Emergency Job! Is it safe to assume...

[Rhothgar]

Hi all,

Going to be doing discs, pads, drums and shoes on Sylvi's ZX 1.9TD today and am just about to set off to Euro Car Parts.

I understand that Pagid exceeds original quality or were Brembo original quality on 1996 Citroens.

Also, from Service Citroen I can see that the fronts are Girling. There is NO option for Bendix.

Question is because I cannot afford the time to make two journeys to ECP as this has to be done TODAY.

Is it safe to assume that the rears will be Girling also?

The auto-adjuster looks the same from memory on the Girling picture but ther Bendix looks very different!

Cheers.

[addo]

Can you not take in a set of shoes and a pair of pads?

[citronut]

dont you have a GSF locally as they have recently started selling rear drum brake kits ready to fit,
if the tinny stainless steel pawl is missing (99% of time is ), then you will find the motor factors do not sell the adjuster kits, so main dealer only, at around £60 quid for the axle kit,

with GSF's brake kit all this comes ready fitted between two pairs of shoes,

we payed around £75 quid for the kit from GSF on my daughters Synergie, when citroen wanted £120 quid just for the adjuster kit,

cant remember if this came with the cylinder also

[Harlequin]

look on the ECP website - theres a discount code this weekend IIRC and you can do `click and collect`.

[Rhothgar]

Cheers guys.

well i have to say it is going dire!

Get a great discount from ECP so went for Pagid.

Like an idiot, I did not take both sets of rears despite us discussing it. Sylv picked the parts up at 12.30. Wrong bloody shoes! Rears on hers are Bendix as it happens.

Next problem is whilst she has gone back to Nottingham to swap them out, round trip of 30 miles, I thought I would build up front brakes but...

How on earth does that damned spring clip fit on the front brakes that takes the wires?

[Rhothgar]

Well. I finally got it all back together. The auto-adjusters on the rear are fun.

It's fantastic how they work though.

In a mad moment, I measured the drums and like an idiot thought they were in spec at 181mm. but it is the outside max. skimmed dim so I am not wondering how long they will last.

Does anyone know what the effect of this will be? Surely if the manual states 181mm. ( not checked this - just got the information off ECP website) then does that mean that to all intents and purposes, we are running on the shoes?

The shoes I took off were not that worn and Sylv's car only just passed its MOT with 756kgf against 750kgf required (60% of vehicle weight on MOT chart). Let me tell you, it was not fun testing the brakes from 70 - 0 mph and that's with my leg strength.

The wheel cylinders were the main culprit I believe. One was leaking and one was sticky.

[citronut]

hope if you fitted new adjusters you were aware they are handed, one has right hand thread the other is left hand thread,

if fitted to the wrong sides they will unwind the adjuster's and kick out the stain less steel pawl out of its seat

[handyman]

'Ere, Roger, if these rear brakes are set up correctly on the auto adjust then they work very well, but most of them are either incorrectly set, stuck or broken. Once fitted correctly, it is possible to set the auto adjust to take up any slack in the system and get the brakes to work perfectly, even if the drums are on the maximum limit, as there is a safety wear factor built into the drum.

If your original shoes are not worn below the limit, it shows they were not adjusted properly.

If you have the alloy adjusters, change them for the better later bronze ones that were available.

It's also worth checking the wheel bearings as these do affect rear brake performance. With the handbrake off, does the wheel spin free and easily for a long time? If so, fit a new set of bearings in the drum, as the bearings are on their way out.

If all else fails, PM or email me, as I spent quite a bit of time getting our ZX brakes to work spot on.

H

[Rhothgar]

hope if you fitted new adjusters you were aware they are handed, one has right hand thread the other is left hand thread,

if fitted to the wrong sides they will unwind the adjuster's and kick out the stain less steel pawl out of its seat

I did fit them. The good thing is if they are wrong, the brakes won't be any worse than they were before I did the good.

I relied on the brake pipe position to know that they were different. Can't remember now but I think the brake connector sits at the rear of the car. I fitted one side first before stripping the other down JUST to make sure I could remember how all the springs went back together as a reference.

Cheers for the heads up though Malc.

[Rhothgar]

'Ere, Roger, if these rear brakes are set up correctly on the auto adjust then they work very well, but most of them are either incorrectly set, stuck or broken. Once fitted correctly, it is possible to set the auto adjust to take up any slack in the system and get the brakes to work perfectly, even if the drums are on the maximum limit, as there is a safety wear factor built into the drum.

If your original shoes are not worn below the limit, it shows they were not adjusted properly.

If you have the alloy adjusters, change them for the better later bronze ones that were available.

It's also worth checking the wheel bearings as these do affect rear brake performance. With the handbrake off, does the wheel spin free and easily for a long time? If so, fit a new set of bearings in the drum, as the bearings are on their way out.

If all else fails, PM or email me, as I spent quite a bit of time getting our ZX brakes to work spot on.

H

It's amazing how the adjusters works. I didn't quite understand how the little bit of L shaped metal works other than the stainless steel strip at the back pushes onto it and that is what pushes the adjuster out and it turns, somehow, and the stainless steel clicks another pawl.

We're off to Austria on Thursday in it. God, how I wish we were going in the Xantia. Will do my infamous Autobahn test if we get a decent safe and clear stretch. I reckon the 1.9TD ZX is good for an indicated 120mph at least.

Drove down to Leicester and back yesterday and have used the car since Saturday night so have put about 100 miles on the brakes already.

Did a couple of emergency stops when the roads allowed from around 60 and the second one at 70. Both on wet surfaces. It pulled up very nicely. I left probably 15 - 20 miles between them. The 2nd one was very effectively, locked out the wheels but sadly had to let off as it veered to the left slightly and I mean only very slight but it felt as though it might have even spun if I kept it applied or at least started to.

It was going up an exit off the A46 and it could have had a slight camber as I tried a couple more stops from lesser speeds and they were very effective.

Thanks for the tips, H. I'll bear them in mind and perhaps contact you when back from Austria if we have any further issues with them.

[citronut]

the best way i find to get the adjusters about right first time is if every thing is fitted correctly, but there is a lip on the outer edge of the working surface of the drum, grind/clean the lip away,,
this allows you to adjust the shoes out as much as possible manually, before re/fitting the drums,

[Northern_Mike]

We're off to Austria on Thursday in it. God, how I wish we were going in the Xantia. Will do my infamous Autobahn test if we get a decent safe and clear stretch. I reckon the 1.9TD ZX is good for an indicated 120mph at least.

From experience, obviously on an autobahn, I can confirm that both the 1.9TD ZXs I owned would hold an indicated 120mph quite happily. Never got them to go more than a couple of mph faster, but 120 was relatively easy to get to. I never got a 1.9TD Xantia going that quickly, they always seemed to run out of puff at 115.

[Rhothgar]

We're off to Austria on Thursday in it. God, how I wish we were going in the Xantia. Will do my infamous Autobahn test if we get a decent safe and clear stretch. I reckon the 1.9TD ZX is good for an indicated 120mph at least.

From experience, obviously on an autobahn, I can confirm that both the 1.9TD ZXs I owned would hold an indicated 120mph quite happily. Never got them to go more than a couple of mph faster, but 120 was relatively easy to get to. I never got a 1.9TD Xantia going that quickly, they always seemed to run out of puff at 115.

Had 127 indicated on my 1996 Xantia S1 a couple of years back driving back from Austria in early January. Think the cold air helps. Sat Nav more accurate at 122 providing speed is held for a length of time.

Malc. I did grind the lip off. I know that trick!