Citroen XM Forum

Hi,
I'm still strugling with this one. I have only recently bought the car, a 1993 one owner 42K miler car who gave up driving it when he was 89. So the car has all the apperances of being A1 mechanically. However I still have this problem.

I have checked for leaks arround the pipework to and from the intercooler and turbo but to no avail. Very occasinally it "pinks" and has the first signs of running on when switching off. Whilst visiting my son in Manchester I called in at Paris Autos in Stockport and had a chat about the problem with the very knowledgeable Paul. After describing the problem and him listening to the engine he said he thought it was a timing problem, a fair assumption considering the symptoms. After I told him that I had changed the timing belt myself he was even more convinced that it was a timing fault! This I took on the chin as all the pointers were pointing at this. I have now removed the timing covers and the cam and crank lockers go in perfectly and the tension is good, I have never fitted a timing belt wrongly but I think in this instance I would have rather been proved to be at fault myself. I'm now at even more of a loss to find the problem.

I am now at the point of wondering if it is me! I have had no other experience of driving this model but as a 59yr old fat guy I don't think my expectations are too high. I have never owned a truly fast car so I think I am being realistic. To repeat the phrase I used in my first post, it makes roundabouts rather frightening!

Hoping someone can be of help,
Regards,
Chris

Pinking, running on, elderly owner......................carbon build up? it does sound plausible but ive never seen it in a 90's onwards engine tbh

D

Hi,
I forgot to say in the post that if there is anyone in The North West of England who owns a similar car, an auto, would they be prepared to let me drive their car whilst they drive mine for a brief test. I think this will be the only way of proving if it is man or machine.
Chris

Hi,
Thanks for that, yeah good sugestion, the plugs that had obviously been in for some time were in good condition though, no carbon deposits, and a nice colour but I dont know if this a guide or not.
Chris

well its more of a stab in the dark, these engines run really clean and carbon is only a problem with older less efficient engines, the lambda sensor can cause problems, along with all the other service items, gear oil condition will make a noticable difference too on the auto, its one of those things where you need to have a good poke round for a looky see rather than over the inter web.............could be the wastegate actuator siezed? or you getting boost?

D

I know this sounds a tad daft, could it be a constriction in the exhaust say from grounding the car before it
had fully lifted up. Screwed up breathing of the engine will make it a right sod to drive and would explain
pinking. I would still home in on the timing belt mind although you sound very adamant that it all checks out.
Did you get it looked over by your Indy Specialist - I'm not trying to say you're not capable to sorting it yourself
although fresh eyes may notice something you're too close to to notice.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
I must admit that the exhaust thing was kicking about in the back of my mind because, when I got the car both the 1st box with the long pipe and the lateral centre boxes were gone. Being in my usual skint state I found some good priced ones on Ebay.......... I can hear you all groaning The front box and long pipe looked correct but the centre box wasn't anything like the one that came off. One of the two pipes that come out of the same end of the box was accurately welded in at a drunken angle in order to get the flange alignment right, also the box was shorter...........well what do you get for £35 inc Vat? It looks like I will need to pay out another £60-70 in order to prove it wasn't that either.
I do have a Cit. independant garage locally who I know vaguely so I will ask him to have a look at it. I will also get him to call and see the cambelt before I replace the covers so that he will be sure that it is correctly fitted.
Thanks for all your comments,
Chris

If you think it is the timing and the locks go in corrctly then probably not the belt. Could then be the tdc sensor is malfunctioning.

I wouldn't splash out on another exhaust just to check. Take it off the car and tie up the pipe to the subframe tube (with a shoe lace and take it for a spin. So what if it's noisy for a short spin. Drove my V6 around with the pipe sheared for a couple of weeks while I waited on the replacement box. Even towed a car on a trailer with it like that.

You could try running it without the air filter too to see if that makes a difference. There is not a birds nest or something in there?

re. the exhaust, it could be the monolith has blocked the exit pipe from the cat, it is very likely with the turbo's cat as they used wire mesh as the base and it works free, worth a check

.

XM-hooked wrote:Hi,
I forgot to say in the post that if there is anyone in The North West of England who owns a similar car, an auto, would they be prepared to let me drive their car whilst they drive mine for a brief test. I think this will be the only way of proving if it is man or machine.
Chris

Hi Chris,

I'm not in the North West but I'll probably be in Blackpool next month (I may even go to the Southport air show), so if you haven't got it sorted by then I'd be happy to meet up with you so you can do a comparison.

You say 'poor acceleration from rest'. Does that mean that once it's on the move the acceleration is ok? If so, I don't think it's the timing.
My timing belt was a few teeth out recently and the lack of acceleration was more noticeable from a rolling start than a standing start.
Is the idle speed set correctly?
Is the engine warning light on?
I don't know much about how auto boxes work so this might be a stupid suggestion , but is it possible that it's not engaging first gear - could it be setting off in second?

I have two XM's with auto boxes and they are a bit sluggish from a standing start, and they certainly don't pull away nearly as quickly as the manual cars.

Paul.