Leaking LHM fluid

[endorfin]

Since I returned from abroad my XM 2.5TD has been leaking LHM fluid. It had been standing 4 months and had sunk down a bit, there was a stain on the driveway where the fluid had leaked out, I had to add a litre of LHM to get it back to the correct level. I've been using another car & returned a couple of days to find the same thing has happened, fluid has leaked out again. It seems to be coming from the right had side (driver's side) of the engine.

It was fine before I went away, could the cold weather have damaged something?

I'm no mechanic so no idea where to start. I'm going to see a bloke whos breaking another XM 2.5 on Thursday so if something needs replacing it'd be great if I can find out what it is & hopefully get this part from him at the same time.

[kenhall]

Check the right wheel arch for LHM staining and if present the chances are it will be a perished strut leak off pipe. The pipe can be repaired by inserting a new piece of small bore ( 3mm ID thick walled) rubber tubing joining it onto the old pipe using some small bore steel LHM pipe and tie wraps.

Ken

[Peter.N.]

...or you might even find that only the end has perished, in which case you can cut it off and refit.

Peter

[endorfin]

Amazing, you were bang on.

There was massive staining on the right wheel arch & the end of the rubber pipe attached to the metal section had snapped off, I presume it got brittle in the cold weather? I cut the damaged bit off and re-attached it, hopefully this will cure the problem. The metal pipes seem in good condition with no signs of corrosion.

I also think I may have found the cause of the ABS failure, I've taken a picture, which is below:



This is a picture of the left wheel arch, one of the 2 cables has snapped off, probably also got brittle in the cold weather. The same cable on the right wheel arch is missing, well I can't find it anyway. Are these the sensors for the ABS? How do I go about fixing them does anyone know?

[endorfin]

Also as you can see there is some staining on the left wheel arch but I cannot find a leak, except that the rubber hose doesn't seem to be a tight fit, perhaps also cut the end off & reattach?

My concern is that with both of them now being shorter will this cause any problems when raising and lowering the car?

[kenhall]

In my experience shortening the aged rubber pipe is only a temporary measure and it will split again - but it does give you some breathing space to source new pipe etc to do a longer lasting repair. I can't remenber where I sourced my rubber tubing but something like vacuum advance tubing would be about right.

Regarding the broken wires, I can't be sure but it looks like the brake pad warning cable to me and not the ABS cable. You should be able to trace the ABS cable from the front of the wheelarch to the strut and round to the back of the caliper where the round ABS sensor is mounted in the hub casting.

Ken

[endorfin]

I took the wheel off, and looks like you are right it doesn''t appear to be the sensor cable but the brake sensor.

The ABS was working fine until I left the car standing for 4 months. Its been suggested by others that it may be condensation on the connections that have caused the problem, if this is the case how do I go looking into fixing it, I've no idea where to start.

This is a 2.5TD 1995

[xmexclusive]

Look at the ABS light blink codes as you switch the ignition on.
If the light stays on all the time it is a power supply fault.
If it blinks before it stays on then it is failing the static self test.
Plenty of ABS fault finding posts on the site.

John

[endorfin]

It blinks once then stays on. Can't seem to come across any fault finding ABS posts, are there any links.

[kenhall]

John is right, ABS problems are one of the most common niggles with the XM and a site search should turn up loads of discussion and advice.

However as a start I would suggest checking all four ABS sensors for electrical continuity (which requires the use of a multimeter) eg for Teves sensors a resistance reading of around 1100 ohms is typical. a very high reading suggests an open circuit sensor coil or an internal break in the sensor cable (less likely unless cable is mechanically damaged). If the checking is done from each wheel arch then you will have to locate each sensor plug and socket connection. The front two are behind the wheel arch liners where the cables disappears out of sight and the rear ones are clipped to the subframe forward of the wheelarch (difficult to access!). Corroded plug and socket connectors are another common cause of ABS malfunction and each one should be carefully inspected, cleaned if necessary and reassembled with some protective grease or vaseline.

If the above checks do not reveal a problem then it will be necessary to check the whole wiring to the four sensors from the plug which attaches to the ABS ECU at the front of the car.

Ken