Citrojim's AX, Pixo, C3, Running and Cycling Tales

[KP]

You could rip the recirc bits of a pug tct engine or get from the stealer Jim as they have them fitted as std iirc

Go for a bleed valve instead of a release valve as it will suit 'your' style of driving and find a cheSp used apexi avcr as you'll love fiddling with it for a week or two

[Xaccers]

Don't you still have the recirc I got off a 406?

[CitroJim]

Don't you still have the recirc I got off a 406?

Yes I have Must fit it....

[Sl4yer]

And no weepy rear ram this winter. How odd...

Same here! Don't think it's been cold enough for long enough. Every previous winter since I got mine (three years now!) has been sub-zero from November to February. I'll happily take it warmer...

James

[Citroenmad]

And no weepy rear ram this winter. How odd...

Nope, nor here, my Activa is LHM tight ... All down to you of course

[CitroJim]

And no weepy rear ram this winter. How odd...

Nope, nor here, my Activa is LHM tight ... All down to you of course

Pleased it's lasting well Chris

Took the V6 down to Somerset yesterday. I say it again, it's an absolutely lovely car for a fast run and all the better for being used only occasionally. I really enjoy it then.

Had a bit of fun on the way home. Where the A303 eastbound joins the A34 northbound the slip road is on a fairly steep hill, going up. I know this junction well and always slip the V6 into sport mode just before the slip. yesterday as I turned on to the slip I floored it

In the A34 outside lane there was a Range (Land?) Rover Sport thing really barreling along. I went for it, he went for it and was comprehensively burned off up the hill by a Xantia V6 I let him pass me as my speedo crept just above the ton..

The V6 can be such fun

[CitroJim]

Just had a drive of Old V6 The owner called round to show me the job the exhaust people did of building a complete new exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds right back. They've done a fantastic job but the final bill was a bit on the ohh err madam side. Not much change out of a grand

Still, it'll not be needing another for some while...

Old V6 is a joy to drive still She's got quite a fruity exhaust note now, much fruiter than New V6... And old V6 is a lot more 'urgent' in her drive and goes like a scalded cat, especially off the line. New V6 by comparison is a lot softer in gentler in how she drives and feels nowhere near as lively although the ultimate performance is there.

I can only put it down to differences in torque converters. The one on Old V6 started life on a 2.2HDi Pug 406 Coupe and I still wonder if there is a specification difference there. I know stall speeds are different.

We put the Lexia on Old V6 and remarkably the suspension ECU was clear of faults

Old V6 is being kept immaculate. It's put both my V6 and Rattiva to shame. I feel the need to go and wash them both now...

[Xaccers]

In the A34 outside lane there was a Range (Land?) Rover Sport thing really barreling along. I went for it, he went for it and was comprehensively burned off up the hill by a Xantia V6 I let him pass me as my speedo crept just above the ton..

The V6 can be such fun

Danielle is shocked and appauled at such boy racer like behaviour from you Jim. What next? A cherry bomb exhaust? Go faster stripes? Neons under the car? Colonel Bogey horn?
We'll have to get you a baseball cap and a hoodie for your birthday

[CitroJim]

What next? A cherry bomb exhaust? Go faster stripes? Neons under the car? Colonel Bogey horn?

Nah, nuffink like that m8, I's gonna get some induction kit, phat wheels, a dump valve and some jap cans on it. Goona be wicked, innt... Know what I mean?

We'll have to get you a baseball cap and a hoodie for your birthday

Go well with the flocked dash I'm planning...

I did wash new V6 and Rattiva this afternoon but not before an urgent job involving drain rods. My sewer drain blocked today as it does every so often and all because the drains are jerrybuilt and my upstream neighbour chucks baby wipes down the loo These snag in the cement dags and dingleberries in the pipe and block it.

One of my other neighbours came over with his super carlos fandango pressure washer and finished the job off good and proper. Our drains are now sparkling!

As I had the hose going and was wet and mucky anyway it seemed rude not to wash the cars... Not a 'Vince' job by any means but it gets rid of the salt and bird poo...

Don't think I've washed any of the cars since October... Washing cars is not my strong point

[Xaccers]

What next? A cherry bomb exhaust? Go faster stripes? Neons under the car? Colonel Bogey horn?

Nah, nuffink like that m8, I's gonna get some induction kit, phat wheels, a dump valve and some jap cans on it. Goona be wicked, innt... Know what I mean?

We expect to see you parked outside the old stadium with the car on low, revving your engine, surrounded by your "homies"

[CitroJim]

We expect to see you parked outside the old stadium with the car on low, revving your engine, surrounded by your "homies"

You know me Xac If I was down there at all I'd be spannering 'em... Those chavved-up cars may be cosmetically err, OK, but I bet under the bonnets they're a complete shambles. Enough to keep my spanners polished for years

Speaking of spanners, I helped Chris570 replace his 110 HDi clutch yesterday. What an absolute ******** of a job. On the Exclusive the Eberspacher pipes get in the way and the turbo inlet pipe and the Eberspacher pipe combination makes the gear selector cables nearly impossible to reach. I still don't quite know how I managed it even now

Then there's the gearbox itself. It's big, very big and there's just and just room to tease it out to get to the clutch. I mean just and just. It's fag-paper clearances all the way. The secret is to remove the whole of the gearbox mount and just drop the engine a little way down and not anywhere near so far down as you would say, a 1.9TD and then rotate the gearbox. We had a bit of difficulty separating the engine and gearbox until we realised we'd missed a near hidden bellhousing bolt

Reassembly is anything a little easier than a 1.9TD BE 'pull' clutch once you have the gearbox nearly in position. No faffing around with aligning a release bearing - it's just a straight wriggle home.

But then you have to engage the new release bearing and that is strictly a one-shot job. If it goes all pear-shaped at this point then cry. Then you have to replace the slave cylinder with extreme care to keep the pushrod absolutely horizontal else a whole world of pain will happen around you

The feeling when you pull on the special release bearing engagement tool and you hear a small click as the bearing goes home is immensely satisfying, as is a working clutch pedal after replacing the slave cylinder

Apart from that, it's not a bad job really, just tedious and a real game to get the gearbox just in the right position for it to drop down and out of the way. We found both removal and replacement was a three person job. Two to act as spotters and guides for obstructions, especially the PAS pipe, and one to operate the engine crane...

Chris's clutch is a lot lighter now and the bite point is a lot further down that it was. It feels more like my Activa clutch. It seems that as ML5 clutches wear they get just a little heavier and their bite point moves high up the pedal. Chris's driven plate was well worn but not quite down to the rivets... A high bite point, as proved through owning may ML5 equipped cars is no sign of imminent failure but it does indicate the driven plate is getting thinner than it once was and that the diaphragm spring may be weakening. They've still got many thousands of miles in then even when the bite is really high in my experience.

Chris now tells me his Activa clutch is slipping so we'll be doing the same job again soon although I believe the whole job in the Activa may be a little easier having no Eberspacher and better access to the gear selector cables. We'll see....

Note to self: Must get a bigger lump hammer. My biggest is not quite up to a really tight RH driveshaft intermediate bearing and Chris's was awfully tight

Despite the freezing weather the sun shone and it was quite pleasant to be outside working. Once dusk came and we still had at least an hour's work to do, it got very, very chilly very quickly

[Chris570]

Thank you once again Jim after a 150 mile round trip today I can assure you that all is well

The clutch as you reported is a lot lighter, having just hopped in the activa to move it I can say that that clutch pedal is a LOT heavier so maybe that's a good indicator....

The Activa clutch doesn't worry me now given that the HDi has more fun items to slow you down.

[CitroJim]

Excellent So when are we up for doing the Activa then Chris?

[Chris570]

well was hoping you'd be free this afternoon..

[CitroJim]

Today, being a lovely sunny day and me wanting to be outside in it, I checked over the V6 and Activa both of which haven't moved for two weeks (v6) and a month at least in the case of the Activa. Both have been parked in the shade and both were well encapsulated in frozen snow and ice. It was -8 here last night.

The Activa showed her disgust at my neglect of her by letting me know as soon as I clicked the PLIP that her battery was as flat as a hedgehog on the M1. She rapidly fired up after a good battery charge and a basic de-ice but she's not entirely happy in her blower department; sometime the blower won't run at all and others only on maximum speed, sometime not in auto or in speed 1 but ok on speed 2 , 3 and max. It's not the ignition switch...

Whilst the Activa battery was recharging id e-iced and started V6. No worris. she fired up a teat and quickly warmed up as only the V6 can

She and the Activa have now swapped places so that I can use the Activa a bit more as I feel the V6 will sit unused more happily than Activa will in this weather...

Robyn is home from Uni this weekend and I've spent most of the afternoon with her and her mum. Her mum's 207 is displaying an anti-pollution fault and it was a golden opportunity to play with the Peugeot Planet on it. It worked a treat and led me to believe the car might have a duff oxygen sensor. I've posed in the Peugeot forum about it as I'm not too clued up on these super carlos fandango systems with two oxygen sensors...

It's been a good day. Now to go shopping in Rattiva. That'll mean I will have driven all my cars today