I'll get round to it at some point - Green Piss

[Rust Collector]

Today I wanted to sort out the last problems of note on the XM.

I started with these warning lights this morning.

Replacing the coolant that was lost when changing the pump got me to here:

The handbrake is on, so that leaves the ABS.

To recap, as it’s been sometime, when I last ran the diagnostic test on it I was given two codes that wouldn’t clear - the near side front sensor and the offside rear sensor. When I busted out the multimeter, the NSF was open circuit and from memory the OSR was very high impedance. I replaced the front, and that cured that code. I then procrastinated over fitting the rear and focussed on the fuel pump instead.

The pump was sorted* yesterday, so that just leaves the offside rear sensor. Luckily the rears are the most miserable ones to sort. Legend has it that they’re bonded in with adhesive, and use a height adjuster to get the correct clearance as they have to be a gnat’s cock away from the badly designed reluctor ring.

Best get started then.

Amazingly, the rear shield came away without an any disasters.

The sensor was well and truly stuck in there. With a bit of persuasion it snapped off and left the shaft in. Standard.

Disc off then.

That needed some proper testing with a nylon mallet to get it free.

Next up I needed to crack loose the hub.

Lots of teeth and lots of shiny bits.

Well, there’s your problem:

Release the STUFF!

I chiselled out the remains of the collar with a screwdriver, and I was left with all this shite.

It was fouling the new sensor and stopping it going in. I seem to recall this being mentioned on the XM forums as being a menace to clean out properly. Fortunately I’m a lazy bastard, so I realised that an 18mm drill bit and my laser guided eyeball would do it in two seconds.

I then fucked around measuring things to figure out if I was going to have any length issues when it came to going sloppy seconds on the freshly reamed hole.

The reluctor was in when I took that measurement initially.

Looks good to me.

I then spent some time fucking around looking for a suitable shim to get the clearance I needed, before realising the heat/dust shield that bolts under it is the perfect thickness. Here’s how it looked before I realised that, and I was using a washer:

Reassembly is the reverse of removal. This is the absolute worst part in my opinion:

That connector is up between the top of the rear beam and floor pan. It’s best to get to it from under the car, popping up in alternate places under the subframe like a demented meerkat. It’s one of those things where you can either see it or you can touch it, but not both at once. Speaking of which, if you’re doing this job then it’s worth observing this:

Similar to the front, there’s a couple of types of sensor and if you’re lucky like me then you can use either impedance value which opens up some options. The green one is original to my car, the blue one is the replacement. The lugs are in different places, but a craft knife sorts that.

Once it was all back together, it was time for the moment of truth.

Result! The ABS diag ran as it should then the lamp went out. I now have no warning lights whilst the car is running.

I’ll give it a quick run round the block, then see if I can sort the slow starting by tweaking the fuelling and throttle adjustment (I’m 99% certain they’re marginally out as it was originally firing instantly on this pump) and then I’ll get her in for a ticket.

Im really pleased to finally be whittling down the known big jobs on this car, hopefully the MOT doesn’t throw up anything horrible.

Also, a big shout out to the weather today. It would’ve been absolutely miserable doing this job whilst rolling around the floor in near constant rain…

[wesacosa]

top work mate, I feel thoroughly ashamed having done nowt of note on mine for a good while

on that note, remind me . Did you need to fashion up a puller for separating the pulley from the shaft?

 

[Rust Collector]

17 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

top work mate, I feel thoroughly ashamed having done nowt of note on mine for a good while

on that note, remind me . Did you need to fashion up a puller for separating the pulley from the shaft?

 

Don’t feel bad mate, I’ve got about half an acre filled with shame just down the road from me 😅 The XM was becoming a millstone and was in the way of other things happening so that’s mostly what has motivated me to get things done.

RE the puller; yes, you’re meant to make one, yes it looks fairly easy to make with an angle grinder and a pillar drill, but that would mean clearing my workbench and so I just used this special* puller instead

It didn’t take much force to free it off, I just worked gently-ish against strong looking bits of the casting. This worked on both engines/pumps without any exciting consequences.

[Rust Collector]

After deliberating the best course of action, I've booked the MOT at a 'just MOT's' type of place a couple of towns away. The 'no pass no fee' place was tempting, but it's about an hour and a half away and would be a false economy if I end up stranded.

Judgement day is this Saturday, at 10:50am.

[wesacosa]

Fingers crossed for a pass

[AnnoyingPentium]

Crossing fingers and anything else. Best of luck. 👍

[Rust Collector]

I’m hoping for a pass, but I’d also take an easy to rectify fail!

[Rust Collector]

Aaaaand as I walked down the path to my house this evening I noticed a wet spot under the corner I was working on. Fingers crossed I’ve just disturbed a low pressure return or something, I’ll have a look once the kids are in bed.

[Rust Collector]

Big sweaty ball bags.

Looks like that line has burst where it squeaks past the anti roll bar. Must’ve been where I was jostling things about.

I reckon I need to drop the exhaust for access. Then need to make up some lines.

None of you good folks would happen to have a set of the dies handy to make the flares, would you? I’ve got the bench mounted tool, just never got round to buying the Citroen dies.