1993 Citroen XM

[maxxo]

6 minutes ago, EspenO said:

Really lovely colour, that. 

It really is!

even in the owners club I haven’t seen another in this colour

[jonathan_dyane]

On 07/05/2024 at 23:14, maxxo said:

cleaned up the relay's under the bonnet, does seem to be starting better now which is good

going to Paul Breeze-Robert's  funeral on Thursday, someone who is dearly missed in XM circles and makes owning these cars much harder

sad sad day indeed

decided as it's near enough 500 miles exacty from my house to the chapel and back to see if i can do the whole trip on half a tank of diesel

i bet i can

i seem to be able to get around 350 miles per half a tank at the minute with combined driving

so i reckon if i stick to a steady 60 and take it slow i can get 500 to half a tank, which is something i will be extremely pleased with i must admit

 

I'm gutted to hear Paul has passed away, such a lovely bloke; last time I spoke to him it seemed he was on the mend, so awful to find out things changed so quickly he's gone.

 

[maxxo]

Seems to have sprung a bit of a leak

from the back of the engine, clear horrible tasting fluid so coolant

Tried to get a photo but this is the best I’ve managed I suspect it looks like the thermostat housing

[wesacosa]

difficult to tell  from your picture but thermostat housing is bottom rear driver's side near the red mark on this picture  (Water pump is removed in this picture, it sits to the right of the red mark)

 

[maxxo]

Thank you

im going to do something I’m not proud of, as I do not like the look of those bolts

im going to stick a bottle of rad weld in and see how that goes

the disgusting state of the cooling system on this car anyway doesn’t make me feel so bad about it

[wesacosa]

are you sure its not dripping from somewhere above?  there are a number of hoses in that area. Can't quite get the orientation from your pic but that doesn't immediately jump out as being the stat housing to me

 

I'd have a good look around before thinking about radweld

[beko1987]

Deffo check elsewhere first. Have the engine in and rev it up whilst you stand and look. I had a pinhole in my top hose. Lost coolant with no visible signs. Only when doing the above (out of frustration mostly) did the small thin stream of coolant appear (that then evaporated with the heat of the engine bay) 

 

Equally how bad is it? I've had a tiny drip from my water pump since doing the belt and pump. It barely leaks (worse stuck in traffic but I think that's just thermal expansion opening a bad joint) and I just bought 5l more of ready mix coolant and have used about 3l in 10k+/3 years and not fixed the leak! 

[maxxo]

3 hours ago, wesacosa said:

are you sure its not dripping from somewhere above?  there are a number of hoses in that area. Can't quite get the orientation from your pic but that doesn't immediately jump out as being the stat housing to me

 

I'd have a good look around before thinking about radweld

like hell can i actually see where it's coming from, it's say water pump area but i can't see a thing from above or underneath as there's literally no room at all

[maxxo]

50 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Deffo check elsewhere first. Have the engine in and rev it up whilst you stand and look. I had a pinhole in my top hose. Lost coolant with no visible signs. Only when doing the above (out of frustration mostly) did the small thin stream of coolant appear (that then evaporated with the heat of the engine bay) 

 

Equally how bad is it? I've had a tiny drip from my water pump since doing the belt and pump. It barely leaks (worse stuck in traffic but I think that's just thermal expansion opening a bad joint) and I just bought 5l more of ready mix coolant and have used about 3l in 10k+/3 years and not fixed the leak! 

i might well do that actually!

it's not terrible nor is it amazing either, i can see it dripping but never leaves a massive puddle either just a little pool underneath and then stops dripping

deffo thermal expension kicking into play

just trying to find where it's coming from now, coolant isn't mega low either so it can't be losing a massive amount either

[beko1987]

Try and grab a bottle of cheap ready mix in the I trim just so you don't slowly fill it with water before winter! 

I'd guess tweaking the bolts isn't going to be simple without the wheel, liner and belt covers off either... (which is why I haven't touched mine yet! I checked on it last year and inside the belt area is spotless so I carried on ignoring it) 

[maxxo]

I’ve put a bottle of rad weld in as it became quite the drip and the low coolant warning came on

just done a 20 mile drive and as far as I can see no drips 

we shall monitor this but maybe that’s fixed it for now

[maxxo]

Coolant level still fine, got it properly hot and checked for leaks

this so far is a success

ill be impressed if a £9 bottle of gunk from Halfords has fixed it but let’s see

im only doing this as I do not want to touch those bolts

[maxxo]

Still going well! Being a very reliable car

will need droplinks soon

however this morning I had a very nice surprise as I was about to take some stuff to the tip

I used the car yesterday and I didn’t notice anything and it was inflated

can hear the air hissing out of this hole of course in the sidewall

how in the hell that’s happened I do not know

i don’t recall driving over anything yesterday but surely I must have

perhaps someone jabbed it with a screwdriver but then again why? And just the one

Anyway time to put the spare on

an original tyre to the car as well!

just pleased it holds air! 
going to get a new tyre on monday

[maxxo]

Tyre situation sorted, the drivers side is at 3 or so mm anyway so as money is tight at the minute I got a £15 part worn stuck on, a comforser apparently

date of 22 on it and doesn’t look damaged so will be fine for a month or two, didn’t really feel too comfortable with a 30 year old Michelin of a different size on there but anyway

still going well! 
very chuffed with this car

[maxxo]

Haven’t updated this thread in a while because honestly there’s been no need to, it’s been perfect

gave it a good wash and wax the other day and it came up really nicely

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

really pleased with this purchase and I’m making a 4 hour drive down the Citroen car club chevrons rally tomorrow

also today I finally fixed the heater

I finally replaced the stepper motor on the temperature flaps

the fault was a damaged cable on the motor supply, full service is restored and the automatic climate control works perfectly

otherwise nothing else to report

[maxxo]

I’m not quite sure why that image has flipped

[myglaren]

5 hours ago, maxxo said:

I’m not quite sure why that image has flipped

I find that a lot of photo's taken on phones do that.

I open mine in an image viewer, rotate them then rotate back and re-save them before uploading.

 

Have fun at the Chevrons.  Getting to be too far for me now.

[Mrs6C]

Six-cylinder and I will be taking our XM to the Chevrons Rally. Look out for the scruffy burgundy one! 🙂

[maxxo]

9 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Six-cylinder and I will be taking our XM to the Chevrons Rally. Look out for the scruffy burgundy one! 🙂

There is a scruffy burgundy series 2 just behind me as I type 

I’m in the blue XM with the broken tent next to it

[Mrs6C]

Ha! We're sitting at a table in front of the hall, having a drink. Why not come over and join us? 

[maxxo]

1 minute ago, Mrs6C said:

Ha! We're sitting at a table in front of the hall, having a drink. Why not come over and join us? 

Just waiting for my mobile phone to charge, the only charging facility I’ve got is the cigarette lighter of the xm

i will happily come and join, which table are you on?

[Mrs6C]

Lovely to meet you in person & we look foward to seeing your XM tomorrow, in daylight!

[beko1987]

You there all weekend maxxo? If I'm done with my mum before it's too late I might drop in

[maxxo]

1 hour ago, beko1987 said:

You there all weekend maxxo? If I'm done with my mum before it's too late I might drop in

Yes I’m here all weekend!

[mk2_craig]

As shared on the Craptical Plastics facebook page. 

[maxxo]

Over 500 miles covered over the weekend without a single issue

todays little task was changing the steering wheel

doesn’t the single spoke look a thousand times better

Really pleased with it

[maxxo]

i guess it's only when you own a good XM you can truly comprehend what a car they actually are

they look fantastic and this can be seen in the flesh and they feel great on a short drive

but living with them long term, you just realise, they're damn close to being one of the best cars ever made

wether it's cruising down a motorway (which is where they really show their form as a cruiser) me with arthiritis and chronic back pain can comfortable drive one for 4-5 hours non stop with minimal pain

or pushing on in the twisties, and feeling how the car almost seems to shrink in size and handle better than it has any right to

or dealing with the states of the road these days with quite frankly the best suspension system of all time

i truly believe a sorted XM is all the car you'll ever need

[myglaren]

Only been in one once, got a lift from Hartlepool to Little Horwood in one and it was indeed excellent.

I may have been tempted but it was a somewhat diversionary trip.  Got a lift from there to Buxton (in a fabulous C6) to collect my new C5.

The Xm was far better, the C5 was crap until some fettling was done to it.

[Stinkwheel]

10 hours ago, maxxo said:

i guess it's only when you own a good XM you can truly comprehend what a car they actually are

they look fantastic and this can be seen in the flesh and they feel great on a short drive

but living with them long term, you just realise, they're damn close to being one of the best cars ever made

wether it's cruising down a motorway (which is where they really show their form as a cruiser) me with arthiritis and chronic back pain can comfortable drive one for 4-5 hours non stop with minimal pain

or pushing on in the twisties, and feeling how the car almost seems to shrink in size and handle better than it has any right to

or dealing with the states of the road these days with quite frankly the best suspension system of all time

i truly believe a sorted XM is all the car you'll ever need

I'd so nearly agree with you, until i think of CX's

I would happily apply all the above points you make to a CX and say there is something more 'involving' than with the XM. I am not putting the XM down at all, wonderful cars and I'd happily have another one. But get a good long drive in a decent CX if you can, that is what big Citroen motoring is all about for me (others can and will say different and thats their call)

[beko1987]

My fairly fettled ex @bub2006 xantia was fun, it had both insane speed thanks to various pump mods and hydro suspension 😂

That could be very fast point to point (with various black smoke on tap levels of action). I remember hitting an indicated 3 digits in 3rd coming onto the m40 once very fast at 2am after a nappy run to asda (those were the days) 😂