My 1990 V6 Sei is finally back on the road

[Dieselman]

That is indeed the drain plug. Try unscrewing it then probing with a bit of stiff wire.

[dcz1643]

Thanks Dieselman. I am speaking to a french company who may be able to supply a set of silicon water pipes for my car. However, they cant confirm this from my vin number. I am not sure why but there system only brings back the header tank. They are asking for more info. I have taken photos of the pipes but does anyone have a parts diagram for the series one V6? I have tried to find one on the internet but have not yet found one. I know it’s a long shot and a full set of silicon pipes will be expensive but it seems worth looking at. Cheers

[Dieselman]

This should be correct for your car.
In general the original Hutchinson brand rubber pipes used by Citroen are very good quality and normally last well.

Screenshot_14-10-2026_65615_www.catcar.info.jpeg

[dcz1643]

Thanks for the diagram, I am not desperate for new water pipes, they look pretty decent and are not leaking but I will explore the possibility of changing them for silicon. I went back to flushing out the cooling system today. I opened the drain valve, after removing the expansion tank cap and taking the top hose off the radiator and again nothing came out. I managed to remove the whole plug and then got to work with some pipe cleaners and wire. This improved things but I got a trickle not a flow. I have been trying to avoid using a chemical flush but I think I will have no choice but to do so. Do you think that would be OK Dieselman, or do you think it could create problems like leaks that were not there before? Cheers…

[Dieselman]

Possibly, but if rust is the only thing stopping leaks it's best to find that out now.

Try back flushing the drain cock with a hose, to loosen any compacted sludge.

For a chemical flush, white vinegar works, but remember to then flush out with clean water before refilling the system with anti-freeze.

[dcz1643]

Update: flushed the cooling system loads of times, to get the rusty crud out of it. As Dieselman suggested, I managed to get the hosepipe on the radiator drain by using a piece of pipe that fitted over the drain. That worked a treat and got the drain working well. I then used Prestone Coolant Flush to give the system a good going over. It is great stuff but I must have used a bit of petrol, running the engine for 50 mins. After that, I flushed and drained the system 3 times, before adding a 50/50 mix of distilled water and G11 antifreeze. I now have a system mostly free from rust and gunk and is noticeably cooling the engine better and the heater blows nice and hot. The only issue is the blue water has turned slightly green. As I understand it, this is because of the rust still in the system. It isn’t too bad, so I intend to run it like that for a while and then flush the system again and replace the antifreeze. I will get there eventually! Also, yesterday my stainless steel trims arrived from Q&K Citroen, they look great quality and will really lift the car, as the original inserts are shot. I hope people are interested in my updates and I really am looking forward to coming to some events next year..

[Dieselman]

I like the stainless steel trim inserts and think it's well worth doing.
I find the best method of installation is to strip the original inserts down and then use the ABS backing to mount the new stainless coverings onto.

As far as the rusty anti-freeze, the anti-corrosion additives in the solution will continue to work on the rust, gradually cleaning it out: just plan to change it again prematurely.

Of course we like your updates, images of you covered in rusty water would really top off your post.

[dcz1643]

Hi, thanks for this, I will make more of an effort to take pics when I am doing things on the XM. Not sure what you mean about ABS backing? Is it like Gorilla double sided tape, or is it something else? I bought glass adhesive, as recommended by Q&K but if there is a better way to do the job, I am happy to change my plan. Today I am taking the radio cassette up to an old friend of mine, who repairs and services old HiFi equipment. He is going to give it a complete service, including changing the cassette drive belts. He is also going to add a discrete Bluetooth unit, so it won’t look any different but will have Bluetooth. Cheers

[Dieselman]

I'd be very interested to read details of the bluetooth add-on.
At some stage I intend to hack straight into the audio gateway to be able to feed audio in from external devices, but bluetooth may be the way forward for remote connectivity.

Regarding the door trim strips, they are made from three components: the main structure that clips in is black ABS, then a thin aluminium layer is bonded onto that and the clear acrylic layer is bonded onto that.

I found the best way to fix the stainless plates was to remove the acrylic and aluminium layers and stick the stainless to the ABS backing.
There are two ways to strip the original trim, either use caustic solution to dissolve the aluminium, or use a mechanical method. I had some very poor condition trims so used an electric planer to strip the acrylic and aluminium layers off.

I would be surprised if there is sufficient clearance to be able to install the stainless plates on top of the original trims, at least without them buckling outwards due to the pressure.

[dcz1643]

Just a bit of an update regarding chewed wiring, left behind by the mice that lived in the XM during its years of storage. I was fortunate that they didn’t do more damage but they did have a good chew of the connector on the drivers side, behind the suspension sphere.
I didn’t have enough slack on the cable to be able to cut the wires, then solder and sleeve them. So I managed to find some liquid insulation tape on Amazon. I can say that this stuff works great, although I did put about 3 coats on. I tested the wiring and the continuity with my meter and after confirming that was good, I cleaned the exposed wires with isopropyl alcohol. I then gave the wires several coats of liquid insulation tape and finished everything off with wiring loom, cloth tape and everything is good. I can definitely recommend this stuff.