94' Black 2.0i Turbo Prestige Automatic - Classic Challenge

[paulstringer]

I've decided to throw caution to the wind and enter my Black Automatic 2.0i Prestige in the Citroen Classic Challenge - a 9 day jaunt around France covering about 1500m. I bought this 5 years ago from MXTM and so it's been well cared for and in excellent condition. Aside from 2 years hitting the M40 for a 50 mile round trip daily commute, this will be it's sternest test yet (since I've had her atleast). Biggest worries as the date looms, will it get up down some pretty steep looking climbs with out blowing the head gasket. Second how will we cope with June in the South of France with a broken AirCon and some serious sticks to your skin black leather interior. The big one, where the heck are you supposed to put your cups of café in these things?

To alleviate these middle of the night terrors here's what's on the prep list.

- As said, the A/C has never worked, I have a new condenser, thinking of letting the garage fit it and hoping that's it. Just needs a a shady guy who probably under cover of darkness will deal me some good ol' R12 substitute.
- Sticky Passenger Door Exterior Handle (feels like I might rip the handle off when pulling it)
- Change the Head Gasket?? Is this overblowing it? It's a 133K miles, there's nothing wrong with it that I know, I'm just afraid of this thing dying and being stranded up a mountain in the Alps.
- A really good wash & wax + some seriously good looking Citroen Rally livery that will be going on.

Minor annoyances

- Geriatric Cruise Control, comes in and goes as it feels like it
- Intermittent High Water Temperature warning (accompanied by the chorus of clicky relays under the glove box)
- Passenger door lock has gotten confused again and tells the central locking to unlock itself (I don't understand why they thought having 5 doors unlocked instead of one would be a better idea)
- Air distribution stuck on blowing cold air only into the footwell, I believe this might be the little motor that sits to the side of the centre console (I have a spare but the job sounds awkward)
- Fans stuck on high for about the first 20 minutes after starting up, planning to clean up the connectors on the big lump of what looks like an overclocked Pentium that lives under the glovebox.
- Replace the rotten parcel shelf speakers
- Turns out my embarrassing sounding horn is down to only one of them working (my first reaction to finding this out was, I have two horns?)

Did I miss anything? What would you do if you were about to take your keeper on a week long jaunt to the south of France and wanted to get it back again (not via the back of a lorry) - I've got 4 weeks!

[Dieselman]

If you really think the head gasket could be suspect and are intending on keeping the car then get it done. It gives great peice of mind.

[Dean]

Of course, It's up to you but I would do the head gasket and manifold gaskets put a new turbo oil feed pipe on it and do the valve clearances and oil seals while the head is off.
You will have to do the job at some point and if you can afford it I would do it in a controlled way rather than end up getting stuck somewhere.

I agree with Will, it will give peace of mind knowing It's done.

D

[MTXM]

It was very good to see you and the family last weekend Paul and that does look like a comprehensive list. If you decide not to do the head gasket and other top end jobs and I take the Poland car we will be in a similar boat, except with a V6 the chances of failure are doubled I guess!! My 28yr old XM has covered 160,000 miles and apparently not had a replacement yet and they normally go around 130,000! The alternative is a take a bottle of k-seal or some similar product that might just get us through! With regards, Matthew T.

[paulstringer]

Thanks for the tips. Matthew I'm just glad you'll be there with the k-seal. I think I'll get a quote for the work, if it needs doing at some point anyway then now might be a good time. The engine according to Wikipedia is an XU10 does this require the engine out or is it a straightforward in situ job??

It's booked in for a leak detection test next Monday for the AC. I'm wondering if can swap the condenser myself and save some money. Seems like it's more just labor and fairly accessible with the nose off. I really fancy the luxury of some cool aircon for the trip.

[MTXM]

The head gasket can be done insitu Paul, although it is quite an awkward job due to limited access against the bulkhead and right hand wheel arch. I do not blame you for playing safe and I am now leaning towards taking my V6 auto, on which I recently rebuilt the engine! We managed without aircon last time quite happily much further south, but if you can fix it easily why not! With regards, Matthew T.

[paulstringer]

Matthew I hope I haven't discouraged you from your planned voyage of discovery with the LHD V6

I've left a message with the garage M&D Autos in High Wycombe, who are a couple of ex Citroen mechanics and seem to know there stuff and don't run away at the first sight of an XM.

I've found another garage that will perform a leak detection for an R12 system. If that narrows the problem to the condenser I might tackle it. I hear it's good to change he dryer at the same time. I imagine pretty easy to pick up this, although the part number on the unit isnt't bringing back much, it's PSA: 9600938480 but I wonder if these no's are still valid.

Maybe if I don't do it in time MXTM I can bring the bits and rope you in to it. We'll have 3 days to kill in the South of France, what better way to spend it


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[MTXM]

That is okay Paul and I am anyway leaning more towards the auto, partly because I took a manual last time and the auto does make for a relaxing drive. In 2015 the schedule was quite gruelling and I think it could also be a bit hard on the older and higher mileage Poland car. Unless the air con is a simple fix I would just make do with the sunroof and windows! With regards. Matthew T.

[paulstringer]

Garage are working on a quote. Speaking to them they're suggesting that if going to the trouble of the other work I might aswell be considering an engine rebuild. 'Prevention is better than cure' or if it ain't broke don't start taking it all apart'. I've asked them for their opinion on what's a balance between being well prepared for the trip and what's just unnecessary expense.

Maybe I should just grab some K-Seal and embrace a bit more the Joie de vivre


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[paulstringer]

Thought I'd work on some of the really important stuff today.

Rear Parcel Speaker Before:


And After:


On the engine front I did think I'd do some checks. So I ran the engine for a while today sat in some town traffic and went up and down a 20% incline hill to see if there was anything suspicious I should be worried about. Apart from being a little sluggish up the hill touch wood trim all seemed fine.

I've checked coolant was clear, no trace of oil or bubbles. Oil is clear of any trace of coolant a nice clear black. And no bubbling either when taking the expansion tank cap off just a usual hiss. This makes me feel a bit more confident that I'm not on the verge of some kind of imminent engine failure.

Anyway this doesn't really look so bad!
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/sw ... rclaz.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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