Citroen XM Forum

What a set of before-and-after photos! The 'CT' certainly does a job. (CT18 used to be a rather good colour slide film from Agfa...) A heavy layer of muck and compost can sometimes work as a surprisingly good preservative layer, providing it's dry; it can even keep the sun off! She's looking very promising indeed. Any serious rust underneath? How's the underside hydraulic steel pipework for corrosion - especially around the rear subframe?

If the hydraulic leaks are only slow ones, it might be worth noting where they are, and seeing whether letting some warm LHM circulate for a good while revives what are probably tired and dirty seals. Kits to rebuild the height correctors (same units from DS onwards) are available in the UK, from citroenclassics.co.uk. When they're all sorted, fill the system with Total Hydraurincage (1 x 5L is enough) to clean it.

Shame about all the valves, but you're obviously on top of it - literally. Timing?
V6 experts here will surely pitch in.

A nice line-up of cars in the yard, too, incl a Mk1 Golf and an early Discovery.

Whilst I was waiting for the "Fairies" to come & sort my cylinder head/valve problem out, I had a look at all the LHM leaks.. Well, the power steering ram was going no where but the bin... The return connector was just broken, so I made up another to replace it.
The height corrector, brake valve & flow divider presented no real problems with bits sourced from Chevronics..(plus some parts for my BX).
The brake valve was a disgusting mess, with there being a rats nest up in the plenum chamber & all the rats shit & LHM combined made a sickening concoction.urgh!!!

It was time to bring the pressure washer inside as the cylinder block & that plenum needed a good blast to clean it out. It made a huge mess in the workshop, but fortunately, the workshop floors are 2 pack sealed, so that made cleaning up a little easier. It was worth it..The car was much nicer now to work on..I could see everything now it was clean

Chris!, the car is rust free! The hydraulic pipes are all perfect, we don't have the salted road problems that you guys get. The Total cleaning solution (can't spell it!)is not available here in Oz, so I have to make do with manually cleaning & flushing everything out as best I can. The Filters were quite clean, but the fluid itself was very old, as it had turned yellow.

Yes, it certainly came up well with a wash, though it was wet when the photos were taken, so that gave it an "unnatural" shine.
I'll keep going with the story, as all this has happened since July & I'm bringing everyone "up to speed" so to speak

Well, as I mentioned earlier, the cooling system is in pretty shit condition. The radiator is shot, many of the hoses are very ordinary & the metal pipes in the valley of the engine, are rusted through & the lips on the end that locate the sealing o rings are rusted off, with lots of pitting in the adjoining aluminium housings. The list of parts needed was mounting up, so I "bit the bullet" & bought the other series 1 V6 that "old mate" from whom I bought my car, also had, hoping it could be a donor of some much needed bits. It's a June 1990 SI (RP4957) & is a UK private import to Australia, that came in around the year 2000. It is quite rusty,(for us Australians...you guys would probably think it's great!) with rusty sills & A pillar. It's also pretty comprehensively tired. I didn't pay much for it, so I was hopeful it would work out OK. Oh, the rear wheels are off my car, as the originals wouldn't hold air. The silver car donated a set of inlet valves that I needed. If I had have my brain in gear at the time, I just would have plonked the heads from the silver car straight on, as they looked in wonderful condition with new looking head gaskets, so someone had been there before me, but instead, I removed the inlet valves & sent them to my engine man to use in my heads..Oh well...
The silver car also donated a power steering ram & the water pipes in the inlet valley of the V6. This was a bit of a mess around, as the two cars had different pipes & housings (There was a change in July 1990), but I was able to make up a good set of heater & inlet pipes, using bits from both cars. The silver car's radiator was toast, but I found a NOS "Hella" branded radiator in Sydney of all places (good old Ebay!). The silver car's cooling system hoses were serviceable except for the lower hose. Also, the silver car didn't have an engine oil cooler like mine (cold vs hot climate cars) but I wasn't too worried about that, it could live without it. Chevronics supplied a NOS heater matrix (I haven't fitted that yet, I have the heater by-passed), so it was just the lower radiator hose that was left to find (both hoses had internal splitting)... I eventually sourced a NOS lower hose from a Peugeot parts place in the UK..Though I had to pay dearly for it (150gbp). That was the cooling system sorted finally!

The cylinder heads duly came back, looking all pretty, so I had to do something with all the aluminium stuff that would be visible, as it was all stained & corroded. I eventually just sand blasted it & clear coated it..Looks neat & tidy. Speaking of neat & tidy, the various wiring looms in the engine bay were a horrible mess, with all the fabric wrapping disintegrating & wires going everywhere, so I spent ages pulling off the old wrapping & re-wrapping the harnesses with proper fabric harness tape. My poor little brain couldn't cope with that untidy mess. The front rocker cover also got sand blasted & painted in black "crinkle finish" paint, with the raised ridges filed to reveal the shiny aluminium, & then clear coated to keep it looking good. New engine & transmission mounts were also fitted, as I figured they wouldn't be too flash, holding that big lump up for 30 years. The upper & lower engine steady mounts were still in excellent condition, so they went back in.

Oh, I forgot to mention the injectors,& fuel rail...They were "full of shit" (much like myself, some would say!), so the injectors & fuel rail got a swim in the ultrasonic bath & the inlet manifold got a coat of silver "hammer tone"paint. I didn't sand blast the inlet manifold, as if I can't be 100% sure that I can get all the blasting medium out, I just won't do it, as you could imagine what some garnet would do to the inside of the engine if ingested. The starter motor also got dismantled, cleaned & lubricated I had too, it was just sitting there looking at me!) & all the heat affected wiring replaced & tied up away from the exhaust.

Speaking of the exhaust....It still had it's original exhaust system on it & it was not leaking, but the outer skin was rusted & looked terrible, so I cut the outer skin off each of the mufflers & welded on a new stainless steel outer skin (desperate times hey!) These mufflers are just not available over here, & the freight costs from the UK or Europe made my eyes water...
That's the old outer, rusty skin in the fore ground.

You are certainly cracking through the job-list, and thoroughly!

If the original Valeo all-aluminium engine oil cooler is still there, I would advise removing it (filter can to straight to the flange) for the reasons well discussed on the forum. They have a habit of unexpectedly rupturing, and allowing the cooling system to be filled with engine oil. This deterioration will have been accelerated by lack of good coolant, and the likely presence of air in the cooling system. Honestly, don't fit it. Hop the water pipes together (by-pass).

Hydraurincage is excellent stuff. Some countries' Total organisations no longer carry it as shelf-stock, but it is still in production, and Citroen will be able to find a part number for it, and order it for you. Insist. Run the car on it for 3000-5000 miles, and then revert to normal LHM. Pics below, in case your Cit dealer needs evidence.
. .

I'll give them a go next week Chris. The Main dealers over here are hopeless. Citroen is poorly represented in this country. They only sold 748 cars "IN TOTAL" last year. Thanks for the picture..That might help if I show them.. I can't even pronounce it!!!
.
In regards to your comment about the other cars in the compound at work, that Golf GTI Cabrio came from the UK (no doubt you spotted the plate). The owner Emigrated here in the late 90's & bought his car with him. He was unable to register it over here as our laws are very strict on vehicles less than 30 years old. So he kept it in his garage until now (it's an 89 model) so it is finally getting put back on the road (hence it being at my workshop re-commissioning it). The Disco belongs to the bloke in the factory unit next door.

Nah, the engine oil cooler is in the bin. It was pretty corroded & the fact that I used the top radiator hose from the silver car (no cooler) & a bottom radiator hose from a UK Peugeot 605 (also no cooler) mean't it was never going to go back on. The engine sump holds 6 litres of oil & I won't be going on the Autobahn anytime soon, coupled with better quality oils & me changing it promptly has me quite happy to leave it off.

That's interesting... Firstly.. Yo Jason.. Good to see you here.. We have spoken a bit too...

Secondly the rocker fingers on your heads are strengthened ones being gold in colour. This mod was done on the prv 24v engines as early 24v engines wore away the rocker gears... Citroens answer was to fit strengthen modified rocker fingers and the tell tail was gold coloured gearing and fingers..