Citroen XM Forum

All double checked (to the best of my ability, which may still be found wanting )....started to get things together now, inlet and rocker cover on, but.....found this ! ....so some wiring to do tomorrow.

Also found a coolant hose rubbing (50% deep rub) on some high pressure pipes so need to install a new hose and a few stand-off clips together with a split breather pipe-end before I put it all together.

I plan to hot wire the starter tomorrow to double check it works OK...if not it will need to come out so would fix the wires when reinstalling it/a spare from the Xantia.

Ok..so the cam belt is on and the engine turns over, with full compression. Good to hear.

That wiring splice isn't so good.

The water hose rubbing is pretty common. If it's not too deep a protective sleeve should suffice, as they are internally reinforced.

You can connect a fly-lead to the starter terminal while it is in position. Make a loop in some wire and hook it round the terminal, then touch the other end to Batt +ve. Ensure the gearbox is in Park.

You should have it all running tomorrow.

Yeh, moving along now.....but with me, if I see stuff it needs doing before I move on so if the start-up is delayed so be it.

With an XM that's arrived in a non-running state I would fire it up as soon as possible, to ensure it can actually run and how many more jobs there are to do to it.

If you're going to wait until the car is perfect before starting it you could need a few more calendars.

Update:

Car just goes "click" and lights etc dim when I try and turn it over/start it.............about to take a hammer to it (well, the starter)


(Starter wires all redone)

Is it a relay going click or just the starter?

Power for the starter to operate goes
Batt+ > IGN switch > starter solenoid (on top of and part of the starter) > starter motor windings.
With an auto, there is likely a relay between the IGN sw and the starter solenoid, to act as a starter-inhibit except in P and N.

Check the elec feed by
- checking there is always batt+ at the main HD starter solenoid input terminal
- running a cable between batt+ and the starter solenoid trigger connection (check car is in P or N, braked/chocked)
You should hear a solid click when the solenoid closes.

Dimming lights point towards poor battery connections, assuming the battery is a good one. The cause of click and not crank could be a poor battery terminal connection. If either battery connector gets at all warm when trying to crank, it has gone internally resistive, and the connector needs replacing with the cable strands cleaned back to bright copper. Batt- ground connection to engine/body also needs checking out.

Basic stuff, so apologies if you have got this all in hand already.

have put a feed to the solenoid .....engine spins, but No Start (have fuel, glow plug light out)

(will check the normal connections etc later as per above)

Crack an injector union free to see if fuel is being delivered at all.
No fuel at all points towards the STOP solenoid, but beig an EPIC system the pump will default to STOP if the power is cut. There is a needle lift sensor on one injector. Ensure it is connected and the cable is good.

Clicking from the starter and no start indicate a lack of decent electrical connection somewhere.

Ensure there is a good supply of fuel to the pump before going too deep. It won't run on air.

It's a bit odd as this was a running car until belt failure.

The EPIC system should have stored a fault code for anything other than no power, so read the codes.

It seems the starter motor is now working; would have been good to know that!