Mikes V6 ES9 Manual Exclusive
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:13 pm
Well today was the big day..
A 300km train trip from Beaune (where we have a bolt-hole) to Paris, start the XM and then drive it back. Sounds easy.
The first hurdle was that due to some sort of maintenance, there were no TGVs running from Dijon to Paris, and the alternate route had 2 changes and was an hour longer.
The car has sat untouched for about 3 years so needed a battery to start, so I borrowed the battery from my Xantia, as well as the engine ECU (in case they had lost the code) and the coil pack (just in case). These items were put into an old wheelie bag, and my toolbox was carried in my other hand.
I had a brisk 2km walk to the station (couldn't drive the Xantia), but about a third of the way there one of the wheels fell of the bag, inspection showed that friction had melted the plastic bearings. So I had to carry the battery the rest of the way.
So I caught the first train OK, and had a 20 minute wait at the first transfer, but after 30 minutes, the train had not arrived, and there was something odd about the departure board claiming that it was still on time. Suddenly it dawned that the second train was a bus, and I should have been waiting at the bus stop , not the station waiting room. Obviously I had missed it. Looking out the door towards the bus stop, I see a bus pulling in, but as there was no-one waiting, he just crawled past and by the time I was chasing him (battery bag in one hand, tool box in the other) he had nearly left the car park, but he stopped and I showed him my ticked and he said that he was going to the station for my next transfer, but as he was a different company I had to buy another ticket..
Well we got to the next station dead on the minute that my next train was leaving, ran across the car park dragging the battery bag leaving a black trail of melted plastic and got on the TGV to Paris a few seconds before they closed the doors. My wife always says that bad luck always comes in threes, so after the bag breaking and missing the bus, I was hoping for the third piece of bad luck to occur before attempting to start the car. Fortunately it did, as the train was full and there was a woman sleeping in my seat, so I sat in a luggage rack.
So after that, things had to get better, which they did (apart from severe arm stretch carrying the battery through the Paris metro and to the final destination).
The vendor had found all of the documentation for the car and 2 plip keys and the starting code and radio code, so I was happy. The battery dropped in, oil and water levels checked and the key turned. After about 2 turns of the engine it sprang into life very quietly and sweetly and after a few seconds, the suspension rose, with no puddles on the floor.
The suspension was soft and supple at both ends, and the clutch wasn't stuck, so after a quick clean of the windows it was ready to go.
And very nicely it goes too... The wheels felt a bit square to start with, but after a few km, and getting the correct pressure in them were somewhat better.
Almost everything works, the cruise control is inoperative, the speedo and trip computer only started working after about 5km, but everything else seems OK, even the A/C.
The 300km home was really quite uneventful. Best thing is that (unexpectedly) my wife even likes it.
A 300km train trip from Beaune (where we have a bolt-hole) to Paris, start the XM and then drive it back. Sounds easy.
The first hurdle was that due to some sort of maintenance, there were no TGVs running from Dijon to Paris, and the alternate route had 2 changes and was an hour longer.
The car has sat untouched for about 3 years so needed a battery to start, so I borrowed the battery from my Xantia, as well as the engine ECU (in case they had lost the code) and the coil pack (just in case). These items were put into an old wheelie bag, and my toolbox was carried in my other hand.
I had a brisk 2km walk to the station (couldn't drive the Xantia), but about a third of the way there one of the wheels fell of the bag, inspection showed that friction had melted the plastic bearings. So I had to carry the battery the rest of the way.
So I caught the first train OK, and had a 20 minute wait at the first transfer, but after 30 minutes, the train had not arrived, and there was something odd about the departure board claiming that it was still on time. Suddenly it dawned that the second train was a bus, and I should have been waiting at the bus stop , not the station waiting room. Obviously I had missed it. Looking out the door towards the bus stop, I see a bus pulling in, but as there was no-one waiting, he just crawled past and by the time I was chasing him (battery bag in one hand, tool box in the other) he had nearly left the car park, but he stopped and I showed him my ticked and he said that he was going to the station for my next transfer, but as he was a different company I had to buy another ticket..
Well we got to the next station dead on the minute that my next train was leaving, ran across the car park dragging the battery bag leaving a black trail of melted plastic and got on the TGV to Paris a few seconds before they closed the doors. My wife always says that bad luck always comes in threes, so after the bag breaking and missing the bus, I was hoping for the third piece of bad luck to occur before attempting to start the car. Fortunately it did, as the train was full and there was a woman sleeping in my seat, so I sat in a luggage rack.
So after that, things had to get better, which they did (apart from severe arm stretch carrying the battery through the Paris metro and to the final destination).
The vendor had found all of the documentation for the car and 2 plip keys and the starting code and radio code, so I was happy. The battery dropped in, oil and water levels checked and the key turned. After about 2 turns of the engine it sprang into life very quietly and sweetly and after a few seconds, the suspension rose, with no puddles on the floor.
The suspension was soft and supple at both ends, and the clutch wasn't stuck, so after a quick clean of the windows it was ready to go.
And very nicely it goes too... The wheels felt a bit square to start with, but after a few km, and getting the correct pressure in them were somewhat better.
Almost everything works, the cruise control is inoperative, the speedo and trip computer only started working after about 5km, but everything else seems OK, even the A/C.
The 300km home was really quite uneventful. Best thing is that (unexpectedly) my wife even likes it.