Xantia handbrake problem?

[C.J.]

Just been reading an 'aol' article on the top ten daftest car manufacturer ideas, and this one was amongst them:

Citroen Xantia parking brake (1993)
Until recent years, parking brakes usually operated on the rear drum brakes of family cars. However, the Citroen Xantia had one working on the front disc brakes - at least most of the time it did. The problem was that the design did not take into account the fact that front discs can get very hot and will therefore expand. More than one owner discovered after a fast drive with lots of heavy braking that the discs would subsequently cool - and contract. Result: half an hour after stopping, the parking brake could disengage with expensive results.


Was it ever a problem, or indeed is it still?

[Ross_K]

Ancient news. Most of the Xantias affected are probably washing machines or cheap Chinese hand tools now anyway.

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp

Vehicle Details
Reference : R/1994/072
Manufacturer Ref :
Make: CITROEN
Model : Xantia
Launch Date : 02/12/1994
Numbers Involved : 52050
Build Start Date : 01/05/1993
Build End Date : 17/10/1994
Recall Details
Concern : POSSIBILITY OF VEHICLE ROLLING AWAY WHILST PARKED
Description : Instances have occurred of Xantia vehicles moving away following an incomplete application of the parking brake by the driver.
Remedial Action : Recall the vehicles to fit a modified parking brake lever which will prevent the driver from making only a partial application of the parking brake.
Vehicle Id : Various

[uncle buck]

I know you all know this but.....

Always leave the vehicle in gear when parked...just in case!

I have seen a car roll away because its handbrake cable snapped whilst parked up.

[Xaccers]

If anything it was because the handbrake was too good.
Rather than pulling it up the 3 notches as you should, people would pull it up one, and the discs would cool releasing the handbrake.
Had this happen to me in Basingrad once when I came out of a restaurant and thought "what idiot has parked their xantia in that bush...oh hang on..."
Good job the bush was there otherwise my car may have carried on, down the bank, and out into the ring road!

The recall fix I believe was for the dealers to grind down the first 3 notches so the handbrake had to be pulled on properly.

[Ross_K]

The recall fix I believe was for the dealers to grind down the first 3 notches so the handbrake had to be pulled on properly.

Looks like they weren't recalled here in Ireland then. Mine's a one click affair.

But the handbrake in the ZX has been knackered for a good while now, so I'm in the habit of parking in gear with wheels pointing toward the kerb...

[DickieG]

I briefly owned one of those early Xantia's that had already had the modification done to the handbrake, but despite that the car would roll away at the slightest chance it got, the first time was in the car park at work . knowing about this issue with Xantia's, before moving the car I checked the handbrake and found it to be fully applied .

Following that incident I carried numerous tests and found that even though the brakes hadn't been used enough to do little more than warm the disc's to a tepid temperature on short low speed journeys (using acceleration sense then applying the brakes just prior to stopping) the handbrake was all but useless as 10 minutes after leaving the car it could be pushed with little effort at all, it was something peculiar to that car which I never did find out the cause.

[jeremy]

As the Xantia (like the BX and other hydraulic Citroens has trailing arm self levelling suspension suspension the handbrake has to be on the front.

The reason is that if it were on the rear - and the handbrake was applied with the car facing up-hill, the back of the car would rise an the trailing arms rotated. The height corrector would try and compensate for this and release the pressure in the back suspension - which wouldn't move until the handbrake was released - whereupon the back of the car would drop to the bump stops.

My BX has the front handbrake - and its excellent - very powerful and light to operate - but I don't trust it - having had the thing roll away while I was in it!

[citronut]

this problem also did happen with BXs, i belive its due to a combination of two things, the usual were on BXs/XANTIAs, the front callipers not adjusting up in normal use so the lever is pointting at the head linning, and the hot cold disc syndrom,

when the hand brake is out of adjustment and the lever is fully up, it aint putting as much efort on the brake pads as its ment to,

i usualy tell my customers when the hand brake lever is pulling up to far, to adjust the callipers whilst the car is on level ground, engine running, hand brake off, press the pedel two or three times very hard (but dont stamp on it) this should adjust the self adjusting mechanisum in the callipers,
if it dose not then you front callipers need looking at

regards malcolm

[myglaren]

I did read, years ago when the problem was first reported, that it only affected right hand drive cars and was due to some innacuracy in transposing the handbrake lever mechanism.

Nothing to back this up with though and I'm not even that convinced that the handbrake mechanism would need to be moved anyway.

Never had any problems with mine other than forgetting to engage it and discovering the car in the middle of the road one morning.

[Xaccers]

Don't think the lever was swapped over for our cars, hence why you rub your knuckles against the passenger seat when you apply it.
If you sit in the passenger seat and pull it on, you'll see the centre is cut out to make way for your fingers.

[pete_wood_uk]

Growing up, I was always taught to leave cars in gear - we lived on a hill with a S2a diesel Land Rover - and I've never understood how people can not do it. Just a habit like putting on socks in the morning, as far as I can see. So I was astonished when people started complaining that the early Xantiae (which I was driving at the time) were running away. The handbrake is for hill starts...

As a friend of mine said many years ago: "Once you've owned an Alfa, you never trust a handbrake again"

Pete