Citroen XM Forum

Dean wrote:
Engine mounts all looked good, the exhaust was touching the heat shielding and the vibration was awful so I moved it and the problem went away or dramatically lessened, so I think that's where the problem lies still.

D

Engine mounts looking good doesn't really mean much. They compress and transfer vibration. I suspect new ones would remove the problem.

Good to hear that on the whole, the first drive was a successful one. Not surprising there are niggles to sort out, but at least nothing too serious.

From what you describe Dean, and from memory, that's how I remember the auto V6 I drove behaved.

I had severely damaged engine mounts on one of my manual cars and the only symptons that I noticed were rather rough take up on changing gear, with no significant vibration as I recall. The exhaust alignment could be an issue and the replacement systems tend to have a wider front silencer with very little space against the heat shield! Regards, Matthew T.

The vibration seems to have gone, I have no idea what part of the exhaust was rubbing but I welded the rubber buffers to the support plate and re-built the exhaust from the front back and on a cold start it was very smooth in the cabin, if I've not cured the problem I definitely have found the cause.

The box is tight but it's not as big as the walker muffler I had on before, the trouble is the exhaust sits higher up in the tunnel due to the rubber pads it sits on so there isn't much room
IMG_0255 by Deanxm, on Flickr

This was one of the problems with the blowing exhaust.
IMG_0257 by Deanxm, on Flickr
IMG_0258 by Deanxm, on Flickr

A wave of the bodging stick
IMG_0259 by Deanxm, on Flickr

Think I might take another longer drive tomorrow if the vibration is gone and give it a good warm through...............or i may resist the urge and sort the cooling fans out and get the interior in.

D

You didn't fancy olive and clamp on that joint, for ease of re-alignment?
Glad things are quietening down.

I didn't have an olive and the fewer joints the better, less to leak! I removed and cleaned the joint up, got the front sections re-fitted and lined up, fitted the back section and tacked it together then removed it and rolled a bead round with some webs over to reinforce it, OK it's not pretty but it won't give me any trouble again that's for sure.

I'm glad it was the exhaust, if it wasn't I wouldn't know where to start looking.

Im off to use Gabors wonderful wiring diagrams now to see if I can find why the fans don't turn on.

D

Looking at that 1st picture,i would say that you will still have ocassional vibrations depending on road and driving conditions.There must be movements in exhaust systems while driving and that's why it have rubber mounts in 1st place.
That muffler seems too big for that tunnel,i would say.

It is tight isn't it and I think you may well be right, the Cat is the same, I think the centre box in the first picture is pushed up too high by its feet and the rubber blocks they rest on, I think it wants to be lower in the transmission tunnel where it's wider, bending the legs out to lower this whole front section may be the answer but I shall see.

D

I'm guessing you don't have the option of slightly rotating the centre box to improve the tunnel clearance, Dean? Expect the hangers won't allow that.

Check that both the fans spin by hand first if you have not already done so before you start on the electrics.
The XM fan motors have a habit of seizing up.

John