Citroen XM Forum

MTXM wrote:I had also missed your posts Russ, but I remember you mentioning some health concerns and a possible future operation. It was very good to hear you are now up and running again (almost) and have works planned for the car. I just wondered if we might see you on Sunday? With regards, Matthew T.

Thanks Matthew. Yes I have had the 'procedure' and get the results in may. Nothing like a long wait!
But yes, plodding along quite happily at the moment.
I won't be going to the x rally I'm afraid, although the XM turnout looks strong this year.

Dieselman wrote:Back to important matters...

I wouldn't bother sourcing a replacement FDV, as a strip down and fit new O rings works wonders.

Don't need too. Got two spares and both are in good working order. Just need to swap it over with one of them ...with new union seals of course.

Glad to hear you're on the mend, Russ. It's a bit quiet without you regular contributions...

Good to hear from you Russ! I also have had a fairly grotty winter due to blood pressure medication. In my case, a drug called indapamide gave me a world class dose of gout that reduced me to crawling at one stage. It took months to identify the cause and then more months to really feel better. I'm not yet 100% and suspect I never will be but I am soo much better - I do hope you will see similar progress in the coming weeks. Warmer weather always seems to help a bit.

I no longer have an XM and rather regret it; I have got a pretty fine Xantia Estate that I have spent a fortune on despite its apparently excellent provenance and I am going to try to learn to love it - but it isn't an XM. I am giving the X Rally a miss this year as it means hundreds of miles of motorway driving, instead the Xant and I shall be touring the Yorkshire Dales with the CCC Northern Section tomorrow. It will at least be a treat to be driving a car with more than a year's MOT!

Hi Rob,

Great to hear from you too. Sorry to hear about your gout and BP issues. Sounds terrible. I totally agree about the warmer weather. I now bask in the sun like a reptile!
What a pair... My little issue is now down to preventive maintenance because of leaky LHM filters!

Sounds like you need to find another XM.i did wonder if you were going to miss Jim olds V6. The Xantia sounds good, but it's not quite like it's bigger sister. I hope it behaves itself from now on though.

Hope you have a great time in the dales. Sounds like good fun.

I took the XM out this afternoon for a quick spin. Get some juice back into the battery. The suspension seems to be softening up nicely after curing the air ingress at the LHM tank. I found these very substantial fuel hose clips which seem to working a treat. I'll post a picture at some point.

I am so annoyed with myself.
I have decided, and I have wanted to do this for a while now, to go through the mandarins original engine and make it leak free, fix the head gasket, replace any other things that need doing, i.e. Mainly seals, soft pipes, and bung it back in the car and enjoy its quicker turn of speed.
This decision has been made because one, I want it as trouble free for the future as possible, because I might not be in the position to do major fixings at somepoint. Two because the ticking head on the car at the moment is not getting better and I unfortunately suspect an external headgasket leak too. Something I did not suspect when the engines were swapped over back in 2015.
Coolant seems to be disappearing slowly and not ending up on the road below or any other leaks found. But it's always ran at the right temp and never got hot and bothered. I did think maybe the head bolts might need retorquing, but if the head needs work anyway, then might as well take it off and do it properly and make sure the gasket, headbolts ARE new.

Basically I have had enough and want an engine that is working properly!

So the idea WAS to prep the mandarins original engine over the summer and then do a swap over meaning the car will be off the road for the smallest amount of time possible.
But that has now been thwarted! I didn't bung any oil back into the mandarins original engine and turned it over regularly when I took it out and it's gone and bloody siezed. I'm so cross. ARGH! It will not budge on the crank pulley at all, even with a breaker bar. Unless it can be miraculously unseized I think it's fit for parts or obviously a proper engine rebuild.
So I'm trying to formulate a plan B.....

And I think it's coming down to just taking out the cars engine and repairing that. Maybe though a plan is to fix up a new head so replacement is quicker.....

Hate it when best laid plans fail at the first hurdle!

I would imagine due to head gasket failure the engine was put away with water or moisture in the bores and its welded the piston rings to the bore, the head and bottom end should be fine.
In fact if you pull the head off you may be able to free it off and use it again depending on what the issue is but the pistons will have to come out and new rings fitted at least.

I feel an engine adventure coming on.

D

Depending on what happens, I might have a really good 2.1td engine going spare soon.

Try taking out the injectors, and throwing half a cupful of clean diesel into each pot, and letting it soak in for a day or so - then trying again. As said, unlikely that the bottom of the engine has seized. Could even be a bit of old coolant (which can contain a leak-blocking gum) in the bores has 'glued' rings/pistons in place. Maybe.

Oh yes, engine adventures are about to begin. Not exactly delighted with the prospect though!

I think you are right Dean. I think that's exactly what has happened... well that's what I kind of deduced. Coolant must have welded the rings to the bores. Ahh, why I didn't think of maybe flushing it through or doing something about it, I don't know. So cross with myself.
Well it's done now, so that is that! But good to know about the other bits might be good.

Thanks Will for the offer, I technically do have a spare and unsiezed 2.1, but it is a mk2 BTE engine, and has a manual box attached. Yes, I know this is the time to swap to a manual, but I don't think I have the energy. I'm exhausted just thinking about removing the engine again!

I think after having a mull, the plan is to take off the spare head and check it out. Rebuild it, have it skimmed if nessessary, I definitely want to put new valve stem oil seals in too.
If I'm right in my thinking, I will keep the timed up cam from the engine currently in the car, along with the bottom end obviously, and just use a new head.
I briefly flirted with the idea of try to do a head swap with the engine in situ. Kind of makes me shudder though!
AT least with the engine out again, I can do cambelt ect ect.


Thanks Chris for the diesel suggestion. I did wonder if that was a possibility. I might try it.

Next job is to procure an engine hoist to move the engine out so I can get this head off. I know a chap deep in the forest who might be able to help!

The fun begins...

I picked up the engine hoist last Sunday, and this morning I moved the engine out so I could work on it.
I have got quite far.. I'm ready to take the head off now. Considering this is the first time I have tackled this kind of engine work, I'm quite pleased. So far no real troubles.
Due to the engine bottom half being siezed, I can't really time it up. Although it was very close to being at top dead centre.

The main idea is to get this head skimmed, pressure tested and rebuilt ready to go on the engine in the car. I'll wait to see about the cams and decide which one is better. Hopefully there will be very little between them. But ideally I want to keep the one on the car as that will be timed up.

The plan is to get the head off this weekend, and then see where the gasket has blown. Strangely looking forward to that!


Some pics. I have created a little working nook!




The cam close up... I know you don't have to take it off separately, but engine timing is the issue. It's the main head I want.