Citroen XM Forum

errrr, aaaaah, errrrrm, a caliper measures small lengths BUT, but, but, it measures up to 0.01mm! Every little helps!

On that note, I ordered a caliper repair kit today. So a quick dash to remove the caliper and then I can refurb the caliper itself in the warmth and comfort (not to mention verbal abuse from SWMBO) of my living room.
A quick caliper refit and leak off return replacement and I'll bob back to the MOT for my ticket

Then I have the pleasure of sorting my cold start problem and enabling a soft ride all in time for SWMBO to drive it next weekend

Hurrah, it passed! She also felt rather supple in the suspension department! I can't think why! For now I'll run it for a bit without the electro valve mod and see how she behaves.

Fingers crossed for a the insurance docs through and then I can get me some tax and take it for a proper spin!

Great, another Xm on the road. I hope she rewards all the effort that has been put into it this past while.

Thanks Robert, I hope you're right, although I don't expect the old girl to be problem free. The plan is for Charlie to use it too on some of his longer drives so fingers crossed for some hassle free motoring. It's a process of ongoing fettling now

Geoff Lebowski wrote: It's a process of ongoing fettling now

That's the key to long term reliability. Just keep fixing things as you come across them and it will go for a long time.
Good news on the pass.

Congrats on the pass.

Thank you everyone. I think it's great the old girl is out an about. She had her first run up to Newbury last weekend and although there are still outstanding issues, the car behaved. The suspension seems to be reasonably sorted, in fact I'm rather pleased with the ride. That's compared to my BX and how I remember the Xantia. The XM is streets ahead of the Xantia it feels, yet I thought both setups were near enough identical. She really comes into her own on the motorway ride wise, very comfortable and relaxing.

She's not as spritely as I remember the Xantia (same engine) most likely due to the slushmatic box, but I think the turbos are quite different too. I seem to have a Mitsubishi turbo, but I can't find any reference to a Mitsubishi turbo being used.

Anyway, I shall discuss the various issues in the relevant sections, but on the whole, I'm very pleased, if not impressed by the car. She's got well and truly under my skin - something the Xantia never managed to do in the 7 or so years I had her

Hurray! Charlie gets to take the XM away for a spin up to Derby today - I just need to fit the leak off pipes before he goes, else he'll be getting less than the 35mpg the computer tells me I'm getting. Speaking of which, I actually had a dream I emptied the tank on 350 miles dreams worrying about fuel economy, whatever next?!

Anyway, bon voyage Charlie my brave warrior, may you go where no man has never gone before (does Derby count ). Battlescar Galactica, The Mother Ship, goes (back) North!

Also, Merry Xmas to everybody. I shall be away myself, travelling south in my trusty steed, the BX TZD! Stay Merry and be well!

I've been fixing and fiddling!

I have at last fitted the spare wheel carrier - it seems to foul with the penultimate exhaust box a tad. Anyway, it's fitted and whilst I was underneath I treated a load of rust and gave it a coat of body seal.

Upon investigating the apparent wheel bearing failure, I noticed a failed track rod end and that the steering was toeing out (inner shoulder of tyres wearing). I replaced the TRE and tried to - retrack it to prevent the toe out. From a rough measurement and the odd calculation I worked out that as a good estimate for the home mechanic, one full rotation of the TRE is equivalent to a 3 degree change in tracking. I found with the Xantia that when tracked at a garage for 0 degrees, the outer would always wear prematurely. Recommendation for Xantia and XM is 0 deg to 3 deg to out. So, I wound the TRE out 1/2 a turn. The difference is quite something. The steering feels lighter, the car seems more keen to go creeping forward on tickover, and the bearing noise, whilst still there, is much quieter (assuming it was/is bearing noise. Nothing is rubbing anywhere - but there is still a noise )

One thing I noticed was that the o/s wheel was much easier to rotate by hand than the n/s - even with the pads out. Why would this be?

I have also done a full all round brake caliper bleed and again, not only are the brakes improved, but the rear end deosn't rise up when braking - it feels a lot more stable in braking.

I also made a repair to the drivers door seal - which was creating loads of wind niose. Need a test drive to see if it's any better.

If she carries on like this I'll have to treat her to a dot matrix repair!