'll try and knock that out tomorrow with some cable ties to keep the new one in place as my hands are too big to follow the route of the old cable though I may try taping the connector onto the old cable and cutting the sensor off so I can try and pull it thru first.

I then washed up and cleaned some interior trim in the xm as it was quite dirty. I used autoglym interior shampoo and some old clean white towel to mop it up and work it in. The difference in the armrest from just one wipe down was amazing so the interior will get a few hours this week once I get a new ticket for it and then the xantia ca go in for its mot so wish me luck with the xm going back in for its retest.

Also I couldn't feel much looseness in the passenger front seat so I think I'll have to checked the subframe mounting bolts and ensure they are upto torque.

Then once the xantia is passed it's not it's going up for sale, as while all this was going on the second person to look over the c5 in two days paid the full asking price, although it did have 1/2 of diesel in it!!

[kingp]

Also just ordered 6*CR2302 batteries so that both fobs for the XM are powered and the fob for the Xantia has juice as well and then i can pair them all up. Always fun doing that part