Just been watching Traffic Cops on BBC1 where a bloke was pulled over for having no brake lights, and the officer then depressed his brake pedal and gave the guy a defect report becuase his servo wasnt working.
The car in question was a Xantia - do these have Servo's? I'm pretty sure I've been told they dont..
Brake Servos
Moderator: RichardW
According to this site: http://www.citroen.mb.ca/citroenet/html/h/hydro.html The Xantia *does* have servo's. Is the page incorrect, or what? Several people have told me they don't have them and so far I can find only this site which says they do.
Whilst they don't have brake servos in the conventional sense then, the entire braking system on a Citroen could perhaps be described as a servo based on that definition ??
All I can think may have been wrong with the car in the program was that the accumulator sphere and pump were so knackered that pressing the pedal produced very little braking effect ? I've have known a BX do this when the accumulator and hydraulic system generally were in such a bad state that the engine had to be revved hard to make the brakes work. It still didn't have excessive pedal travel though, the pedal would only go down the same amount as normal, it just had no effect on the speed of the car !
All I can think may have been wrong with the car in the program was that the accumulator sphere and pump were so knackered that pressing the pedal produced very little braking effect ? I've have known a BX do this when the accumulator and hydraulic system generally were in such a bad state that the engine had to be revved hard to make the brakes work. It still didn't have excessive pedal travel though, the pedal would only go down the same amount as normal, it just had no effect on the speed of the car !
Technically the system of brakes on a cit can be termed servo although not servo-assisted as with most cars. When you depress the brake pedal on a servo-assist car a few times the vacuum is lost and the pedal will go very hard. Perhaps this is what plod was expecting. On a Xantia, if it hasn't had the wonderful mod suggested elswhere in the forum the pedal will feel exactly the same as it does when the engine is running...i'e. the spring in the pedal will still make it feel soft. Could you really expect a copper to have the brains to understand this?
Hello folks,
Myself and my dad, (we both drive Xantia's) saw the said television program. As i see it, copper who thinks he know's everything about cars, clearly has not got a clue about Citroen hydraulic systems. I am by no means a qualified mechanic, but i, like everyone else on this forum know that the brakes are supposed to feel different on a hydro Citroen. That's why we love our hydro Cits, because they are different. I will never go back to a "normal" car!![^][^] I only wish it was me he stopped for the brakes, i would have loved to prove him wrong![^][:D]
Cheers, Rich. (Xantia Exclusive HDi)
Myself and my dad, (we both drive Xantia's) saw the said television program. As i see it, copper who thinks he know's everything about cars, clearly has not got a clue about Citroen hydraulic systems. I am by no means a qualified mechanic, but i, like everyone else on this forum know that the brakes are supposed to feel different on a hydro Citroen. That's why we love our hydro Cits, because they are different. I will never go back to a "normal" car!![^][^] I only wish it was me he stopped for the brakes, i would have loved to prove him wrong![^][:D]
Cheers, Rich. (Xantia Exclusive HDi)
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Dave Burns
- Posts: 1915
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- My Cars:
- x 2
Servo, "powered automatic control of larger system", as per the Oxford.
So I wouldn't and don't call cit brakes "servo brakes" they are power brakes, because the power to operate them is generated solely by the engine and not the driver, though the driver controls that power via the doseur valve.
Very similar to the power brakes on a heavy truck where the operating force, in this case compressed air, to power the brakes is provided by the engine driven compressor.
Air is used to apply the brakes via the peddle actuated valve except on the driving axles where it is used to release them, the driving axle brakes being applied by hefty springs.
Dave
So I wouldn't and don't call cit brakes "servo brakes" they are power brakes, because the power to operate them is generated solely by the engine and not the driver, though the driver controls that power via the doseur valve.
Very similar to the power brakes on a heavy truck where the operating force, in this case compressed air, to power the brakes is provided by the engine driven compressor.
Air is used to apply the brakes via the peddle actuated valve except on the driving axles where it is used to release them, the driving axle brakes being applied by hefty springs.
Dave
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Dave Burns
- Posts: 1915
- Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars:
- x 2
Hehe a mans lorry ay Rich, non'o that girly synchromesh stuff on there I'll bet, has it got a jake on it, used to love the racket they make, got a class one ticket meself but not done owt with it for the last twelve years.
If what Iv'e heard is right thery're going to have drivers doing refresher's every few years, I mean its not as if there aint a shortage of'em allready[:D]
Dave
If what Iv'e heard is right thery're going to have drivers doing refresher's every few years, I mean its not as if there aint a shortage of'em allready[:D]
Dave
Yo Dave,
I don't blame ya for not using your class one for twelve years mate; the jobs just pants these days![xx(][:D] Like you say, the driver shortage plus proposed refreshers is going put off even more new drivers. I'm only a class two boy myself; 17 tonne ERF E6, fifteen years old it is too. Good reliable piece of kit though, Cummins engine and Eaton 'box[^]. It does not have a Jake on it, but our DAF has got one and it sounds cool too![:D][^][:D] It's a bit of a dog to drive the old ERF, but as my boss says, "....it's got character!!....."
My apologies to other forum users; i know this is the Citroen section!![:I]
Keep on truckin'
Rich, Xantia Exclusive HDi.
I don't blame ya for not using your class one for twelve years mate; the jobs just pants these days![xx(][:D] Like you say, the driver shortage plus proposed refreshers is going put off even more new drivers. I'm only a class two boy myself; 17 tonne ERF E6, fifteen years old it is too. Good reliable piece of kit though, Cummins engine and Eaton 'box[^]. It does not have a Jake on it, but our DAF has got one and it sounds cool too![:D][^][:D] It's a bit of a dog to drive the old ERF, but as my boss says, "....it's got character!!....."
My apologies to other forum users; i know this is the Citroen section!![:I]
Keep on truckin'
Rich, Xantia Exclusive HDi.