Citroen XM Forum

They would have to be pretty poor ramps to split.

Russ, don't worry about tyre width, the whole tyre doesn't need to be on the ramp, but if bothered just fit planks over the steel.

Oh good. thanks Will. They just about fit, they squidge over a little. I do think about planks, but thought it a bit unsafe.

To be honest, they are getting old now anyway. Bit rusty..but appear solid. My Dad used to use them for his cars.
Probably originally bought for the Fiat 128 in the 70's! Gives you an idea how reliable that car was!!!

I have a decent pair of ramps but they're under a car at the moment and will be for a long time. I should buy a new pair too.

Well, stuff has been arriving. I have:

Ramps
Hydraflush
Set of rear springs for a Meriva
Oil Syringe
Bottle of car shampoo
Jim's LHM guide printed out

May have a crack at an LHM drain and Hydraflush fill tomorrow!

beko1987 wrote: May have a crack at an LHM drain and Hydraflush fill tomorrow!

Looks like it'll be a perfect day for it Sam... Today has, if anything, been a little too hot for a lot of spannering...

Went over to my mums at about 9.30,and got cracking



Unwrapped my ramps



They do fit, although squash the tyrewall in slightly at the bottom



Just clear on normal ride height



Eyed up the enemy



Remembered about de-pressurizing. Found the bolt, and can get to it with the car on low, which is nice

Took me ages to get the cap off. I left the pipes on, and thought it twisted, it didn't so I levered it up with a screwdriver and it came off lovely!

I've never seen LHM before, but I've heard it should be green



1 bolt and the tank was out. My parents only had a 4 pint milk bottle, so I cut it up and used that. It just held all the LHM from the cap



Got LHM everywhere, hope it's not too corrosive

1 filter





t'other





Swilled them about a bit in petrol





So went inside and filled the bowl with hot water and washing up liquid. Gave them a scrub and they came up alot better



Rinsed them out in petrol and left them in the sun to dry







Removing this is when I spilled alot of LHM



A friend came over at this point, so I carried on whilst forgetting to take any pictures. Filters went back in, tank went back in, everything was re-assembled and filled with the flush fluid. Took a scary few minutes to come up to height, and I did some citrobatics. It comes up alot faster now!

Since my mate was here, he sat in the car and pressed the brake pedal whilst I bled the calipers. I hate getting up onto ramps! Fooking scary

The front 2 calipers



and the rears



I bled until the fluid was 80% clearer than that. Didn't want to run out of the fluid, and will bleed it again when I swap for LHM, but the brakes feel alot better and the steering wheel doesn't notch and pulse when turning quick and moving slowly. I can feel the bumps in the road more though, so will see if it improves with more citrobatics in time.

Gave the rear height adjuster a good blast with plusgas whilst it was up on the ramps. The back end doesn't sink down now, but can't work out if it's the flush solution or the lever.

Anyhoo, I moved onto cleaning it.



















Wheels first













Wheels and arches rinsed, it was time for snowfoam





And the tightwork was cleaned, and the car rinsed. Looks better already



Then moved onto the cay. The sun came out and it was pretty horrible to be honest. The clay pulled so much rubbish off the paint the water coming off it ran grey, which then baked onto the whole car

After 2ft of roof. Front doors were worse, but I neglected to take any pictures



I then gave the car another wash, rinsing as I went panel to panel to minimise any waytermarks. Was pointless! I also learned about soft XM paint, as the whole car is now covered in previously hidden swirls, and a heck of alot more from the intensive claying in the sun.



So got the polisher out, and did the bonnet, nosecone, wiper trim bit and the passenger wing.

Before



During (only after first stage, before refining?



After



No pictures of the wing, and a bird has poo'd on it now anyway so none until it's clean!

I packed away, and drove over to asda to get a mcdonalds for tea, and the engine coolant light came on. Put the heaters on, opened the sunroof and kept an eye on the temp guage for the mile left to Asda, and noticed water dripping out from under the car slightly. Popped the bonnet, and the LHM tank and surrounding area was soaked. Engine was red hot (been idling for a few hours during the hot sun whilst going up and down...) but I felt a few pipes, and the one that comes out of the thermostat housing behind the stat, and runs around the back of the engine was soaked, and felt very soft.

Bought 38p worth of smart price water (4ltrs), and emptied 2ltrs into the header tank. Fired her up, light was off. Went back into asda and got food, and gingerly drove home (going the back way so I could pull over if needed) Got home, looked under the car and the chassis underneath is dripping. Left it to cool for now, and will have a poke around later. Also want to see how bigh the puddle of water gets. Hoping it is a burst/perished hose. The header tank is full of mayo again, but the oil is fine...

So a good and bad day

No sooner did I hit enter above I went outside for a look!

Polished paintwork is protected by a layer of Black Hole (a glaze) and Nattys Blue Wax, which I love as it doesn't add anything to the finish, allowing the flake pop to come though.



The hazy smudge on the door is scratches! Hard to capture with the sun. Whole car looks ruined tbh, but I know it will come up a treat with some work!



Stupid bird



Whipped it off with a baby wipe

Paintwork is very orange-peeley, which is a shame, but looks good from a distance!







She's sitting like this now after the drive home, is this about right?



I also had another look underneath. The 'masses of drips cascading off the subframe' is actually LHM. Was a bit watery around it, but not the potential torrent I thought it may be. Need to squeeze pipes when it's cold tomorrow I think! Any weak spots on my engine pipework wise around the passenger side?

Gosh Sam, that LHM looked revolting I think it was definitely due a change!

Hope the puddles turn out to be nothing serious..

That paintwork has come up absolutely stunning. I'm really impressed, excellent

Excellent stuff there Sam. Your polishing efforts look great. Sorry to hear about the coolant leak. Hope it is an easy fix. Apparently I have one somewhere too....not found it yet!

After I finally get the oil changed, I need to clean my LHM filters. Yours certainly needed doing by the looks of it...I have never seen LHM that colour before. No doubt you'll certainly see the benefits.

Oh and you don't need to tell me about driving up ramps....gets the old heart beating every time!

driving onto ramps is easier in a manual car!