When I got it, the DS had threadbare blue carpets. The previous owner also had a blue DS, so I suspect at some point he upgraded the carpets in that car and the blue ones were in better condition than the carpets in the red car. In addition it had marine carpet on the box sills which for a DS Comfort should...
Previously, I had removed all my suspension spheres to check their pressure. Their pressure was checked at the Citroen Club tech day, and found to be acceptable. Given I had the system de-pressurized, I also wanted to change the DS accumulator sphere. The accumulator acts as a store of system pressure. This means that the pump does not...
Central to the Citroen DS hydraulic system is a set of ‘spheres’ that hold hydraulic pressure. The spheres have an internal diaphragm so they can contain gas on one side and hydraulic fluid on the other. One is used for each wheel to provide the suspension, as the gas forms the ‘spring’ and the amount of fluid in the sphere controls the ride...
I have tried a few times to get the rear trim that sits between the C pillars to not fall down on to the parcel shelf. My first attempt was to use the correct clips, however the trim would fall down over bumps. My second attempt, was a 3M product, which is sort of like Velcro and sold in little squares at...
It was time again for another service for the DS. Last time, the gear oil in the transmission was quite dirty so even though it didn’t need to be done again, I thought it would make sense to change the oil in there too. I also had a tip from the forum that using Castrol VMX with the Nulon gearbox additive makes...
The DS door contact switch that controls the interior lights based on the doors being open or shut had disintegrated, which meant that the interior lights were always on. Not the most helpful feature if you want to be able to restart the car after leaving it parked. The actual switches are easy to remove and install, but the problem is that since...
The fourth and final door card for the DS is now installed. The reason for the long delay was that the rear drivers side door would not lock. If the door was unlocked, the mechanism would not hold the door closed, if locked, it would behave as if it were unlocked. Therefore, before I fitted the door card, I wanted to fix the...
Even on winter days, the DS had been getting a bit hot under the collar. Granted, D’s have never been the coolest running cars, and the heat of the Australian summer can tax them and their passengers, but they should easily cope with most days, especially outside the summer months. I had a few problems – the water pump was leaking and getting...
The Putty road is one of the better driving roads close to Sydney – so much so that it is the favorite haunt of many Motorcycle clubs. (the ones that actually ride bikes, not the ones that sell speed). I’ve driven it a couple of times in the E-Type, and once in the 450SLC, but never in the DS. Given it is quite...
This evening the Citroen Club organized a night drive to La Perouse. It was a lovely warm evening, perfect for taking the DS out for a drive. The meeting point was Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Tempe, which is a bit of a Sydney institution selling pies etc. Despite living in Sydney most of my life, I had never actually been there....
A few months ago I had started polishing the DS using Auto-glym paint pro and the cheap Chinese polishing machine I bought on eBay. I achieved good results on the roof, but overall there was much to do. Today I used stage 1 on the bonnet and front wings. Took a few hours but much better than before. In the first photo you can...
Today I managed to make my second Citroen Car Club tech event. Today was bucketing down with rain, so my intention of regassing my spheres went out the window as I didn’t feel the need to lie down in puddles to remove them and the lift was otherwise occupied with an old caddy. Nevertheless it was good to get to the event see...
The vinegar flush I tried yesterday removed a lot of silt from the DS radiator. Each of the bottles I captured the old coolant in had a fairly decent layer of sediment in the bottom the next day. Despite the flushing, the radiator still looked dirty, so I used the bottle of Wynn radiator flush as well. It also removed a fair...
The only warning light in the Citroen DS I wasn’t sure worked was the temperature warning. You can test the bulb by pressing the button, but that doesn’t testing the sender and the connection. Today, I found it does work, and that my temperature gauge is pretty accurate; The DS overheated today and I was greeted with the little temperature light and the...
The seat covers project is now complete! This evening I finished the back of the drivers seat (started in part 7), and installed it. I also did the hard task of putting the centre arm rest in place too. I didn’t fit the ashtray back as it was black for the Targa seats and should be white. At some point I...
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