It's alive!

[XMBloke]

Finally got the beast back on the road after seemingly endless time off for headgasket and replacement gearbox.
Have to say as car's go - this one has fought me every step of the way from headgasket, thermostat seal issues, transmission, seized pipe unions on the ABS block and the 'icing on the cake' the seized balljoint which necessitated a whole new hub from Citroen (luckily it comes with Citroen bearing and ball joint already fitted)
Took it out for a test drive today and seems to be ok but feels a tad slow - although that might be due me getting used to smoking around in very light and very quick Rover 216 GTi for several months.
Only issue on its 'shakedown cruise' looks like some adjustment to the kickdown cable needed as kickdown seems to be sticking when throttle is released. At wide open throttle the length of kickdown from stop to outer guide is 39mm which according to haynes is spot on. Might be sticking due to lack of use. One thing's for sure - I won't be doing a transmission swap again anytime soon. I'll stick with manual gearboxes in future. Far easier to work on and swap over.

While on the subject of hubs - the old hub (with the seized balljoint) had an Ebay sourced wheelbearing fitted a year ago (11,000 miles - wasn't the cheapest but wasn't Citroen grade either) which was showing fair bit of wear and rumbling when I inspected it prior to hub being removed. From now on I'm sticking with Citroen parts or original supplier quality as had too many incidents with Ebay purchases prematurely wearing out.

[White Exec]

OE parts always a good idea when it comes to heavy-load or labour-intensive parts. Recently had to replace a rear wheel bearing on our RAV4: £240+ from Toyota, £105 from Blueprint (OEM quality), or £39 on Ebay. Needless to say I dismissed the last!

[Ciaran]

[youtube]J9Lx7chd5X8[/youtube]

[sdelasal]

"Might be sticking due to lack of use' - I suggest also check that the cable core is not frayed - like the one I have.

[Dieselman]

Hopefully the kickdown issue resolves itself when used a bit more. The only use that box has had in the last few years was a trip round the block and a bit of shunting about, but it performed on then.

[XMBloke]

Took it for a longer trip this afternoon and it started to hunt between 2nd and 3rd and hang in 3rd even at 50mph on a level road with gentle throttle. It did eventually change into 4th. While it was hanging onto 3rd I could hear a rattle which sounds like the valves in the valve block opening and shutting rapidly. Exactly what my old gearbox did towards the end. Fluid level spot on for fully warmed-up transmission, throttle and kickdown all correct. So car is now off the road...again. XM ownership second time around is proving to be a big pain in the wotsit.

[Dieselman]

Oops,

Keep me informed.

[mds141]

This car does not want to live. Hope you get it sorted.

[XMBloke]

This car does not want to live. Hope you get it sorted.

It certainly feels that way. In hindsight it was probably a 'parts car' when I bought it on Ebay couple of years ago. It's cost more in my time than actually financial cost so can't really grumble.

[mds141]

I have enjoyed watching the XM vlog videos on YouTube. Would a manual 'box conversion be doable?