Latest Error of Judgement

Off topic chat about anything you like. Doesn't have to be about XMs (though they will inevitibly come up!). You can even discuss non-Citroens :o in here!
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xmexclusive
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Latest Error of Judgement

Post by xmexclusive » Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:21 am

Hi All (almost 10 registered members now)

Bought this latest XM estate last week.
Slowly beginning to find and sort the problems.

On the positive side: not yet reached 100k; engine sounds fine when it runs with no smoke at all; is a 2.5 and drives like a 2.5 (no 2.1 slugs for me, tried that twice when I did not know any better); no big dents; Teves not Bendix ABS; Years MOT.

On the negative: it is blue and has some lacquer peeling which is very unusual for such a late ORGA car; last two owners seem to have had unconventional approaches to both use of the car and maintenance. Spare wheel is held by a large bolt and washer from the centre of the boot, this arrangement is independant of the carrier frame. Underside of the car still retains half the field it was used to plough. Got the heavy coolant leak sorted by fitting secondhand rads. Fitted a fuel filter (more about that later) but it still has a lack of fuel starting problem when cold. Replacement RF remote plips and receiver installed, now doing the new locks. Tailgate does not unlock so will need to get in and replace the worn out wiring near the tailgate hinges and will stick in high level brake lights at the same time.

Had an interesting/embarrasing problem with the car yesterday. Went to see my friendly local Citroen Indy as he has a 2.5 exclusive for sale (why else would I go as if a car does not work I use one of the others). We put the blue estate up on the ramp. He likes a good laugh and usually gets it viewing my errors of judgement. No sooner had we got it up on the ramp than the engine died, restarted it a few times and it kept dying. Engine made a funny ticking noise each time as it died. Andy then turned to me and said " your not expecting us to fix it are you, its an XM and no garage takes them on if they have any sense". Turned out to be fuel starvation because 5 ltrs of diesel in the tank and a bit of bleeding got it going ok again. Andy then loaded some surplus XM spares on the back seat and told me to take to go and it away before it died again.

Now to the real problem. It was well down on fuel but I did not think it was anyway near out otherwise I would have put some in before going. The only excuse was that I had been swapping dash displays to try to get a working speedo. So I drove 5 miles to a filling station and filled the tank. It only took 62 litres and even if you add the 5 litres put in at Andys that is betweem 15 and 20 ltrs short of the typical XM tank capacity. So do I have a fuel pump problem or what sort of rubbish have I got in the bottom of the tank?

John

Peter.N.
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Re: Latest Error of Judgement

Post by Peter.N. » Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:13 am

Hi John

You ought to get in there and take over their XM repairs, you should get at least .... one job a year?

Peter
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

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CitroJim
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Re: Latest Error of Judgement

Post by CitroJim » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:13 pm

Reckon you'll find the rest of that ploughed field in the bottom of the tank John :lol:
Jim

'98 Saxo
'95 AX
Three bikes - Road, Aero and TT

Ex- owner of several XMs and many Xantias!

onthecut
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Re: Latest Error of Judgement

Post by onthecut » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:43 am

Hi John

Fancy meeting you here !

Presume you've had a look at the time honoured primary filter gauze on the pick up ? If it's been off roading, might be worth checking the length of the fuel line for damage, in case you have the classic not leaking out, but drawing air in situation.

Mike.

xmexclusive
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Re: Latest Error of Judgement

Post by xmexclusive » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:24 am

Hi Mike

Thanks for that. There was just too much dry muck underneath to see anything execpt that none of it had any sign of oil or water leakage.
Noticed that the exhaust was poorly fitted and touching the rear height control rod. Did not think that Andy would apperciate me cleaning off anything in his very clean and tidy workshop so I left well alone for now.

John

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