My first Activa

[Stickyfinger]

Good job chap.

[Skull]

It's a small club .... 19 [edit: 19 UK] now if you believe the websites

[Stickyfinger]

France still has good numbers but again, falling rapidly. Thank god Activa Club France is working on parts so some hope. Soon I suspect they (France) will be the only remaining source of some Xantia parts.

(Lots of "Bodywork" can be obtained in Iran....)

[Skull]

Not many miles covered [now 74,073] over Christmas as I was more confident of the HDi coping with the mileage and although the MOT was passed I wasn't confident it was a good idea to throw her in the deep end with long distance trips totaling 1,400 miles which the HDi took in her stride apart from a near miss on diesel spillage entering Moto Doncaster Services (top of M18) ....

A short motorway trip proved an eyeopener in the Activa with juddering @ 70-75 which felt as if the engine was misfiring I couldn't feel any vibration through the steering (front wheels are un-balanced fitted with Rain Expert 3's at the moment). A further run @ 85 was smoother once up to that speed and once back home a play around with the ignition leads would indicate that the insulators are poor - with engine running and pliers pulling off the leads by gripping the plug connectors the pliers would track the spark with lead 1 and 4 having the least noticeable effect on the engine running when removed. This will hopefully be improved with a new set of leads ordered today, spark plugs were invoiced @ 64,417 but no mention of ignition leads ever being changed... hopefully this will sort the engine performance

Intentions this week are to pull the spark plugs out for a check (currently soaking in the vain hope of easing their removal) and also try and get the roof lining reattached and fit the ignition leads once they arrive ......

[Skull]

Week has flown - not much done but I had a look at the weep from the front n/s suspension leg seemed to be the coming from the low pressure return connector which is held on by a metal clip - I was surprised that there doesn't seem to be a positive connection to the hole in the leg or should there be

Is it just a pressure seal when you're in the rough area and clip engaged

Which leads me to the other problem I've discovered - one of the ram flexi-lines has been chaffing on either the suspension leg or the back of the return connector (and may have dislodged it a bit ?)

Fitted the new Bosch ignition leads and just off for a blast to see where I am at the moment

[Skull]

HEADLINING REPAIR (no sunroof fitted)

Not much about this on the forum so thought I'd have a go....

Saggy headlining on my Activa

Upper trim removed

Remove the interior light from headlining, remove grab handles from headlining, sun-visors, remove all adjoining trim from interior of A,B,C pillars including the front upper seat belt anchor and the upper parts of the hatch and door seals, you should now be able to ease the edge of the headlining away from the door and tailgate seals, once clear of the seals push them back for now.

Edges released

What you do now depends on your problem - in my case the covering fabric has seperated from the fibreglass backing, the backing was still secure to the roof so carefully try to separate the backing from the roof, I managed on a cold February day to insert a rounded scraper (most of the roof is single skin and I don't want it to look any worse) to start separating and then as more room was available my poor little hands, there was quite a bit of semi-solid sealant bead on mine on the main roof and a small individual strip near the rear hatch, I damaged some of the fibreglass that was harder to remove, but eventually once you've separated the two, the lining will drop and allow easy removal through the rear hatch.

released

interior

interior side

I decided to use some carpet adhesive to reattach the lining material - time will tell if it's any good, it's messy stuff and the weather meant it was an indoor job for me, I decided to try half at a time as pictured, as it would allow the patches of foam a better chance of being filled by the foam that was still attached to the lining material, the material isn't in brilliant shape but I'm not prepared to replace it at this stage (time will tell) peeled back a half at a time, removed any loose pieces of foam and sprayed as directed, waited a minute and replaced as best as possible pressing down with a dry foam mini-roller to help avoid creases.

fibreglass roof panel

There was some penetration through to the facing surface so I will have to see what it dries like and then remove the 'rust scrape' if possible ....currently drying overnight with leg weights placed to try to help it stick better in the shaped area near the sun visors

drying overnight weighted at contours

[Skull]

Is it just a pressure seal when you're in the rough area and clip engaged

[white exec]

Yes, just a pressure seal courtesy of the clip. Although the weather-exposed exterior of the strut can get a bit rough, the area under the rubber of the clip usually stays smooth and clean. Check with a mirror.
Position the new one in exactly the right spot, with a new clip, and all should be well.

[Skull]

white exec

Many thanks - I will monitor it and hope that I've re-positioned it correctly, although IT does seem a bit hit and miss when the LHM is weeping whilst you try to position IT accurately

[xantia_v6]

If you struggle to get the clip fastened while holding everything in the right place, you can temporarily fit a pair of cable ties above and below the clip strap and gradually tighten them until the clip fastens easily.

[Skull]

PARTIAL RE-FIT ... not convinced yet see what gravity does for a couple of days .....

Partial re-fit

Partial re-fit

never going to be perfect unless someone has a spare £ 751.12 (Part No 5328HJ)

Headliner ^^

[Skull]

13 Feb 19 fully fitted

Fully re-fitted front

Fully re-fitted rear

I have not used adhesive to support the rear lip - I have managed to insert the headlining into the seam of the rear hatch door seal and I'm pretty sure this will suffice although it has made a small gap in the trim at the top of the c-pillar it's only noticeable with the hatchback open....

More attention to the engine next week ....

[CitroJim]

Looking good

Skull, you have shown some skill there

[Skull]

Cheers Jim the camera lies a little bit though and gravity will be the final judge

[Skull]

The sun came out today so I've had a go at tidying the door chrome strips - how these actually corrode is beyond me as they are really tough to separate the chrome finish from the black plastic trim

Photos don't really show the 'before' condition but the 'chrome tape' was only £5 and looks ok if you don't look too close

Front door with tape filling the cut-out

One piece taped

Rear door scab cut out (pre-sanded)

scab cut out of rear door

filled with tape and trimmed

and then covered with one strip of chrome tape

finished

finished