phipck Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Right, i thought i might start putting bits in here as i seem to find myself commenting on everyone elses threads and potentially redirecting them unintentionally with my own guff about my car. So, a little while ago i decided i needed a runabout, my Toyota MR2 was costing me a little more in fuel than i was keen on with shuttling between work sites and my weekly jaunt up to my partners place for the weekend. The latter itself also prompted me to consider a car with more seats as she has a 10 year old and as much as he liked the idea of being strapped to the engine bay.... his mum didnt aprove I was very fortunate because at the time i started looking it became apparent that my Step dad was also looking for a replacement car, something with 4 wheel drive and a little larger. Im not sure on the why's and the what for's but he found a Hyundai that appeased his interests and offered me his former work horse a 2001 1.4 Citroen Xsara coupe for nothing. Clearly the offer was too good to turn down so i was then the proud owner of the little french thing. The only downside was that i knew he had been having trouble with a couple of things and part of the deal was that i would only get the car if i put it right. First thing to sort was the gear box, it made the kind of sound that i remember from my child hood, when you put lollypop sticks in you bike wheels, or rode over a can which rubbed against the frame and tyre.... loud irritating and potentially dangerous! A recon box was about twice the price of a "good condition" second hand unit and added into that i got the clutch changed too. next was the random stalling, this seems to be a xsara trait. Stalling when slowing for a junction, the revs simply drop off when coming to idle with the clutch down. New sparks, clean MAP sensor and clean Idle Control Valve helped a lot about 4 months ago and the issue has only just started to rear its head, so i shall take another look at the Idle Control Valve and possibly the Earth connections on the engine as ive never been keen on french electronics Ive also fixed a leak in the exhaust and am likely to need to replace the Cat at some point in the not too distant future too. All this has set me back about £500-£600 which in fairness if i were to have bought a car at that price i could have found myself needing to spend that amount on top to deal with any hidden nasties along the way, so i dont feel hard done by. Either way its a horrible little car with little charactor and no personality but.... and its a big but, it has provided cheaper running costs, proved dependable when a daughter and a wife needed to see their hospitalised father/husband and its done everything i have asked of it. So it deserves a mention, even if it does have duct tape for a wing mirror cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted October 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 now ive updated things i can move onto todays advancements, winter tyres. The very first thing i did with the xsara was to pump the tyres up, it seems my stepdad along with a keen interest in a new car gained a neglect for his old one. On reciept of the car i did what i always to and check the tyre pressures..... im not going to waste fuel unnecceserily nore do i want to buy tyres too often. instead of 32-36 psi on the front he was running 23 psi left and 27 psi right, the rears were about 28psi. he had driven with roughly these pressures for a while leaving the front tyres almost bare on the outer edges. There was, i believe, enough total coverage of tread to continue with the tyres at the correct pressure for a couple of thousand miles. about 2000 miles later, this is the front left today the right is simular but a fraction less worn and the rears have about 8 mm... so when i recieved my new dunlop winter tyres they looked like sporty tractor tyres the tread is clearly deep, with a good covering of sips. and fortunatly the french made their boots suprisingly big so tomorrow i get them fitted and i'll report back when ive had a little drive with them on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 It's been fairly cheap motoring for you so far then Be careful when the tyres are fitted they may make the steering feel a little light, probably cos the temperature isn't cold enough yet (and they need scrubing in) for them to work as they should. The missus went to steer after I got them fitted and nearly spun the car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 the steering indeed does feel lighter, which i actually like. Im use to the mr2's charactoristics and its steering was one i liked. The new tyres are physically lighter than the old ones, which adds to the lighter steering (lower unsprung weight) i think the change in both tyre type and profile is a positive step, ive found the car has more feel on the 50 profile instead of the 55. Turning is more precise than before. As a bonus ive found that the akward gearing that frustrated me so much "do i drive slow in 2nd or revvy in 1st" has been resolved by the profile change. The car has no guts low down in the revs so most corners that i would normally suggest are 2nd gear corners have put the car into an almost stutter on the 55 profile, now with the 50 being a little smaller it seems to like them more. Also pulling away requires a little less revs. I do know that the speedo is out, but it was before anyway. But at least now i know that 2000rpm in 4th is 30mph according to satnav so its easy to keep an eye on the speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Positive feedback, nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 absolutely, although this is only based on 5 miles of sunny dry driving on new tyres from the tyre fitters to work. Im going to check the pressures at the end of the day before i drive off so i can rule that out as a contributing factor to the change in feel but i do believe it will only get better as they scrub in and i cant wait for the cold or snowy weather now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 According to what i have read you won't have to wait long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 yup, ive heard simular well cold tyre pressures were 32 front and rear, from reading and experimenting with the pressures with the old tyres i found 35-36 front and 32-34 rear were best depending on load. With the slightly lower profile i wonder how that will effect things? ive put the front to 34 and left the rear at 32 for now and straight away it was lighter steering again. It wanders less than before and parking is easily what i would expect from the car. Im impressed that changing tyres can have such a drastic effect on the car. I have my typical 25 mile drive to my partners this weekend so will see what its like on that but i might pop it just one psi more on the front but other than that all i can say is im really impressed so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 i want one of these...a blaze yellow phase 1 with a gti 180 lump put in it good cars with slight better build quality then a pug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 phase 1 look nicer in my opinion but phase 2 come with more as standard. the electronics are troublesome at times, airbag light comming on because of humidity by the connection under the chair being one and central locking going on the spaz because of how the wires are run to the doors is another common one. i also suffer from random stalls but you just take it in your stride. I can imagine with a 180 lump it would be quite a different car, the 1.4 is fine as a "pootle about" car the 1.6 i would suggest is the ideal daily in the range. But i quite like the idea of the 2.0 HDI though as it has all the power and loads of torque but gets better fuel economy than the 1.4! i say fly in the face of convention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 well im back with my troublesome xsara after resolving the emmissions of the last MOT and resolving the radiator fans not functioning i have had the privalige of driving for just over a month fault free..... and now i get this the car previously ran at about 75 on the guage on long runs and about 90 in traffic. Now it climbs just over 90 and the STOP light comes on. Im thinking possibly faulty coolant temp sensor and or thermostat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 I take it the fans are still working ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 yup, they still cut in at the correct point just above 90 at low speed and then at about 100 at full speed. when air con is on the fan sits at low speed as it should Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Why is the cel on ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Then the temp sensor is the best next step to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 cel came on when coolant needle dropped. code p0115, engine coolant circuit. I am indeed guessing that the sensor is duff/intermittant now, but its odd that this afternoon the temp was rising slowly toward 90 on run at 50mph and when popping on the cabin heater the temps dropped right down to 75 ( i know the cab blower will cool the coolant) does this sound like a blocked rad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 You could try back flushing the rad But it's more likely to be the sensor shutting it down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 think its time for a flush anyway. Needs an oil change soon too so looks like this will be a car related month! will let you guys know what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted August 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 Massive necro post as I’ve just come back to the forums. So I thought I’d update this. The issue turned out to be a combination of split thermostat and a fan resistor not resisting any more. Changed the resistor and replaced the stat and didn’t have any issue. In fact for a while it became the most trouble free car I or any of my friends owned. I even treated it to new tyres and brakes in 2014 because I hadn’t needed to fix anything for a while then about a week later an only lady crashed into the side of me. Cat C write off despite the damage being only to the drivers side doors. at this point I had gained another child so instead of fighting and fixing I replaced with a 05 Renault Grand Scenic through necessity and time constraints. The Xsara lives on as a nice family bought it to repair and I’ve seen it about a couple of times since, it seems my hard work maintaining and repairing paid off.... for them! I guess that’s the end of this thread now but I do have a Scenic and MR2 thread to open now I’m back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 26, 2019 Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 " gained another child " ..... The Scenic is a nice car. I see them on the geo but not very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 26, 2019 Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 That was a shame but at least the car is living on with someone else. I've only been a passenger in a scenic and the rear seats were very uncomfortable. Rather than a bench they were individual seats and I could never get comfortable in them. Otherwise they seem like good cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted August 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 I shall regale you with scenic tales of woe when I start my new thread! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 26, 2019 Report Share Posted August 26, 2019 I'll look forward to that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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