My new XM

Armidillo said:
Right, time for a new chapter.While waiting for a few bits and bobs, thought I'd have a look at spark plugs. Shouldn't be any problems - plenty of power and excellent fuel economy...

Got the coil pack off OK, then - Oh Dear!


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Counting from timing belt, first well has a little oil, 2nd has quite a lot, and third is flooded. In the RH well the oil is high on the spark plug tube on the outside, and up to the top of the plug insulator inside the tube. Is this the result of cam box leaks? I suppose the only other option would be a major spill while topping up the oil, but this is not clean oil straight from the bottle...

Suppose I'd better get the inlet manifold off to see how bad the other bank is.

Sigh... - Mike (previous owner) did warn that cam box leaks still weren't fully fixed, but I was only thinking of external leaks, and it doesn't look too bad at all on the outside of the engine.

Someone mentioned that someone (in England?) is producing gaskets for these cam boxes - does anyone know about this? I guess I should put this in Pug forum as well, as D8 406s use this engine.

Cheers

Alec
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Call me lazy ... but that doesn't worry me in the slightest. It'll drain nicely each time you do a plug change :) It isn't unusal for DS's and CX's to have a little oil in the tubes as well (you are just relying on a simple rubber seal with them).
 
So, Martin from EAI just informed me that XMs don't have a pollen filter! I have now had a look and confirmed that he is right!

Of course until I bought a Xantia I'd never even heard of a pollen filter, but now that I've seen how much crud they collect, I don't like the idea of not having one. My 605 has one - what were XM designers thinking!

I've lifted the centre part of the scuttle cover, but can't work out how to unclip the ends - any tips? Anyhow, found plenty of leaf litter to vacuum out, and a plastic grating under a plastic baffle, which takes the place of the pollen filter.

Has anyone considered installing some form of home-made pollen filter? I would like to, as there will be dirt roads in this car's future life (apart from autumn leaves etc.), but I'm aware of the need for it to breathe pretty freely, or else I risk restricting the fresh air intake. Maybe a piece of foam stuck on top of the grill? If I oiled it, it would no doubt catch more dirt, but I'm guessing that this would create an oily smell in the cabin, which would not be popular...

Cheers

Alec
 
DoubleChevron said:
Call me lazy ... but that doesn't worry me in the slightest. It'll drain nicely each time you do a plug change :) It isn't unusal for DS's and CX's to have a little oil in the tubes as well (you are just relying on a simple rubber seal with them).
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I like how you are thinking Shane - but are there any negatives (apart from the mess)? For example, can the oil cause the plug to short out? I've seen a warning (on UK XM forum) that oil dripping on the exhaust manifold can be a fire risk, so I need to make sure that the back is not as bad...

Assuming there's no fire or engine miss risks, I'm going to clean out the oil from the wells, fit new plugs (the current ones look OK, but they're Champions, and I'm racist...), then re-check at next oil change (for example) to assess how bad the problem is.

Cheers

Alec
 
Armidillo said:
I like how you are thinking Shane - but are there any negatives (apart from the mess)? For example, can the oil cause the plug to short out? I've seen a warning (on UK XM forum) that oil dripping on the exhaust manifold can be a fire risk, so I need to make sure that the back is not as bad...

Assuming there's no fire or engine miss risks, I'm going to clean out the oil from the wells, fit new plugs (the current ones look OK, but they're Champions, and I'm racist...), then re-check at next oil change (for example) to assess how bad the problem is.

Cheers

Alec
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Yep, the leaking onto exhaust manifolds I believe .... That lovely "DoubleChevron shitbox" car cologne is produced. LHM has its own remarkable aroma. I've never found the oil shorts the plugs. It gives the motor a good upper cylinder treatment each time you change the plugs too :clown: (I own land rovers and 35+ year old Citroens.... If I let a "little" bit of leaking fluids worry me I'd have a mental breakdown within a week :roflmao: ).

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Hi.

It's great to hear that XMs still pound the road in other parts of the world. I'm on my fourth one, a 2.1 SED Exclusive. Previously had a 2.1 S2 VSX, 2.0 TCT Exclusive and a 2.5 VSX Estate. As you'd imagine there's been plenty of problems over the years. My first Hydraulic Citroen was a Xantia HDi Exclusive, that too has Hydractive 2 and anti sink technology. It was a complete pig and never was completely right. The main problem with H2 is that the shunt diodes fail which means the system stops working. A chap here in the UK used to sell a kit that connected up to the H2 loom replacing the diodes, I always took the ecu lid off of soldered them directly in place. As noted by another poster, fitting an indicator LED is a good move, I always fit one and leave it in place. Just because it's in normal mode when stood still is no guarantee it will be once moving. Any one of the sensors (steering angle, braking, accelerator, etc) will drop it into Sport mode, which is default/safety mode. The car goes into soft mode when opening a door because if it didn't and it was then loaded up with passengers, it would 'jump' when the centre spheres came into the circuit.

Another thing to consider with Hydractive is that the system depends on good hydraulic pressure >145bar (and upto about 170/175 bar) to function correctly so if the regulator (circuit breaker as the French call it) has gone 'soft', the pump is worn or there's too much leak back then despite the system being in soft mode the valve won't change over. This is more likely to happen when on the move because there's more demands on the hydraulic system.

Comfort spheres still have small orifices in them that are roughly level with the end of the thread, spheres that have a 'tube' like thread are accumulators of some sort - anti sink, hydractive or main accumulator.

Hope that helps and I'm not telling you what you already know.

Steve.
 
Welcome Steve,
Great to hear from an experienced XM owner! I have joined the XM forum, but have not posted yet. Have enjoyed reading through various threads - esp Citrojim's 2013 epic!

My car's previous owner did a great job of stewardship, including repairs to LCD panels, and replacing all dash globes.

He also fitted the e-crofting diode kit, and the electrovalves sing like canaries!

Thanks for all the tips - I am grateful for all words of wisdom! I haven't got those rear spheres off yet, but am betting they are an accumulator of some variety.

My next move is a general service, including replacing all spheres, so will see where we go from there.

Cheers

Alec
 
There are never enough word written about XM's!.

Alec, that panel you want to get off to access the air intake, is held on either side by screws (or pop rivets) underneath the plastic pieces on the front gaurds (wings). If yoiu open the fron doors, you will see a screw there..Take that out & the panel un clips from the bottom. They are difficult to get off without breaking the little clip things that hold them on. You will work out that 90's Citroen plastic doesn't like Australian sun. Many of these plastic panels are now glued/siliconed back in place.

In regards to some sort of cabin filter, I have seen a fabric type filter stuff secured onto the plastic "grate" that covers the air intake. having said that, do you really want to take all that shit back off to service the "filter"? Unfortunately, designed in the 80's when these things weren't thought off.

Try to enjoy the car..they can be VERY trying !
 
Thanks, pretty much worked that out.

The screws are missing (both sides), but the passenger side cover is tightly attached. Driver's side however was only just held by a bit of silicon, and more or less fell off in my hand :eek:. Anyway that has given me enough access so I won't force the issue on the passenger side.

Cheers
Alec
 
After sealing the cam boxes and whatever else could be seen that might mean oil leaking into/onto the coil packs I still had this problem with my 407 V6. It turned out to be a "hard" and therefore not tightly sealing gasket under the oil filler above the worst plug filled with oil. Changed the gasket under the filler and that fixed the leak onto the coil pack(s).

FLASH
 
I don't have your problems with the mighty PRV V6 in my XM.. I have a whole new set to deal with... Along with average performance & a thirst like a sailer on shore leave!

Interestingly, our two XM'S just about bookend the series here in Australia.. Mine is a pretty early one.. 6/90, & yours in one of the last!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using aussiefrogs mobile app
 
How much fuel is it using? Around town and in traffic, expect 12-13lt/100km and at constant highway cruising more like 7-7.5 lt/100km. There's no doubt the 24V is a quicker car and was what the car really needed from day 1, but the PRV plods along OK. It will move if you kick it down hard, but that doesn't happen on a reasonably light throttle.
 
I am fairly happy with the fuel consumption of my PRV engined 605 - but fortunately it mostly does long trips. Doesn't quite match David's target - more like 8.5l/100km, however I once covered 1000 km on a single tank, traveling from Canberra to Tenterfield via the Newell Highway. Don't normally go that far West, but took the opportunity to call in on Pugrambo, and test drive his 605.
As some may remember, he used to complain ceaselessly about his car's poor economy (he was averaging about 20l/100km, but only using it around town), but the 2 cars seemed pretty similar to drive.

Cheers
Alec
 
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Flash Car 76 said:
After sealing the cam boxes and whatever else could be seen that might mean oil leaking into/onto the coil packs I still had this problem with my 407 V6. It turned out to be a "hard" and therefore not tightly sealing gasket under the oil filler above the worst plug filled with oil. Changed the gasket under the filler and that fixed the leak onto the coil pack(s).

FLASH
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, Flash - as you probably guessed from my photo, it is indeed the well directly below the filler cap that is by far the worst!

I was under the impression that the previous owner had replaced the filler cap, but it's well worth checking.

Cheers

Alec
 
Pwoooaarrr!..8L/100!..hahaha..I'm double that I reckon, though to be fair, I haven't done any testing. I haven't even verified that the speedo/odometer is accurate. I just know that it is using more than the Magna that I usually drive to/from work & that gets 10-11l/100km . The price you pay for individuality I guess.
 
Alec is of course pushing a brick through air!
 
Computer crashed before I could get this post 'posted' :mad:. Oh well, try again...

Spark plug wells on rear bank are not full of oil (almost dry), so that's a relief! Will do a compression test and change plugs while it's off.

Should I change spark plug leads and intake manifold gasket while I'm in there? Manifold gasket is OK, but is showing signs of age (outer piece missing from around a locating pin, and some scratches). No idea about plug leads - there is nothing in the supplied documentation to suggest they've been replaced, which makes them 19 years old...

Flash Car 76 mentioned the oil filler cap as a likely source of oil leak - does anyone know where I might get a new rubber sealing ring for the filler cap (or a new cap I suppose)?

Also, have discovered that there is a filter listed for the 4HP20 transmission. Should I get one of these - is it something I can change, or does it only get changed during an overhaul?

Cheers

Alec
 
LHM filters are black and sludgy. Looks like the tank has to come out...
 
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