Xantia hydraulic fluid leak in the interior

[rd27]

Hello folks, i'm new around here. I've got a Citroen Xantia 1.9D and I recently noticed the drivers side footwell carpet was greasy and wet, so I did some investigation by lifting the carpets and found the foam soundproofing is full (literally, if you squeeze it your hand is filled) with oily fluid (which i'm guessing is LHM)
Can anyone shed some light on the problem and the cure, i've tried searching but with no avail. Do you think it could be a leaking seal on the brakes or steering etc?
Many thanks,
Ryan

[myglaren]

Classic symptom of the brake doseur valve or pipes leaking.
If you are lucky it will just be a displaced return line.

You will though need to remove all the contaminated soundproofing or it will turn into an absolute unholy mess as the LHM dissolves it.

Someone who really knows the score will be along soon with a description of how to rectify the problem but full details of the car will help, some are more difficult to access that others but I believe that none are easy if you need to replace the doseur.

[citronut]

hi and welcome

here is price and part No.'s of the two parts you require from the dealer

Part Number Description Quantity Price excl. VAT Price incl. VAT Total incl. VAT Selection
5424455 CNTRL-UNIT RING 4.82 GBP 5.78 GBP 5.78 GBP

95640067 BRAKE PROTECTOR 7.99 GBP 9.59 GBP 9.59 GBP

the part citroen call the brake protector is the rubber dome which the brake pedle plundger push's against,

it can be fitted from under the bonnet without disconecting any pipes if you are carefull,

the gain more space behind the engine you will need to remove the intercooler ductting/pipes,

then iside the car you will find two 11mm nuts against the bulkhead behind the brake pedle, undo both of these, now you can pull the dosour valve away from the engine bay side of the bulkhead, now gently rotate the dosour valve so not to damage the pipes attatched to it,
once you have the end faceing you that would normaly face the pedle/bulkhead you can prize out the alloy retaing colar/ring, then the rubber dome can be pulled out,

re/fitting is a reversal,

regards malcolm

[Gibbo2286]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0928516959" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[citroenxm]

Fitting a whole valve may be easyer... however, theres the process of bleeding the brakes from the doser valve to the calipers afterwards to remove and air from disturbing the pipes...

Paul

[rd27]

Thankyou very much with your swift replys guys, i'll get the parts ordered and tackle the job on my days off. Anyone got any tips for getting the LHM out of the carpets and soundproofing?

[citronut]

wear plastic carrier bags over you shoes


regards malcolm

[CitroJim]

The only way to clean the carpet of LHM is to have it out and wash it...

The foam underlay is a bit tricker and in the past I've sponged it between newspaper to rid it of as much LHM as possible.

The sound deadening on the floorpan will be found to be a horrible, black mushy mess as LHM attacks it. Best to scrape it off and put a new sheet on or put a [piece of polythene sheet over it.

[dangerousbrian]

I have experienced this same problem first hand myself in the past & fitted a new brake doseur valve, it can be difficult to pull them pipes out from around the valve, remember if you change the valve itself to fit new rubbers onto the pipes, theres also a plastic pipe which you take off from the valve, be carefull not to pull on it too hard as a few years later mine sprung a leak.

[rd27]

Thanks for the help guys, sorted the valve this morning, by the time I got it off I noticed it was only a broken return pipe, but because I already had the new brake protector (plunger) I decided to fit the new part anyway as well as putting a new piece of pipe in.

[CitroJim]

Excellent

Have you dealt with the oily carpet?

[citronut]

it not usual for citro blood to fill the foot well if the leak is at the engine bay side of the bulkhead ,

so either the return pipe split on rotating the dosure valve, or you have two leaks,

i would have put my bottom dollar on the rubber protector leaking

regards malcolm

[rd27]

Yeah, I took it out, de greased with Auto Glym engine and machine cleaner, power washed, scrubbed with Auto Glym interior shampoo, powerwashed again (both top side and foam underneath) and I left it to hang from my greenhouse roof to dry for a few days. When I came to refit today I put some paper towels down on the floor and jumped on the carpet to ensure all moisture and LHM were out. It was also a nice way of cleaning up the carpet in general (all stains now removed ) I'm actually considering repeating the same procedure on the passenger side to remove general stubborn stains.

Malcolm - I did change the rubber protector and the pipe just to be sure