My first Citroen, a Saxo VTR - Saxperience

Johnjourno · 28th February 2016, 13:58

Hey all,

This might be a slow thread, but here goes!

I decided it would be a good idea to buy a Saxo VTR on a whim, a proper impulse buy. The seller had a log book but no keys

He delivered it to me on a truck and when he winched it onto his truck, the OSF Spring snapped. When he got to mine and we went to remove it, the ramps come off and the car dropped to the deck, DOH!

Since then, I have cut the spring off to get the car mobile and removed the ignition barrel so the steering lock was off.

I had a browse and read a lot of posts on this forum and come to the conclusion my best starting point was to source a lock set and to get the ECU unlocked. I sourced a lock set for £20 delivered and so far have fit the drivers door lock, the ignition barrel and the fuel filler cap.

It's previously been stood for 4 years apparently and needs a really good clean up, which will also require some welding it appears too. The extent is to be confirmed.

Once I get back into the swing of sharing images (it's been a while), I'll get some up.

Side note, it's got rear discs, not sure if its stock on a 2000, either way that's a good thing.

Johnjourno · 28th February 2016, 14:18

So, hopefully this works,

The original photo I received

Once I cut the spring off, being originally stock height, it sat a bit funny, but the start of the hail and snow called off progression

When I got chance to give it a good coat of looking at, I realised the estimated 4 years off the road is probably right

The petrol cap didn't give me much of a challenge

saxokid100 · 29th February 2016, 02:18

Looks good project here,wil follow this..

Johnjourno · 29th February 2016, 19:20

So, lost a lot of love for this project today. Bought with faith but turns out you should always do your own checks too.

When I got it, I noticed this hose isn't attached to anything and I can't seem to find it's home either.

So, now for the bad news...

Supposedly had 80k ish, put a battery on and discovered this,

I am a member of a group on Facebook who shared the link for checking MOT history, that's when it got worse!

Im very disheartened now, and part of me just wants to chop it up, but the other part of me wants to get it back up and running and prove its worth another chance in life.

Moral support would be greatly appreciated.

Ben_SaxoForte · 29th February 2016, 20:18

Wouldn't let the mileage put you off it needs a fair amount of tlc anyway regardless of mileage, my project has 140k'ish on it aswell but I'm planning on dropping in a low mileage lump from a c2. At the end of the day its only a cheap saxo not like you're messing with big money

saxokid100 · 1st March 2016, 04:07

Ide just drop another low milage engine in buddy,body work looks rather good..

Johnjourno · 1st March 2016, 20:38

Thanks for the support guys. Slow progress but I decided I should replace the boot lock this evening.

I slackened the boot inner trim to manually open the boot and then removed the trim. I soon realised I needed to remove the rear wiper motor. I couldn't get the arm to move so I used my battery terminal puller, AKA the wiper arm puller. Unfortunately it didn't agree and the wiper arm separated from the metal insert. Anyway, got the wiper motor off and found the replacement boot lock is different. Turns out you can quite easily swap the push button/lock barrel across, so I did. I need to give it a good clean to free it up, so I'm going to take it to work tomorrow for an overhaul.

Next step will be getting the ECU unlocked and see if I can trace that coolant pipe.

saxokid100 · 3rd March 2016, 03:36

Looking forward to another update on this..

Jigs2895 · 3rd March 2016, 07:30

I would get a complete Ecu, loom, VTS engine and matching keys and locks from one car for this.

Job done.

Johnjourno · 3rd March 2016, 18:16

I'd do that, but it's finding a good one, I'm possibly in the wrong region for it. I spotted a local one with head gasket failure for £300 but it's the lack of money and space to strip something at the moment

Gandi699 · 3rd March 2016, 18:32

As long as the shell is good, 148k shouldn't be too much of a concern. Axles engines and boxes can be changed quite simply and cheaply. If you don't get a Vts engine then replacement vtr units are cheap and plentiful. Any more pics of the location of that coolant hose or is it a breather?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

stevo67 · 3rd March 2016, 19:13

That pipe that's dangling about ,it may connect up to the air filter box mate.

bender · 3rd March 2016, 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo67

That pipe that's dangling about ,it may connect up to the air filter box mate.

I agree, is it this pipe?

Johnjourno · 4th March 2016, 10:07

I'll have a look tomorrow. I've stripped and services the boot lock, as the key wouldn't go all the way in, and when it did it wouldn't come out. It feels brand new now, quite surprised about the result.

The door lock doesn't seem right still so that will be coming back out for further investigation.

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!

BUMMERS · 4th March 2016, 11:32

How much did you buy it for?

Johnjourno · 6th March 2016, 15:38

It was £200 delivered to my door. I know now that I've paid over the odds for it with the newly discovered mileage. I'm hoping to get it back on the road though and resurrect it.

Johnjourno · 6th March 2016, 15:53

So, this is said pipe. It doesn't appear to be from the air box, it doesn't go anywhere around the thermostat either. Any ideas?

BUMMERS · 6th March 2016, 16:56

Does that connect the heater matrix? Looks like a coolant hose to me.

Johnjourno · 6th March 2016, 17:59

I thought coolant, but I honestly can't see where it's from or goes to. When the weather settles I'll strip some bits off and try and see

Johnjourno · 9th March 2016, 21:18

Update, I've removed the ECU and had the EEPROM file read. Hopefully get that sorted in the next week.

When I went to the car, the drivers footwell is full of water. Any starting points to check? The door card is currently off but the membrane is still on, no signs of water ingress from it though.