My Xantia Estate 1.9 D turbo went drag racing!

[Stickyfinger]

reminds me of the old rhyme

Long and thin goes right in, short and thick does the trick !

[CitroJim]

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Never heard that one before
Maybe I'm to young?

Xantiagreen, I hope you took some wax oil with you when you went underneath the car
I spotted one or two spots of rust that could do with a drink in your photos

[lexi]

Once you see rust on a car.........it is too late for waxoyl.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Once you see rust on a car.........it is too late for waxoil.

In Scotland I would agree with you there as the winters rot your cars terribly.
It wasn't to late for my 98 xantia its been replenished every 3 years since I got it
it has saved me a small fortune in LHM pipework needlessly being replaced
because of excessive corrosion (they love to pick on these).
.it has also prevented my strut tops from rotting away.
I don't seem to have any of the usual holes appearing in the upper sills or in the boot area as some have had.

[stupidxantia]

More tinkering has happened today, ride height is now more correct I think ... I shall let you guys decide


3 fingers gap between the arch and the top of the tyre!


Back sits a tiny bit lower


Looks much better from the front too!

I was expecting the pinch bolt on the Arb thing to be seized and snap off, Completely the opposite was the case! I would think that the height was altered by someone on purpose as the bolt was very easy to undo and well greased up ... bit of a fiddly job with 2 heavy axle stands and a jack, Once you know what your looking at it's all straight forward enough I guess

Now the car has really floaty suspension and soaks up the harshness of the local speed bumps really well (I am impressed)! But it is not still without it's problems ... all of the height settings work as they should, that is apart from the low setting to normal ride height! All the corrector seems to be nice and free moving enough but now the front will not lift at all without waiting for the rear to lift and then popping it into intermediate for a second!

I no longer have the will to chase the suspension faults as it's breaking my head a bit, so she is off to Citromatics on Martinet road, Thornaby on Monday morning for a check up to see what is going on with the suspension. I would say it will be nothing, but this is my car and it will more than likely need every single component to be replaced before it works properly!

Oh and the front brakes have now started to stick on a bit despite having all new pads and discs on the front and rear. All you can hear from the driver's front is "squeak, squeak, squeak" at anything under 30 mph it's soo frikkin annoying and you don't need the handbrake most of the time as when you pull up to a stop it doesn't let go of the brakes properly ... looks like new calipers all round may well be in order I guess before the M.o.t of doom in a couple of months!

Graham

[Deanxm]

..............sounds more like lack of clearance between the brake valve and peddle mech, if the back brakes are binding too or the fronts are sticking evenly I would say that's what it is and its a damn site easier to sort than swapping out callipers!
Free too which is always a bonus.

D

[chinkostu]

did they locate the lug on the front pads with the caliper piston properly? the only other thing it could be is a sticking cable or mechanism. best way to check the cable is to take the cable out of the caliper arm and see if it still does it!


regarding the height now, mine used to do this at the rear if it was left on low for long enough. A very generous coating of grease and working of the lever got it going again. strange the fronts doing it as its usually the rear that sticks! i think the main thing is to grease it, go through all the settings, grease, etc etc. that way you can be sure it's worked its way between everything

[stupidxantia]

..............sounds more like lack of clearance between the brake valve and peddle mech, if the back brakes are binding too or the fronts are sticking evenly I would say that's what it is and its a damn site easier to sort than swapping out callipers!
Free too which is always a bonus.

D

both front brakes seem to have equal amounts of binding while the rears are o.k ... just annoying that the drivers front is noisy about it! how do you fix the lack of clearance between the valve and peddle mech?? this is not something I have heard of before.

[stupidxantia]

did they locate the lug on the front pads with the caliper piston properly? the only other thing it could be is a sticking cable or mechanism. best way to check the cable is to take the cable out of the caliper arm and see if it still does it!

I did the brakes myself and don't recall there being a lug on the pads, I can have a look when I get the wheel off next.
I never thought of pulling off the handbrake cable to see if it stops it nice free test there

[Deanxm]

If you didn't notice the pips on the backs of the pads then our learned friend is correct in his guess.
Did you notice the pistons on the calliper are castellated ? Two of the 4 pads have a nipple on the backs that you must line up with one of the recesses in the piston otherwise the brakes will over self adjust and start binding.
Nippled pads inboard, plain pads outboard.

Glad you have it at the correct height now though, its getting there!

D

[chinkostu]

Just don't ask me how i know!!

[Deanxm]

I think we all learnt the hard way.

D

[stupidxantia]

Firstly *haha nipples*

Secondly it all depends on the weather as to when I can take a look at the brakes, before Friday I hope as the infernal noise of the squeak is driving me slowly more insane each day!
I hope that the garage won't make me cry on Monday when she goes in for a health check, I don't like other people touching my cars. For these guys I will make an exception as they seem to have allot of knowledge about hydro citroens ... Would be nice if I drop the car off without binding brakes though!

Will let you all know how it goes as soon as I get it done

Graham

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Might be a good idea to edit out your number plates when posting pics someone might be inclined to try go get some free petrol with them and do a runner. it will at least stop you being arrested for something you haven't done.

get the hose pipe out and wash the brake dust from the callipers then take the car for a spin.

if the squeak persists a tug on the handbrake whilst doing about 20mph should stop the squeaking.
it could just be brake dust, corroded brake components or a badly adjusted hand brake cable.

you see there should be anti-vibration metal plates behind the brake pads but many people either don't buy the pads with the plates or they simply don't fit them these days.

you could take off the wheel and clean the surfaces that the pads slide in and out on, on the caliper and give them a good sanding with wet and dry paper then give them a tiny greasing with some copper grease and apply some of it to the back of the pads to. I'd bet that they have been installed dry and are covered in dust, because the brakes are soooo good in a xantia people tend to brake later than they would with a standard servo brake system,

this puts a lot more pressure on the pads and creates a lot of dust on the components, a good wash out firstly should chase the squeak away.

if your replacing pads try to buy Bendix pads if you have Bendix callipers they are a little softer than a lot of aftermarket pads and you will feel the difference. your disks should last longer to.

It may also be because the disks are worn. it is also possible that one side of the handbrake cable is slightly seized holding the pads closer to the disk on that side.

As for ride quality chuck a bag of sand in the boot as close to the rear bumper as you can get it then go for a spin, the ride improves a lot with weight in the boot, maybe its time to buy yourself a decent sized socket set and carry it around with you, (under a blanket) my Halfrauds set makes the ride in my estate a lot better than it is with an empty boot.

the Xantia has been subjected to a handbrake MOD in the past where the first two teeth were ground off the handbrake handle quadrant, to make people pull harder on the handbrake as a MK1 Xantia Hatchback careered down a hill overnight in Southampton into a petrol station forecourt causing a massive fire.

This is why it is always beneficial to park a Xantia in gear especially when parked on a hill.
This can cause a little friction with the MOT man if there is slight slack in the handbrake cable, as most are unaware of the MOD and Citroen in slough did not advise the DVLA at the time. they didn't have to in those days.

I had to get a letter from slough to proove the MOD was carried forward onto the S2 xantia and my car has passed its MOT based upon the advice in the letter. I have had to take all the slack out of the handbrake cable for the MOT before now and release it back to how it was after the MOT thins made the front brakes bind slightly. it could be just this a mall adjusted handbrake cable. it could be that taking up all the slack so that the cable pulls the handbrake handle back down again is the problem. a little slack at the handbrake end is normal and the cable will or should self adjust, having to much tension in the cable can make the adjusters pull the pads to close to the disks and make the pads bind.

The rears could be many things the pads are getting hard to source now according to Pleiades I have just had them fitted but only because I hate the little bolts.

this could be corrosion between the callipers and the suspension arms one alloy and one steel.

I now have the MOT's done at Pleiades Citroen Specialists and don't have these little problems anymore.
ever since I had problems again with the same MOT station over my 2cv not having a high beam headlamp warning light.
it was never fitted in the factory and doesn't need one. if you ever have any problems check out the MOT testers Forum the advice they give is brilliant.