Citroen XM Forum

Only once in the past four months have I managed to get down to see Goldie and that was to just start her up. That would probably be late October. Went down this afternoon from work and she started first time, no accelerator, no prompting, straight in and the suspension rose as it should do. At least that's one thing not to worry about.

The intention was to get the long gear linkage off but as sods law has it, one end is so loose it won't clamp on . . . and the other end is so solid it won't bloody move!
I've put the crowbar, ratchet and sledgehammer in the back of the car - the bloody thing's coming off.

I did notice that the exterior temp had stopped working on the right hand pixel. The F is showing but the temp is just lines. It needs replacing anyway.

My Xantia is in need of some tlc. There's a whining noise from the engine bay, looks like the alternator is on it's way out - probably bearings knackered. She's started to loose coolant over the past couple of months and, although nothing's obvious, the favourite must be the water pump. Cambelt was done November 08 and although the SKF belt looks like new it seems I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the job lot done.

Eddie nuff wrote:
I did notice that the exterior temp had stopped working on the right hand pixel. The F is showing but the temp is just lines. It needs replacing anyway.

Has the battery been disconnected? If so, the clock will need setting before the temperature display works.

Eddie nuff wrote: There's a whining noise from the engine bay, looks like the alternator is on it's way out - probably bearings knackered.

You can buy bearings for a few pounds and usually they are easy to fit.

No, battery hasn't been disconnected. In fact I was surprised how much power there was in it when I started the engine.

My intention was always to repair the alternator as in the eight years I've had it it's caused no problem at all. This kit looks ideal but it's for post 1999. Problem is when you include the price of a new pulley and the tool you're getting close to a re-furb unit.

Why do you need a new pulley? At £15-£20 for a rebuild kit it seems obvious which choice to go for.

I've been doing some work underneath the car when possible and come across a curiosity. The front of the car is covered in oil, grease and fluid and yet this is where the vast majority of the welding has been done, but the rear of the car, which I have been rubbing down, is plastered in not just surface rust but ingrained rust as well. And yet the only piece of welding I've found that needs doing is a small hole on the rear chassis rail, near the rear bumper.


The spare wheel carrier sums up the state of the rear end . . .



but the newly refurbed one sums up the state of the rear end now . . .

The OE 'paint' on the spare wheel carrier always was a joke, as your old one shows. My guess is that Citroen simply bought in the item from an outside supplier, and didn't pay much attention to durability. I have a vague recollection of BX ones being the same.

A good example of something that could have been better built in plastic or GRP, but at increased cost. Maybe looked at as a nice little future earner, but I doubt anyone gave it that much thought. Much of the steel plate on the carrier is structurally superfluous; a skeletal rod frame would have sufficed, I think.

Do like the look of your refurbed one: a good job there.

Yes - that's looking good.... How was it refurbished and how much did it cost?

Looks great that wheel carrier Neil. I had to do the same on both of mine. Caught them just in time too. They scrub up well.

I must check under the back of mine too and see how that is doing.

Ray, I got a second hand one that, though rust covered, was structurally sound. Rubbed it down with a wire brush, applied two coats of rust converter, left it for two days, then two coats of black stonechip paint. Can't really give a price as both paint and rust converter were used on other parts of car as well.

The only real problem I had with it was getting the snapped stud out, which had probably not been touched since new. Galvanised new stud to go back in once the welding has been done on Monday. Hope to get the gear linkages and the wheels done next week.

The use of treated steel on the XM to avoid corrosion is not that well understood.
It is much more selective than most people think.
It was also a process change for Citroen so the long term results are a bit variable.
I suspect that Citroen considered it an excellent first try.
For the first 15 years of life owners found that Mk I XM's did not rust.
Citroen's interest in 15 year old cars is pretty minimal so for them the "going to be rust free" was a successful XM selling point.

The XM rust problems started to hit in as the production run came towards its end.
As Paul (citroenxm) will confirm Mk II XM's, particularly estates start rusting a bit earlier after 10 or 12 years.
So what has no novel protection:
Well only the chassis with novel treated steel and that treatment reduces as you travel up to the top of the chassis.
Steel wheels, carriers, sub-frames, strut head metal plate and bumper steel are normal steel plate just painted.
Quite amazing how well some of that lasts but they are common trouble areas these last few years.
So what about the protected areas:
Lots of minimum thickness steel pressings treated single or both sides as judged necessary.
Treatments graded against perceived need as well so the same pressing can get less treatment on the higher parts.
All very clever plus the computer design to give max strength with minimum weight.
So with the benefit of hindsight perhaps they cut things just a bit too fine.
The rusting on the protected chassis comes from the inside outwards so you do not see it until too late.
The closed sections harvest moisture (salt laden in the UK) so the metal at the bottom rusts particularly the totally hidden sill middle plate.
How many small patched holes leave just cover up the holes in the middle plates.
Rust rings around the spot welds are often a starting point with close plates sucking in moisture by capilliary action.
The floor pan is not immune particularly where made as box section or double skinned.
Opened spot weld joints from jacking are another risk spot.
Just because they are not folded over does not mean the joints are ex factory.
Then we get to the outriggers on the chassis and cut steel plate edges.
The rust gets at those edges as the protection tends to fail there first.

I mentioned earlier the estate XM which has a particular rust problem at the rear end.
Still not sure why, perhaps that version did not get much wind tunnel testing.
Rear axle to back seems to get rusty plates and so does the inside of the rear wings around the wheel.

Eddie's wheel carrier above is probably better treated now that when it left the factory.

John