Xantia hydraulic clutch

[seedy]

This is about my 4th or 5th Xantia and I know I've changed a couple of clutch cables on previous ones, so when I find my latest one has a hydraulic clutch and the motor factors say, 'Xantias have cable clutches', I can't argue. But this one doesn't even have a nodger on the bell housing for the cable to sit in and it definitely has a slave cylinder and all that stuff.

Why me?

Do I have the only hydraulically-clutched Xantia in the UK? In Europe? A call to Citroen seemed to suggest that was the case. They didn't know what I was talking about.

It's a T-reg HDi 110 hatch.

Discuss.

[CitroJim]

Nope, all 110 HDi, 2.1TD, 2.0 TCT and manual V6 (or big-engine) Xantias have a hydraulic clutch as they all use the ML5T gearbox. Ditto the equivalent Peugeot models..

The smaller engined Xantias, including the 90 HDi use the BE3 gearbox which does have a cable clutch...

Be thankful for the fact you have a hydraulic clutch as they are generally very reliable and trouble-free. They need care when changing clutches but apart from that they're as good as gold

[seedy]

Thanks, CitroJim. Perhaps in future I should have a '110' sticker on the cam cover (or plastic engine cover). Self-effacing is very commendable, but it can sometimes be inappropriate.

[seedy]

Some earlier posts on this topic are a bit old now, so I'm continuing this one.
I got the Xantia Hdi 110 back with a new clutch and it went pedal-to-the-floor- after about 50 miles.
I read all the interesting stuff on this forum and checked the release mechanism etc.
I found that the plastic hydraulic pipe going across the bulkhead, just on the slave side of the blue cylindrical coupling, has a hole in it. If I get her indoors to press the clutch, I can see the odd drip coming from the pipe. Presumably that explains the lack of fluid in the cistern (cistern being a reservoir that empties when you use it).
So my question is, how to fix the leak? It looks to me that the garage people knew about this because there was a hose clip over the spot with the hole - obviously not an effective solution. Can this piece of pipe be replaced? Since the blue cylindrical couple appears to be an install-time requirement, and since I'm going to have to get into all of the time-honoured stuff of bleeding a 'sealed' system, can I dispense with the blue cylinder? Any suggestions?

Thanks
Colin

[Sl4yer]

If it was fine when it went in, I'd have it straight back to the garage in the morning for them to remedy it. These systems are expensive.

There are some posts about filling and bleeding the system in here, but it's far from straightforward. All that assumes that you can get the hole fixed. I wonder if they've holed it to get fluid in?

James

[seedy]

I notice my original posting on this was on May 26. I have just fixed it now and it's September 3. Mon dieu! To summarise...

The clutch failed about 60 miles after I bought it (ebay). It was away from home so I left it with an unknown but recommended garage to fix. They fitted a new cover/pressure/thrust set. They took about two weeks and I gather the hydraulics gave them problems.

It drove about another fifty miles and failed again (couldn't select gears). I discovered the hydraulic pipe about the centre of the bulkhead had a split. (Was this the cause of the original failure, no need for new spinning parts?). I returned the car to the repairing garage (on a truck).

About two weeks later it was ready again, and again did about 50 miles before it failed. I decided to do something myself. I explored the options shown on this forum and tried some of them. No luck with the cost-saving ideas.

I went to the local Citroen dealer to buy the 'sealed for life' set of master/slave/pipework. They said Citroen 'no longer list that part for your car'. End of chat.

I explored second hand suppliers, alternative new suppliers, to no avail.

I looked at the Peugeot alternatives and ended up buying a master/slave/pipework set for a 406 Hdi. The cylinders were a close enough match, but the pipework was very different. Impossible to fit.

I got my local tool-maker to turn up a couple of connections to allow me to use some standard flared copper between the cylinders without modifying the cylinders. I should have got him to turn up a bleed nipple arrangement too, but I thought the instructions for bleeding without a nipple (see posts on this forum) should work.

Still no success. So eventually, I came up with Seedy's Bleed-in-the-Bag method.

Take the slave cylinder out of the bell-housing.
Remove the pipe (in this case a roll pin has to be tapped out).
Use a cable-tie to seal a plastic bag around the body of the slave cylinder (pushrod pointing vertically down).
Open the opposite end of the bag and fill with hydraulic fluid, ensuring the opening in the slave is below the fluid level.
Poke around with a wire coat-hanger in the slave to ensure all air bubbles are removed.
Shove open end of hydraulic pipe into bag, ensuring open end is submerged.
Get she-who-is very-good-at-bleeding-brakes-due-to-years-of-experience to pump the clutch pedal by hand until no air bubbles are seen.
Shove pipe into slave and secure connection (replace the roll-pin).
Discard plastic bag and contents.
Replace slave in bell-housing.
Enjoy working clutch.

This worked for me with the copper connections I had fitted. It might work with the original plastic piping. Worth a try.

Meanwhile I also suffered the Doseur valve leakage problem. It never rains but it gushes out. Thanks to Stewart Oily for his help with that.

So now, how do I post an advert on ebay? For sale, Xantia Hdi 110, new clutch, low miles, much loved car...

[Stewart(oily)]

I would keep it now Colin, after all what could possibly go wrong

[citroenxm]

Just bad luck!

Mines all original on 257k and never any issues with the clutch hydraulics. I have a couple of FULLY sealed spares units in the shed, to fit staright in in the event of any failiure.

I know of another that work faultlessly for 288k ...

Keep the car if I were you.