General maintenance

[Sue g]

Hello!

I have recently purchased a 1998 Citroen Xantia 1.8i estate (petrol)

Does anyone have any advice for its general upkeep (in addition to the usual for a car - I'm not totally silly - honest! )
Its more the hydraulics and the like that I'm unsure of as I have been used to driving an M reg Fiesta!
Also, my brakes have started to squeak loudly (sounds like a bus!) Does this mean that the brake pads/discs have gone? I would be surprised as it has just passed its MOT.

I would appreciate any replies in easy to understand terms - I did I said I wasnt 'totally' silly

Cheers

[alan s]

General maintenance is as per the service book; oil changes every 5,000 - 10,000 klms (IMO personal preference and the type of driving has a bearing on this. I live in the tropics and do either around town short stuff or extremely long hard hauls; there's nothing in between for me so I do mine between 5 & 7,000 klms.)
Filter at every second oil change, again I do mine at every one but as I say, personal preference.
Cambelt at 4 years or 80,000 klms very important.
Hydraulics; LHM change and clean filters every 3 years or 60,000 klms. Like the oil, not expensive and kept within those limits will allow the system to function for years troublefree. With mine, I bleed the system thoroughly via the brakes (all 4) to be certain I have any stale LHM out of the dead ends at the brakes.
Coolant; change it every 2 years with a good quality one.
Apart from that, just drive and enjoy. Great car, fun to drive and extremely reliable.


Alan S

[Richard Gallagher]

If the brakes are squeaking at the back then the chances are that there has been a build up of corrosion between the mounting face of the aluminium brake caliper and the steel suspension arm, causing the caliper to twist and wear the brake pads at an angle.

The remedy is to remove the brake pads by removing the long thin bolt. Refit the bolt and tighten it up with the nut (this is very important otherwise the caliper will fall apart into two halves).

Then remove the two caliper retaining bolts which will allow the caliper to be manoeuvred (carefully so as not to damage the metal brake pipe) to allow you to chip away the white corrosion, possibly requiring a hammer and chisel.

When replacing the caliper retaining bolts remember to apply 'Thread Lock' to them, and apply a very thin/even smear of copper grease to the caliper mounting face.

You will almost certainly need to replace the brake pads as they will have worn at an angle, which may also have caused the brake disc some unusual wear. Pads/discs can be bought for around £50 at GSF.

[citronut]

dont be supprised if your brakes need atention even though the car has not long passed its MOT,as the brakes are only tested for performance and a visual check to what can be seen without removeing any wheels
regards malcolm

[Mandrake]

Another source of squealing is when the discs wear significantly you end up with sharp ridges forming at the edges of the disc, when these get big enough it will start to cause squealing...

A temporary fix is to chamfer the pads a little bit, but the long term fix is to replace the discs.

Regards,
Simon