Citroen XM Forum

Before condemning the sump gasket, check the cam cover seal. oil runs down the back of the engine and drips off the sump, appearing like the sump gasket is the culprit.

Ah yes. Rather like BXs then! I also need to get a new dipstick as the seal part of mine seems to have vanished. Bought one on Ebay but it was utterly wrong.

Sill welded, rack gaiter fitted and gearbox oil level checked just to be on the safe side. Level was fine and the total bill was £144. Too dark to really inspect the sill work, but I could at least see that the bit you're meant to jack on is actually straight again! (not that I ever do jack on them) Garage is currently restoring a Porsche 944 so I don't think it was your normal rushed MOT patch job. Here's to another year's XM action!

Well Done!

£144 for a years motoring is cheap.

Excellent result.

The XM has had a pretty busy month! It has been working hard. First off, it had to haul my 2CV's body to Citwins in Bradford for major welding.


It coped with that very nicely, only noticing the weight on the big climb along the M62. Still maintained 60mph, but the temperature did rise to just below the middle of the gauge.

Then yesterday, I bought a retro caravan. So, it had to lug that back from North Wales. At 740kg, it isn't overly heavy, but the XM really did notice it. Possibly due to a monumental headwind. 60mph was hard work at times, and the temp gauge stayed just below half for much of the trip.


It must be said, the caravan really did have a detrimental effect on the ride quality. It was bouncing like a Mini at times, and it utterly removed any of the usual majestic float. I think I may need to investigate nose weights, though I have experienced similar issues before with heavy trailers. Just to add to the fun, the XM's steering went all notchy on the way up (on both trips actually) but was fine on the way back (also on both trips!). Thankfully, the clutch is improving after I managed to spill diesel on it during the service the other day...

Too light a noseweight can make any car's rear suspension twitchy.
50-75kg usually about right; max. noseweight for XM diesel saloon is 110kg the book says.

Thanks for that. Was wondering what it was. Shuffling caravan contents definitely improved things, as you can see in this video. It's far less bouncy later in the vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=028BuLlAhf8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you want to see me almost crash the XM without being in it, you want this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7XfINHX_44" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I went for Dieselman's trick of lowering the car onto blocks of wood rather than jacking it up. Worked well, but muggins here didn't sufficiently shove the parking brake down before restarting...

Having fixed the horrible clonk (missing pad retaining spring), and I think cured the occasional notchy steering (greased the steering column U/J), I have successfully driven to Sussex.


Only issue on the way was the indicator relay, which started randomly clicking on occasion. I've seen reports of this behaviour before in Xantias, so shall investigate.