Citroen XM Forum

Hi everyone.
First post on this forum.
This is my first xm and its a v6 12v exclusive which i have had for about 4 months. At first i was looking for a diesel but when i seen this one for sale i had to buy it.
The interior and bodywork is in pretty good condition for its age. Its black with a black leather interior. Since i bought it i havent seen another xm on the roads.
when i first drove this car the brakes felt a bit wierd but i soon got used to it.

it does have a few minor issues. a bit of a strange one is when driving on the motorway at between 70-75mph the suspension goes solid, i noticed it does it only when the engine's doing around 3000rpm. im hoping its just something simple like the alternator belt slipping. when driving it last night in, sitting traffic it over heated badly and eventually burst the expansion tank leaking all of its coolant on the floor. does anyone know where i can find a tank? i have tried looking looking for one online but cant find anything. one other fault which can be very annoying is when the engine gets hot it can be difficult to start, the starter motor doesnt turn it and sounds like a flat battery. When its cold it starts up fine. i think i read somewhere that its a problem with the ecu but im not entirely sure. ive got 4 months off for summer so i'll probably end up spending most of it repairing this car.

Despite all of its irritating problems i really like the car as its great when its all working and i think it could be a keeper. It also looks great parked next to my 2cv's.
I hope you all like it.


Richard

The suspension going hard is more likely to be a sensor fault or bad contact, especially the ECU earth. As it's a S2 car, it could be the diodes fro the electrovalves have burned out.

For the header tank to rupture either it must have been cracked or he rad cap is faulty, so not allowing pressure to release.

All types of XM header tank are made from 2 pieces glued together.
Splitting on major overheating is fairly common.
Seen reports of glue and bolt repairs on here.

John

Try messagaging our fellow member Duke.. they have just stripped out TWO XMs for parts, so may have an expansion tank..

Agreed, suspension going hard wont be a slipping belt, its more likely an Electro Valve comming in and cutting out the two centre spheres from the suspension cuircuit...

Theres a Mod Kit you can get to help cure the problem...

WOW, amazing, I would of hedged bets on it being the later ESj 24v V6 engine on a P plate. The VERY last incarnation of the PRV 12v engine... Very nice.

I have several spare tanks suitable for your engine Richard if you are interested and they are not really worth repairing! Regards, Matthew T.

Indeed I think we removed them from the scrappers however I'm not at where they are stored - as Matthew definitely knows he has several then I'm sure you can source one from him.

That is handy to know Franklin, as its an Item I think im low on here beleve it or not..

Mind you, they could be lost in my shed!!!!!

The RAC guy did try to repair the tank with chemical metal but he said it would only a temporary fix. In the end i got it recovered because it refused to start, but when the truck arrived it started and i drove it on. Strange car.
I'll check the relay for the fans tomorrow because i dont think it came on when the car started overheating. Thats probably what caused the problem.
The suspension issue will be the next thing i'll look into.
Matthew, how much would you want for a tank?

Richard

The stater works through a relay behind I think the drivers headlight.. its a common thing on the prv engine for the stater to just click. my K reg 12v auto did it all the time. In the end i wired a 12v direct feed through a push button to the starter with ptfe heat resistant cable.. she never failed to start again and prooved its NOT the starter.. its wires and connections between the key and starter....

citroenxm wrote:The stater works through a relay behind I think the drivers headlight.. its a common thing on the prv engine for the stater to just click.

Very common on the ES9 V6 too. The problem is high resistance in the chain of wiring from the ignition switch to the solenoid that starves the solenoid of voltage..

I guess the ES9 Helper Relay modification will be just as appropriate. All it does is the original starter solenoid wiring operates a relay that switches 12v directly from the battery to the solenoid via a fuse.

It's almost a mandatory mod on both the Xantia V6 and late XM V6... The inhibit relay behind the headlight is the ideal place to break into the wiring to fit the helper relay.