Picasso restoration.......a tale of idiocy and citroen fun

[maxxo]

8 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Good to see you still keeping on with this car.  Citromatics/Martinet Motors are a bit pricey, it's true, but they know their stuff with Citroens and they're at least honest about what jobs they do and don't want to do.  You feel you know where you stand with them, and that's difficult to find these days.

Well with the way the car is now it's all been absolutely worth it, especially how it's driving.....i dare say it almost drives like new

indeed they are a bit pricey, but i honestly get the feeling i can really trust them, which is why i'm trusting them with the MOT in october

plus any work that needs doing, might as well give them a proper test out

plus it was fun walking round thornaby in the rain whilst it was being done (i should have just walked home but that's too boring)

i dare say they might be getting some use from me when i get myself a C5

[maxxo]

Went up to south shields today

was good, until i paralell parked and misjudged it.........

quite annoyed at myself

so i used some random silver spray paint that's probably a million years old and a cotton wool bud to "fix it"

came out alright i feel, certainly better than the scuff

ended up touching up all 4

you can still see where it happened, but it should fade in alright

[maxxo]

forgot this

close up of the repair, not perfect as i say but beats having a huge scuff

[rainagain]

On 8/31/2020 at 3:06 PM, maxxo said:

 

just watch out for comms2000 problems, quick fix if it has issues with indicators and light is to drive with the sidelights on

I had this problem in my 307, it would randomly stick the headlamps on. I solved it by enabling ‘daytime running lights’ in Peugeot planet.  Now as soon as you start the engine it puts the headlamps on. I fitted LED headlamp bulbs so I’m not wasting 110W whenever I’m driving.  
 

It helps dozy people see you as well. 

[maxxo]

4 minutes ago, rainagain said:

I had this problem in my 307, it would randomly stick the headlamps on. I solved it by enabling ‘daytime running lights’ in Peugeot planet.  Now as soon as you start the engine it puts the headlamps on. I fitted LED headlamp bulbs so I’m not wasting 110W whenever I’m driving.  
 

It helps dozy people see you as well. 

Genius!!

don't tend to see that many 2000s PSA cars with that issue anymore, most of them have either been fixed or scrapped

do see the odd picasso and a few pugs with the sidelights/headlights on during the day

tell a lie i did see a picasso the other day have their headlights illuminate when the indicator cancelled, made me smile

[paulplom]

11 hours ago, maxxo said:

Went up to south shields today

You should have popped through the tunnel. My mx-5's been idle.

[carlo]

As promised I am going to hijack your thread with my own new Picasso, probably start a thread on it shortly.  A 2.0 automatic Exclusive in remarkable condition for the money.  Drives really well, initial problems seem to be confined to slightly grabby brakes and inoperative air con, hopefully that's not going to be too expensive as a car without air con is about as much use to me as one without wheels.

Goes like the clappers too.

 

 

[maxxo]

6 hours ago, paulplom said:

You should have popped through the tunnel. My mx-5's been idle.

can pop through whenever suits you

[maxxo]

4 hours ago, carlo said:

As promised I am going to hijack your thread with my own new Picasso, probably start a thread on it shortly.  A 2.0 automatic Exclusive in remarkable condition for the money.  Drives really well, initial problems seem to be confined to slightly grabby brakes and inoperative air con, hopefully that's not going to be too expensive as a car without air con is about as much use to me as one without wheels.

Goes like the clappers too.

 

 

that looks absolutely lovely!

always been curious on how the auto picasso drives, i've heard it's smooth

and i've also heard they're really fast

looks to be in very good condition as well, sunroof too! very nice indeed

they're an awful lot of car for very little money

[paulplom]

2 hours ago, maxxo said:

can pop through whenever suits you

Next time you're up just give me a shout.

[maxxo]

2 hours ago, paulplom said:

Next time you're up just give me a shout.

Probably will be after i get back from cornwall, so next week

unless i have some epic failure to proceed on the way, which is always exciting

[maxxo]

suppose i need to buy a small bottle of universal coolant

i have a very very minor leak, so minor i have to top it up maybe twice a year

but i have probably about 1,000 miles worth of driving to do this coming weekend and i don't want to take any chances

big question is........will i make it? in all honesty i believe so

got a few little things to do before i leave, such as check oil and air filter etc but otherwise it seems perfectly fine

will also be calling into liverpool to have a go of a lovely mk1 C5

in other news, i had extremely numb hands today, the air con is literally that cold now and it's honestly wonderful

so many pennies to be spent on the car when i get back, so stay tuned as this should be quite exciting

as well as a proper service

[Kiltox]

Just add water 

[maxxo]

I feel quite bad doing that tbh

i want to make sure it's got at least somewhat of the correct stuff in it, as i want to make sure this car lasts as long as possible for whoever owns it after me

[maxxo]

Nice to see i live on a street with honest people.............not

I rubbed at it a bit and got it looking a bit better

still extremely annoying though

[beko1987]

18 hours ago, maxxo said:

I feel quite bad doing that tbh

i want to make sure it's got at least somewhat of the correct stuff in it, as i want to make sure this car lasts as long as possible for whoever owns it after me

I doubt the scrapyard will care tbh... I fragged my laguna 5 months after sticking a new windscreen in it, before the mot which the windscreen was needed for... They didn't care (I didn't tell them, that would be stupid) 

[maxxo]

12 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

I doubt the scrapyard will care tbh... I fragged my laguna 5 months after sticking a new windscreen in it, before the mot which the windscreen was needed for... They didn't care (I didn't tell them, that would be stupid) 

i mean, it's not that end of life yet i don't think?

just been through the wars recently, none of it my fault which is extremely annoying

[beko1987]

4 minutes ago, maxxo said:

i mean, it's not that end of life yet i don't think?

just been through the wars recently, none of it my fault which is extremely annoying

No your right it's nowhere near end of life. 

But it's French, it'll find a way of making itself! (or give you a proper scary bill) 

That scratch will machine out anyway, you'll be fine! 

[maxxo]

On 9/9/2020 at 7:44 PM, beko1987 said:

No your right it's nowhere near end of life. 

But it's French, it'll find a way of making itself! (or give you a proper scary bill) 

That scratch will machine out anyway, you'll be fine! 

oh i have absolutley no doubts it will

the fact it has a pretty early multiplexed electrical system........a french multiplexed system absolutely terrifies me

even if it blew a fuse it would be a huge pain, as in a typically french way neither of the fuseboxes match up to the one in the owners manual, oh and it's the original manual too which is nice

i'm quite tempted to machine polish the whole car, as theres a few marks on it that i reckon will polish out

[beko1987]

Just now, maxxo said:

oh i have absolutley no doubts it will

the fact it has a pretty early multiplexed electrical system........a french multiplexed system absolutely terrifies me

even if it blew a fuse it would be a huge pain, as in a typically french way neither of the fuseboxes match up to the one in the owners manual, oh and it's the original manual too which is nice

i'm quite tempted to machine polish the whole car, as theres a few marks on it that i reckon will polish out

I machined my roof to get rid of some scratches, and the bonnet when I got the Xsara. Didn't look mega afterwards as it's silver and not too trashed in general anyway and I rushed it, but it got rid of them! You'll want to be careful of buffer trails and make sure you jewel it out nicely being a darker colour. 

[maxxo]

spent a good while today making sure everything is ready for the 1,000 mile weekend coming up

doesn't sound end of life and the gearbox feels decent for a change which is nice

topped up the coolant, of course i completely forgot to buy any of the prestone universal top up stuff i got before so had to spend £12 in halfords on a pretty big bottle of the stuff

still it's all topped up and i didn't spill any (lots of cats round where i live so used a funnel to ensure i didn't)

screenwash topped up, typically french in the way the cap is situated just far enough down to make it pretty damn hard to top up without a funnel

oil checked, doesn't ever use a drop so all is good!

tyres are at between 3-4mm so this trip will finish them off

otherwise all seems good, and i'm confident i'll get there and back

well as confident as you can be with a 15 year old french car

[maxxo]

3 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

I machined my roof to get rid of some scratches, and the bonnet when I got the Xsara. Didn't look mega afterwards as it's silver and not too trashed in general anyway and I rushed it, but it got rid of them! You'll want to be careful of buffer trails and make sure you jewel it out nicely being a darker colour. 

Indeed, the paint is of pretty good quality actually, still nice and solid with no fading or laquer peel

except on the roof got some laquer peel going on there, very minor though

i do have some swirl marks i want to get rid of

probably not helped by me being lazy sometimes and washing it with a single bucket

[Prote]

On 9/9/2020 at 12:34 AM, maxxo said:

suppose i need to buy a small bottle of universal coolant

i have a very very minor leak, so minor i have to top it up maybe twice a year

Is it a mystery coolant leak? I had that with my Picasso - the coolant level was dropping but no obvious signs - just annoying. I panicked thinking it was a head gasket but then I spotted drips under the front passenger footwell through drain holes in the chassis.

Two O rings on the heater matrix had failed. Other Picasso owner I know had the same thing.

To get to it, had to remove the lower panel around the centre console on the passenger side and remove that central cubby hole thing. The two pipes are about 1ft off the floor on the passenger side. Once replaced it hasn't used a drop of coolant since. The waterpump was starting to weep, so that was replaced too with the cambelt.

Amazingly it uses no coolant or oil between services - not bad for a 2001 Frog car.

[maxxo]

22 hours ago, Prote said:

Is it a mystery coolant leak? I had that with my Picasso - the coolant level was dropping but no obvious signs - just annoying. I panicked thinking it was a head gasket but then I spotted drips under the front passenger footwell through drain holes in the chassis.

Two O rings on the heater matrix had failed. Other Picasso owner I know had the same thing.

To get to it, had to remove the lower panel around the centre console on the passenger side and remove that central cubby hole thing. The two pipes are about 1ft off the floor on the passenger side. Once replaced it hasn't used a drop of coolant since. The waterpump was starting to weep, so that was replaced too with the cambelt.

Amazingly it uses no coolant or oil between services - not bad for a 2001 Frog car.

It's one of the most minor leaks of all time, it needs topping up maybe 2-3 times a year

it is indeed a mystery, i have no idea where it's leaking from

can't smell anti freeze and always runs at the ideal number of bars and never gets higher so it's fine

mine has never used a drip of oil as far as i know

[maxxo]

So 1,100 miles covered this weekend

surprisingly for an old french car, absolutely zero issues

well i did hear what sounded exactly like a spring snapping on the motorway, but all springs are fine and the car feels alright

I have a slight suspicion it's thrown a balancing weight off the wheel

but otherwise i'm incredibly satisfied

no back pain and i'm not even tired (been driving 8 hours today)

[Prote]

15 hours ago, maxxo said:

So 1,100 miles covered this weekend

surprisingly for an old french car, absolutely zero issues

I'm always amazed how capable mine is too. I'vr often lugged bikes around, sofas, armchairs, or filled it to the brim with stuff for the dump and it just gets on with it. 

The two things I'd like to fix are the mysterious clunk when letting the clutch in despite all new engine mounts and the creaky sunroof. I think the latter is the glass moving against the rubber seal as opening it a fraction makes it stop. Am guessing it needs a new seal after almost 20 years which I assume is a) bloody hard to fit and b) expensive if I can even get one...

[maxxo]

2 hours ago, Prote said:

I'm always amazed how capable mine is too. I'vr often lugged bikes around, sofas, armchairs, or filled it to the brim with stuff for the dump and it just gets on with it. 

The two things I'd like to fix are the mysterious clunk when letting the clutch in despite all new engine mounts and the creaky sunroof. I think the latter is the glass moving against the rubber seal as opening it a fraction makes it stop. Am guessing it needs a new seal after almost 20 years which I assume is a) bloody hard to fit and b) expensive if I can even get one...

Mine also has the clunk when letting the clutch in

also absolutely loves to what i assume is overheat it's flywheel in heavy traffic and makes the clutch feel absolutely disgusting until it cools down a bit

i'm aware mine really does need engine mounts as it's quite shaky

yes the seals will absolutely no doubt be a complete nightmare to change and probably a nightmare to find too

[maxxo]

Been spending some pennies today

this should be interesting to see how differently it starts once fitted with a nice new battery

can have some fun with the old one

[maxxo]

Did a bit of tinkering today

well more like faffing around with the seat for 20 minutes

Ah yes, time to access the battery......now on a normal car that doesn't think it's an egg it's in a sensible place, like in the boot or under the bonnet

citroen though.......well they have to be different

and for added barrels of laughs, this is a 2005, so it has the torx bolts holding it down which is fine

until they've been accessed more than twice then they round off and make life a pain

hmmmmm i was given this very cheap looking socket set, it did the job though

and this piece is a total life saver, it really does make life a million times easy as the allen key like tool citroen give you is absolutely awful

came with the car, i dread to think how much it cost from halfords

once the bolts are all removed

it's time to slide the seat all the way back, remove the head rest and tilt the backrest backwards

then......tilt the entire seat forward

exposing a 9 year old halfords battery which somehow isn't completely dead

but i want to replace it before winter

now it's time to close all the doors and set a stopwatch for 3 minutes to let everything shut down so it doesn't act french

mind you this is a very french thing to have to do

once the BSI clicks off, and i waited a bit longer just to be safe it's time to remove the terminals

of course following all instructions i could find exactly to avoid issues

I must admit, these terminals are absolutely excellent!

makes it so much easier than unbolting the traditional style ones and messing about for ages

of course, now it's time to remove the battery

starting with the clamp

surprisingly easy tbh, nothing broke and it came straight off without getting stuck on anything which is nice!

however, removing the battery

now that's a fucking pain

being french the battery is almost the exact same size as the place it sits

so that was some fun and games trying to get the damn thing out and the seat tilts forward just far enough to make getting the battery out that little bit more awkward

still

after a good few minutes of wrestling i managed to get the battery out which is nice

then i was greeted with this mess

nice to see an old pound coin too, just shows how long all that has been there for

as i am a complete doofus and got distracted by a neighbour coming to talk to me (word of advice, if you see me working don't come and talk to me as i have no self control and will talk for hours instead of working)

and i forgot to take photos of the install of the new battery

it's pretty much the same as the removal process

of course it's a complete pain to get the new battery in place, it would just not go in without tons of fiddling

such as moving the leads and the vent tube while holding a heavy battery with one hand which is always good fun

then waiting for a good while after connecting it before turning on the sidelights......which greeted me with a nice "thunk"

then turning on the ignition, waiting 10 seconds then turning it off and removing the key

then testing the remote locking before finally starting the engine

and setting the clock and turning auto lock back on

only pic i have of the new battery, it's a fair bit more powerful than the old one

i'll get some better pics tomorrow of how snug the fit is, i need to make a quick repair to one of the seat bolts as it has somehow broken itself and won't screw down

[maxxo]

I have absolutely no doubts this won't fix the cold starting fun i tend to have

at least i'll have the power to do some mega cranking now

that seat design is awful absolutely awful in every single way known to man

i literally cannot express enough much i don't want to see those bastard bolts again

but i will, as i have to fix one that has somehow broken itself

lovely

but in a way i love these 2000s PSA cars, i don't know what it is about them but they're absolutely lovely and well worth the effort