Citroen C6 bought, low cost big liability ?

[motorpunk]

I absolutely bloody love these. If I knew a spannerman locally who wouldn’t laugh in my face about ownership then I’d have one in a jiffy.

Love this thread. More please.

[Daviemck2006]

Low maintenance version has arrived. 

 

Are you getting a mini lexia too for it?

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

[Asimo]

On 8/29/2020 at 6:21 PM, Frogchod said:

I've booked some time on a mates four poster next week as it looks like the fuel tank has to come out for the rear abs sensor change.

Is there any reason not to splice the new sensor into the loom before it disappears above the fuel tank ?

I would, but I am good with soldering iron and heat shrink.

ABS sensors are not going to worry about cable length etc, but obviously the connections must be functionally correct. Check that the colours of  both new and old sensor's wires match before snipping anything.

Good luck!

[Frogchod]

The C6 has been up on the lift this morning. 

I really want a four poster, it'd make spannering so much easier. 

Abs sensor plugs do indeed live above the fuel tank. Apart from a seized exhaust clamp it was no bother to drop the tank. 

Talking of tanks, there is another tank under there that needs refilling with this stuff :

Some errors have gone, but now it's complaining about lhr abs sensor. 

Also the suspension ecu has decided not to talk. 

I have a long list of codes that I'll be bothering Google and the C6 forum with later. 

[motorpunk]

Bah. Who needs “main wake up” anyway.

Bon chance.

[SiC]

Most of them look related to low battery voltage. Or dodgy earths or power connections. 

Other codes probably because ABS light on and so not communicating to other modules reporting vehicle speed and steering angle. 

[Frogchod]

20 minutes ago, SiC said:

Most of them look related to low battery voltage. Or dodgy earths or power connections. 

Other codes probably because ABS light on and so not communicating to other modules reporting vehicle speed and steering angle. 

That's exactly what tame mechanic said. He was also concerned about the size of the battery.  Reckoned 75ah was a bit weedy.

Google says it's correct, C6 forum says it's OE but 100ah is way better.

First thing to check tomorrow is voltage difference between the engine bay posts and the acctual battery in the boot. Then to check and clean all the contacts on the power distribution board that sits on top of the battery.  Apparently that's a favourite for corrosion. 

New abs sensor has been ordered.  Not sure why my diagbox only reported the rhr? 

[Frogchod]

I've spent the afternoon looking for where the volts are leaking from. Started in the boot where the battery lives along with other gubbins. 

The Internet reckoned there'd be corrosion here, but it looks as good as new. 

Nipped everything up a bit anyway. 

Suspension ecu is easy to get to, five minutes working out how the connectors work had it out. No signs of corrosion. 

I've seen no sign of dodgy contacts anywhere. Things have obviously improved since my CX days. 

I ran a battery test on the diagbox which involes a fair bit of faffing and waiting. 

While waiting I went through some of the history, there's some scary bills in there. 

Looks like egr valves and the front suspension has been done in the last 40k km

Battery test recommended new battery. 

Previous owner reckoned it was newish. 

I've ordered a big 100ah fecker anyway. 

If this fixes all the problems I'll eat my hat. 

[SiC]

75AH does sound a bit on the low side to be honest. Remember these batteries don't like to be run down, especially below 50% otherwise it shortens their life. Even more life is shortened if run down and then a large current load is taken out of it (like starting a big engine). 

Plus this car is full of solenoids and valves that are critical in having precise movements for varying their actuation level. Used on stuff like suspension and gearboxes. Which most will have their expected movement speed corrected by the current battery voltage. However that correction table will have min/max limits of voltage ranges it expects. So out of those limits, it can't accurate control stuff. Thus throwing up warning lights and shutting down until the voltage is within spec. 

[Frogchod]

Looks like I'll have to eat my hat. 

New battery and new abs sensor resulted in no red lights. 

Now there are only a few insignificant error codes for lane departure warnings and TPMS. 

I can live wthout them, TPMS has been turned off with diagbox. 

Next thing is to fit some new tyres and put it in for a CT. 

I'm still not sure if it's an improvement over my XM. I'm keeping both until I decide, one has to go. 

 

[Asimo]

That's good news.

For me, the C6 is a special looking car, the XM just meh with all of those fussy little windows. 

So keep the C6 even if it breaks, after all you have the Buick for actually depending on.

[beko1987]

Fuck me the xm looks tiny! 

[Frogchod]

22 hours ago, Asimo said:

That's good news.

For me, the C6 is a special looking car, the XM just meh with all of those fussy little windows. 

So keep the C6 even if it breaks, after all you have the Buick for actually depending on.

I love the looks of the XM, fussy windows too. Mine still has the 5th window ?

I love the frameless door windows on the C6 too. And the power...

I've not updated the Buick thread because it has been so dependable . Apart from my works van the Buick does the most miles.

[Frogchod]

22 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Fuck me the xm looks tiny! 

It's further away ?

[Frogchod]

Not much going on with the C6, too much bloody work. 

I have found time to fit some new boots. 

 My local tyre place knew how to jack it properly too. 

New tyres are much quiter. Old ones were chunky mud and snow. 

 

[Frogchod]

CT is on Tuesday. 

Snuck out for fuel today, may have not been the nearest petrol station 😁

No nuns or kittens died. More importantly no red lights or messages of doom from the computer. 

Hopefully be fully legal next week and put it into regular service. 

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The Xm C6 picture stirred something inside me, and now I’m looking at ...

XMs!  When they were new I drove a lot of XMs and would always choose a 605 over one given the choice, or a Carlton,800 or Granada. It was because they didn’t like being thrashed, massive understeer, sluggish acceleration and worse of all brakes that faded like an old SD1, I once went across a roundabout in an auto 2.0SEi after losing brakes trying to keep up with a 70 year old man driving an LS400. The company had about 30 XMs and the ones that didn’t catch fire in the first year quickly ended up as pool cars.

But now that relaxed easygoing cruiser nature would suit me down to the ground, something to do with not being a 26 year old tearaway, flying around using fuel, tyres and brakes that I’m not paying for, probably.
With your fleet, you really are living the dream.

[Frogchod]

10 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

The Xm C6 picture stirred something inside me, and now I’m looking at ...

XMs!  When they were new I drove a lot of XMs and would always choose a 605 over one given the choice, or a Carlton,800 or Granada. It was because they didn’t like being thrashed, massive understeer, sluggish acceleration and worse of all brakes that faded like an old SD1, I once went across a roundabout in an auto 2.0SEi after losing brakes trying to keep up with a 70 year old man driving an LS400. The company had about 30 XMs and the ones that didn’t catch fire in the first year quickly ended up as pool cars.

But now that relaxed easygoing cruiser nature would suit me down to the ground, something to do with not being a 26 year old tearaway, flying around using fuel, tyres and brakes that I’m not paying for, probably.
With your fleet, you really are living the dream.

I've never driven a sluggish XM, never had one with less than 2.5L though. Never had a problem with brakes either, but I don't drive it like I was 26 ☺

They are wonderful cruisers and nowhere near as scarey to own as a C6. 

A late model V6 auto XM with cloth interior would be my choice over a C6.  

Sadly good v6 XM's are out of my price range now 😦

[Frogchod]

CT is on Tuesday. 

Snuck out for fuel today, may have not been the nearest petrol station 😁

No nuns or kittens died. More importantly no red lights or messages of doom from the computer. 

Hopefully be fully legal next week and put it into regular service. 

 

[Frogchod]

Control technique achieved 😁

Now to get some proper miles on it and see what breaks. 

[egg]

Great stuff, advisories a bit picky ;-)?

Like the sky of doom in the background.

[Frogchod]

Advisories are for wonky and faded front frogs, an error code for pre heat circuit and unequal rear damping.

Two new spheres should sort the damping.

Frogs can wait until it's foggy...

Error code will be ignored until it doesn't start in winter. 

Glow plugs are out of tolerance, I have a new set waiting, but I've been advised to leave well alone until there are actual starting issues.

Apparently they like to break on removal.

[Frogchod]

Can't be arsed to change the frogs auto smell checker 😂

[Frogchod]

34 minutes ago, Nyphur said:

They read error codes on the CT? Does every car get plugged into diagnostics or what?

If so, how does that work with older cars or is it just tested where possible?

Tested where possible. 

Older cars it's the regular probe up the exhaust.

Even older cars it's a visible smoke test.

[SiC]

2 hours ago, Nyphur said:

They read error codes on the CT? Does every car get plugged into diagnostics or what?

If so, how does that work with older cars or is it just tested where possible?

Yanks do it in some states as part of their smog check. They look for the standard OBD2 ready data. 

It was considered in the UK MOT and to check VINs. That could cause some confusion if people have done ECU swaps. 

[spartacus]

Out of interest, what's the test for 'uneven damping', is it just the opinion of a guy bouncing on the rear wing, or is there a machine that measures it?

[Frogchod]

8 hours ago, spartacus said:

Out of interest, what's the test for 'uneven damping', is it just the opinion of a guy bouncing on the rear wing, or is there a machine that measures it?

It's machine measured. 

French CT centres are fully equipped with bouncy plates, break test rollers etc etc etc. 

It's all they do, CT's, nothing else.

[Sir Chocolate Teapot]

Great news on the test pass  . Just for unbelievable comparison, just over the alps here in italy the once every 2 year revisione (mot) they only check vin number, brake efficiency,  headlight aim and exhaust emissions.   Tyre size and tread depth. Nothing else !!. 

No seatbelt checks, no suspension or steering checks, no other light bulb checks, they don't even lift car up to look underneath for rust or anything. No horn check, but being in italy is probably the most regularly checked item on the car anyway and fixed straight away.

[Frogchod]

First motorway trip today. 

It's a fantastic cruiser 😁

Well it would be if cruise control worked. I'll plug the computer in tomorrow to see what's up. 

Appart from that, no red lights or bongs. 

 

 

[Frogchod]

Cruise control fixed*

Internet said move the steering wheel up,down,back and forward.

Done that and it works !