Xantia 2.0l HDi (110bhp) brake binding

[stevestix8]

Hi all,

I have a problem with the binding brakes on the offside front. When I changed the pads a year ago 1 of the pads was down to the metal. I could not have left it any longer to change. When we put the new pads on the piston seemed to work but was not working as it should. I thought we had fixed it but no.

After thinking about it and looking on ebay I found a caliper/piston fix kit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Xanti" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 48496ca9f0

We are pretty sure the prob is in the seal on the piston to the calipers and will refurbish my existing caliper.

Has anyone got any advice on this? There are some references in Haynes and I have removed the calipers and brake pads before so I can get the caliper off.

Steve

[Hell Razor5543]

You might want to check the handbrake cable sleeve. It is prone to wear down at the point where it passes through the loop on the hub carrier. If it wears enough water can get in and cause the cable to rust (and bind). This happened on Gracies' NS, and replacing it cleared the problem. I replaced both cables.

[Lighty]

Depends on which type of caliper you have, if the caliper is the type with a knock out pin at the bottom, the stainless clip at the bottom often squeezes the pin and stops the caliper working freely. Removing the pin, and the stainless clip, cleaning corrosion from its mount and rebuilding will cure the problem.

[stevestix8]

Hi,

I agree I will check the handbrake cable when doing it. If the handbrake cable was rusted wouldn't it make both pads grip the front offside wheel? I am getting wear on 1 pad which suggested to us the piston seal has gone and therefore isn't releasing properly.

When you say you replaced both handbrake cables was that left and right? I am only getting binding on 1 wheel and so do not want to effect the left side.

Steve

[Hell Razor5543]

While there was binding on the NS, the OS showed signs of wear on the sleeve, so I felt it made sense to replace them both, as you have to remove a cover plate where the two cables get connected to the primary brake cable.

If you do have to replace the cables, you may have to do some searching for the NS cable. This is because there are different lengths due to the various gearboxes used. I believe the OS cable is standard length across the range. If you search the forum you should find the details for your NS cable.

One forum member posted the idea of protecting the sleeves by slipping some hose pipe over each one, with enough length to pass through all of the guide loops. I forgot to do this at the time, but I intend to do it soon.

I do agree with you that it is more likely to be a caliper issue, due to the un-even wearing of the pads. However, as you are going to have the front of the car up in the air, and the calipers dismantled, changing the cables shouldn't add much more time (and a pair of cables should cost about £30 the pair).

[stevestix8]

Hi all,

Thanks for responses.

We have today sorted all 7 of the mot issues.

The 3 (2 pairs)) new bulbs we got for less than £4.00 (ebay).

The 2 dodgy connections (brake light and reg plate light) was a new bulb (I already had a spare brake light bulb) and a small adjustment on the connectors for the reg plate light.

The adjustment on the head lamp was easy and is now the same as the other.

We managed to fit the fix kit for the pistons. We didn't need to fully remove the caliper. Swivel up and then we could work on the piston. Unscrewed and could see some damage to the existing seal. Unscrewed completely until it popped out. A fair bit of dirt was in there and a small amount of lhm leaked out. I cleaned the whole area and took out both the seal and the internal 'o' ring. The piston itself seems very clean and undamaged. Put the new 'o' ring in and then the piston. After some attempts we realised we need to undo the bleed screw to prevent pressure build in the piston chamber stopping us reseating the piston. After we did that the piston sat on better and with a combination of force inwards as well as rotation of the piston it screwed nicely in to place. We then put the new seal on the piston and pushed the base until that sat in well. We got a good seal top and bottom. After a small adjustment as the nipple on the back of the pad needs to sit in to the groove on the piston head and all went back together well and after a drive we then bled any air in it out. We then tested the resistance on the wheel and it seems alot better than it was but some resistance is inevitable. I then jacked up the nearside and tried to see what the resistance was like on that wheel. They are both the same now.

Have just driven home and the car seems fine. It seems to be free wheeling alot longer and no whining noise anymore either.

I think that is it. I will blead it again in a day or so but am happy we have fixed the probs.

Thanks for any advice.

Steve

[CitroJim]

Excellent stuff Steve. That's very useful information for sorting a caliper. A job I confess I've never done..

Now to go and pick up a nice, shiny MOT pass

[stevestix8]

Hi All,

Good news. It has passed the retest today. The myth of the cheap (£21) mot is true. They did not charge anything on retest. Have just got back from Bristol and the car seems fine.

It seems now that VOSA have changed the test certificate. Now they print out a white piece of paper (VT30 failure, VT20 pass) in an attempt to save money. It seems to be done online more now. You can check the direct.gov website (http://www.direct.gov.uk/yourmotcheck" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and it has on there the most recent mot information. I have just checked the website and it says mine is now mot'd untill Oct 2013.

Thanks for any advice,

Steve

[Hell Razor5543]

Great! I'm glad you got it all sorted.

Out of interest, how are the handbrake cables?

[markflip]

The MOT certificate change, wasn't principally a cost saving exercise, more to do with fraud prevention and ease of detection of cars 'sans mot'. The MOT's have had to be done 'online' for several years (this involved a major cost for some garages as it required ADSL lines and equipment etc) which amongst other things limited garages to one MOT per bay every 45 minutes or so, to encourage proper testing. Since the MOT's were done online anyway, it was a logical step to link the MOT data on a central VOSA database to DVLA so your car's record now shows whether it's taxed, insured and MOT'd at a glance for enforcement officers, so there's no need for a 'proper' certificate and you can tax your car online/by phone. It will have also hopefully stopped MOT centres being burgled for blank MOT's and stamps too, which was quite common in the past. Another advantage is that 'the system' knows the MOT anniversary, so if you turn up 28 days early, even without the certificate that you used to need, you can get a '13 month' MOT.

As Steve found out, the database is updated quickly and you can check your vehicle, or a prospective purchase easily using a code/number on MOT certificate or V5C - you can't check your ex wife's boyfriend's car to shop him to the fuzz though, sorry!

[addo]

That's more or less how it's done here; we are ditching the labels (your tax discs) next year as they reckon ANPR will take care of this just as well as visuals.

A big difference is our testing is less stringent; the authorities know most cars will be scrapped when they become unfashionable rather than rusted to pieces of grit.

Your elapsed time mandates seem unreasonable; if you are paying a premium for industrial real estate it's effectively dictating how much that floor area can earn per day.