Citroen XM Forum

ABS wasn't specified by many people in 1991.

No I dont suppose it was. It was fitted to my First 1989 2.0 i base model... and its fitted as standard on SED/SEi models.

But the SD doesn't have it, the K reg Base D Vince bought doesn't have it.. nor this J reg Base D Im stripping have it.. so thats understandable Will

I found only one ecu - labelled hydractive I think. So no ABS - suits me - one less thing to go wrong. I realised too there is no immobiliser - good! Sunroof works. Seats all move. Rear nearside door glass seems not to be attached to the winder mechanism and the driver side does not work at all. So I need to investigate that. Secondary importance really, until if/when I get the rust sorted. I suspect the cam belt needs a change - but i'm reluctant to do it until I 'm convinced it's a keeper.

That is good news Steve and I am very pleased the car got to you safely. On the windows, the problem with the rear nearside was the glass had become detached at the top along the edge of the door and the drivers door worked for me so it is probably just a sticky switch. Although the front jacking points are badly damaged I am sure the only welding needed is a plate on the front nearside wheel arch, which really is quite straightforward. As no doubt Will and others shall confirm, the head gasket is also not too big a job! Do let us know how matters progress. Regards, Matthew T.

I thought it about time that I posted an update on the car that I bought in late June from Bob - with the kind help of Matthew T (MTXM).

The plus:
- Early car - I prefer the styling.
- No ABS
- Good strut tops
- I like the colour & the cloth interior.
- Engine runs.
The negatives.
- The underside of the car was caked in inches of mud. I've washed it all away to enable me to establish what work is needed.
- Head gasket gone - coolant is very dirty, there was evidence of boiling over - I bought the kit to test whether exhaust gasses were in the coolant - they were! Engine has the plastic intake manifold so I'm thinking I may get away with removing that, leave the turbo & exhaust manifold connected to the exhaust system & remove the head that way.
- Front nearside jacking point has dropped out - some serious welding is required to repair it.
- Front offside jacking point was bent over- I straightened it out - a simple weld is required to make good.
- Both front sides need a weld repair to plate the lower section behind the sill.
- Front subframe looks okay - i've not yet removed the front bumper to check.
- both front bumper mounts are rusted away. They look pretty simple to repair. The metal mounting plate has fallen off the bumper - I assume this can be glued/screwed back on. May need to make up a new bracket as I think that is rusty too.
- rear subframe was pretty rusty with a welding repair required as minimum. If I had a good spare, i'd be inclined to refurbish it and swop it over.
- Rear subframe to body mounts look pretty good - some weld repairs needed at the ends in the rear wheel arch area.
- pipework looks reasonable - a couple of rust spots that I need to clean up.
- Some crunchiness is evident in front of the rear bumper - both sides.
- Fuel filter has the rubber push button - leaks a lot - a replacement is required.
- Right hand battery clamp is broken on the battery tray. Replacement required or maybe fix what I have.
- Interior is pretty grubby - will all clean up & interior is otherwise okay.
- No remote key fob - replacement?
- Hydraulics hiss away unless I tilt the steering wheel - it gets better after a few minutes. I got the 4 corner & accumulator spheres checked and replaced thinking that might help. It didn't. I still need to get to the other two spheres under the car.

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So that's it, I knew the car needed work when I bought it -sight unseen - so no regrets there. Just a bit more work that I expected. I'm really in two minds as to what to do. I do like the car and at that age most cars will have issues - perhaps not as many as this car though!
Option #1 is to start on either the head gasket or the body work repairs. Repair Engine would make more sense I think.
Option #2 is to hang on to the car but look out for a better one then use this one as a source of parts. I'm thinking of even looking for a good early 2.0 petrol/manual and swapping the engine over once i've replaced the head gasket.

So i'm inclined to go for #1 and then, when that's fixed either look for a better car or carry on with body work repairs.

- So does anyone have... Good replacement fuel filter/primer assembly, battery tray, complete rear subframe, dip-stick end is missing!

Any words of wisdom most welcome.

Steve

Ive just broke a J plate in the same colour and kept everything.. and i mean everything

So i have it all that you need.. the problem? Im about 300 miles away from you..

There is a georgeous K reg petrol on here for spares begging for a derv conversion..

I have a battery box and rear subframe. I am in the East Midlands.

So there have been developments with this car.
I spent most of sunday with a friend & a welder repairing the nsf jacking point. There was a lot of rot that had to be cut out and we made a repair of sorts. The outer sill, centre sill land the inner most sill were heavily rsuted. However, i'm not really happy with the repair and having looked over the car in more detail I just find paper thin steel and rust in too many places. The paintwork is covered in small scratches and has too many dents to ever be a looker - so after spending hours with a welder I'd end up with a tired looking car always on the endge of more rust problems appearing. So i've decided op option #2 & i'm going to get rid of the car & get something better.

I've uploaded a selection of photos showing the corrosion to here.
























































Now today, I just bought a 1993 mandarin 2.0 petrol automatic from 1993 - it's immaculate & ticks all the boxes - apart form being petrol .
So, I'm just going to use it as is for now, get the diesel engine head gasket repaired and do the diesel conversion in the spring. .

What i'm going to do with the J reg car is strip it of the necessary parts required to do a diesel conversion. I'll also keep S1 parts which are just handy to keep.

I hope to be at CXM on the sunday, so if anyone needs anything in particular - PM me please. For example, the Romana velour seats are available.

Steve

Same old story innit. You spend ages looking for a Romana interior and then they appear like flies around . . . erm!

LOL. Now he says... Where's Eddienuff when you need him...

That car looks terminally rusted, so breaking it for bits is the best option.

What condition are the body panels in?