Citroen Xantia 1.9td

[mt2man]

Hey all ive just picked up my new mile muncher, a 1997 Citroen Xantia 1.9td with 130k(barely run in for a diesel haha), 11 months MOT, got her for £300 which I'm happy about! few little scrapes, front seats could do with seat covers and the stereo isnt powering on properly its just flickering on and off when you try and turn it on, but ill get it sorted.

The suspension goes up and down as it should, its a little hesitant but it does work, probably worth changing the fluid though really!

Engine wise it was quite sluggish, but adjusting the throttle cable (a simple clip on a row of grooves on the cable) and it is alot more responsive! not bad for litterally a 2 second job haha.

But I'm thinking being a turbo diesel running a Bosch pump it shouldnt be too hard to increase the power a little, and prehaps run on veg oil!

Anyway the main reason for this post is to ask if theres any known easy to do performance modifications to do, ie upping boost and fuel?

It could probably do with a good service but thats not a problem, i wont be suprised if the filters are partly blocked!

Also is there anything stopping me fitting 4x108 Ford wheels? Looking at possibly getting some wellers or similar, maybe some nice alloys, only problem i could possibly see is offset and clearance when the suspension drops, but ive got an arch roller and the metals thin enough to properly flare them if it comes to it! haha

Anywhere heres a couple pics.

Its a little high...



Then it looks pretty cool

[welshpug]

ford wheels need spacers on psa vehicles, centre bore is also smaller, though would be sorted by using appropriate spacers.


IIRC the Xantia used a front mounted intercooler, so you can up the fuel and boost on the standard pump and turbo for reasonable gains, I'm not sure at what level the stock cooler will need upgrading but as its already in the nose that's half the battle.

[sparkysparks]

Thats awesome, i never knew they could do that.
Keep a set of stancey wheels for the summer and go monster truck mode in the winter.

[mt2man]

I didn't think about needing spacers, centre bore can be sorted easily enough at work! Obviously can't go too wide with soacers because of the suspension range of motion.

I'm trying to find a how to of how to wind boost up and increase fuelling but no luck yet.

[bigfella2]

I believe the engine in this will be a turbo Xud used in loads of citroens and especially peugeots. So if you want tuning tips I would get searching some of the 306 forums. Just beware though some turbo Xud's had non turbo rods fitted and these are known to go bang.

[mt2man]

I've heard you should turn the fuel up till there is black smoke on boost and then you should wind the turbo actuator/waste gate up or something for more boost!

But trying to find a guide as to what exactly to do, don't know which mixture screw to adjust or which way.

[stevieclj]

Be lovely to know, I've got on of these on the drive wanting some abuse.

If you need any steering or suspension piping let me know.

As for the slow movement of suspension, remove the height correctors, and clean them out really well. Be careful with them though and mark EVERYTHING up before you remove them. While you do that, take the reservoir out and swill it out with some petrol, cleaning the filters too.

LHM HydraFlush for a week, them swap that out for LHM, DO NOT use LHM+ or anything other than the standard LHM, you'll kill the seals.

If you need to bleed the brakes, you need it sat on its wheels, with weight on the suspension, or you get no rear brakes! Handbrake is on the fronts too, not the back.

Lovely cars otherwise.

[mt2man]

The hand brake is on the front?! Probably explains why I failed miserably trying to impress/scare the girlfriend trying to do a hand brake turn into a parking space haha (empty carpark)

[vulgalour]

Did someone say 1.9 TD Xantia?  I've got one of those.



Got around the alloys problem by fitting Synergie wheel trims, but SAAB are a better fit than Ford as they're closer the Citroen offset with a larger centre bore but the same PCD, ideally you need appropriate wheel nuts and spigot rings to put some lovely SAAB wheels on.

For power, I know as much as you do.  Removing the slack from the throttle cable is a good way to make it more responsive.  You get a lot of car for the money with these and they're very cheap to run.  If the LHM isn't a lovely green colour but is instead brown, milky or sooty then it needs changing, 5.4litres for the estate, I think it's the same for the hatchback, but when it's done you get a fully bled system including the brakes so everything is good again.  I'm be doing my first full LHM change this month.

Diesel with Bosch pump should equate to veg power, but ideally you want to be running 75% veg, 25% diesel (you can use petrol, but I find diesel is better for my car) when the weather gets colder otherwise it causes cold starting problems and can run really crappily.  You'll also need to adjust the fuelling setting to compensate for veg being a little thicker than diesel.  Hope you like the smell of chips!

The key really is to make sure the fluids are all nice and clean and don't mess about too much with the mechanical side of things.  You probably already know not to drive it at normal road speeds on low or high setting as the handling is horrible and you'll break it.  If you didn't know that, you do now

[goliath]

How to tune it:

[THE_Liam]

Oct 15, 2014 23:21:22 GMT vulgalour said:

Diesel with Bosch pump should equate to veg power, but ideally you want to be running 75% veg, 25% diesel (you can use petrol, but I find diesel is better for my car) when the weather gets colder otherwise it causes cold starting problems and can run really crappily.  You'll also need to adjust the fuelling setting to compensate for veg being a little thicker than diesel.  Hope you like the smell of chips!

There's no need to run anywhere near that mix of diesel and veg. I ran through 2 Yorkshire winters runnning 100% soya oil (which is thicker than sunflower or rapeseed, but cheaper at 70ppl) without a problem, never took more than 10 seconds to start even in -11 weather at 5am. If it really starts to get difficult mix in 5% petrol and that makes a huge difference. I add a splash of 2 stroke as well because veg oil doesn't lubricate the pump like diesel. If it's hard to start, you have dead glow plugs or air leaks.

That was a 306 but with the same engine.

[vulgalour]

I have a suspicion different cars behave differently even with the same engine. Brand new glowplugs, no air leaks and 100% veg in my old BX 1.9 didn't work, thin the veg down to 75% for winter running and it was perfectly fine, but crank it up about 80% veg and it was grumpy as anything. The Xantia seems more tolerant of a higher percentage of veg, but I'd still recommend 75% for winter running. From April to a couple of weeks ago I have been running the Xantia on 100% veg, but the sudden drop in temperature put paid to it.

[omegod]

Oct 15, 2014 22:25:48 GMT stevieclj said:

Be lovely to know, I've got on of these on the drive wanting some abuse.

If you need any steering or suspension piping let me know.

As for the slow movement of suspension, remove the height correctors, and clean them out really well. Be careful with them though and mark EVERYTHING up before you remove them. While you do that, take the reservoir out and swill it out with some petrol, cleaning the filters too.

LHM HydraFlush for a week, them swap that out for LHM, DO NOT use LHM+ or anything other than the standard LHM, you'll kill the seals.

If you need to bleed the brakes, you need it sat on its wheels, with weight on the suspension, or you get no rear brakes! Handbrake is on the fronts too, not the back.

Lovely cars otherwise.

Just a cautionary note to make sure everything is supported by stands when working underneath as xantias tend to drop when they want , there have been a few fatalities, people not being savvy with the hydraulic frolics on these and getting a facefull of axle. Not telling grandma to suck eggs btw

[ejenner]

You can get 16" steel wheels from the Citroen dealer for about £30 each. Quite a few Saab guys bought them for track days.

[THE_Liam]

Oct 16, 2014 10:24:23 GMT vulgalour said:

I have a suspicion different cars behave differently even with the same engine. Brand new glowplugs, no air leaks and 100% veg in my old BX 1.9 didn't work, thin the veg down to 75% for winter running and it was perfectly fine, but crank it up about 80% veg and it was grumpy as anything. The Xantia seems more tolerant of a higher percentage of veg, but I'd still recommend 75% for winter running. From April to a couple of weeks ago I have been running the Xantia on 100% veg, but the sudden drop in temperature put paid to it.

You have to persevere with it. Veg is a stronger solvent than diesel, that and it's viscosity strips years of curse word out of the tank and lines. After 1000-1500 miles and 2-3 fuel filters (keep them handy!), it'll run much better. Also, you can actually move Bosch pumps on their mountings to give more static advance, makes it run a bit rougher but it injects the fuel earlier, giving slow-burning veg more time to burn.

[mt2man]

Thanks for the replies guys! Will watch that vid when I'm home from work and might have a tinker tomorrow!

What's the best mpg you guys have got so far? I need to get some veg oil in Her ASAP! Going to order a fuel and air and oil filter I think, change the oil and just run it on veg

I've heard people's mpg actually increased turning the boost up and upping the fuel!

[THE_Liam]

A bit more fuel does tend to get you more to the gallon, because you have a lot more low-down grunt and you don't thrash it as hard. As for MPG, these aren't brilliant, I've had 6 (all 306s which are smaller and lighter) and the best I ever got was 55mpg on a long run, mid 30's knocking round town. Amazing for old diesels but nothing compared to modern stuff, but when the fuel is 70ppl or potentially free...

[mt2man]

Where do you get oil for 70p a litre?!

[stevieclj]

Oct 15, 2014 18:01:33 GMT sparkysparks said:

Thats awesome, i never knew they could do that.
Keep a set of stancey wheels for the summer and go monster truck mode in the winter.

I wouldn't advise "monster truck mode" or "slung low mode". Both are for servicing only, and it's like driving with welded shocks.

[mt2man]

I drove it round the block on the low setting and it was nearly undrivable haha, I've had cars on bumpstops before but this was something else!