Pesky Xantia rear caliper bolts

[citronut]

Aha! The dreaded typo.
Here I was thinking there was a different type of socket that I should add to my (meagre) collection.

Did intend making a start on them today but the day has passed me by with nothing done,

i seem to get that a lot these days , although i managed to find my workshop floor again today , first tome for a few months

not even a trip to Half-ords to buy Plus Gas.

no excuse you have a tank full of derv do you not as this is a very good substitute for penetrating fluid/oil,

Son and new girlfriend arriving tomorrow so that's that for another week

o get that every second week end as my son in law is at work, so my daughter and 4 year old grandson visit on both sat and sun, from breaky time to tea time

regards malcolm

[myglaren]

not even a trip to Half-ords to buy Plus Gas.

no excuse you have a tank full of derv do you not as this is a very good substitute for penetrating fluid/oil,

No, 'tis empty

Son and new girlfriend arriving tomorrow so that's that for another week

o get that every second week end as my son in law is at work, so my daughter and 4 year old grandson visit on both sat and sun, from breaky time to tea time

regards malcolm

They are here for a few days, he's just brought her back from America.

[RichardW]

RW, Plus gas, heat, Six sided socket: 4. Bolts 0 They were f tight though - all my strength on a 3ft scaff tube to get them going

They were really bad - the calipers were so far over I had to drive them out with a drift and lump hammer from behind the discs

Surprisingly, all the bolts came out of the back plates easily, and even the disc securing screws came out easily - not the discs though, they are firmly stuck to the hubs. They will be serviceable for now, but will have to see how the new pads bed in. Any tips on getting these off?

It's much easier to get the heat in the right place with the back plate removed, for future reference....

The pipe on the NS however, was very flaky near where it is screwed in the caliper and by the time I had moved the the caliper a bit it was weeping - in fact it may have been weeping before. So got to get a new pipe made - have manged to extract the old one from the K splitter which is more than half the battle, and again the bolts on the pipe clamps around the ARB came out relatively easily - all shut till Wednesday I suppose though....

[CitroJim]

Excellent Richard Good work!!!

In the past when I've seen a disc very firmly stuck to the hub and won't come free with a good whack from a club hammer I've resorted to my old faithful hydraulic press. In one case (on a certain XM I know of) it took seven tons of force...

[KennyW]

Richard,

Re your pipe I presume it is the R/N/S 3.5mm, send a PM David Hallworth who made mine up with Cunifer pipe instead of stainless steel.

Kenny

[dnsey]

What works for me with stuck discs is to fit a decent 3-legged puller, and wind it up so that there's a reasonable tension on it (but not enough to risk fracturing the disc). Then give the end of the puller a good whack with a hammer.

[reblack68]

On the front I pushed the disc off by screwing the caliper bolts from the other side. That won't work on the back though.

[RichardW]

All back together now - Plaides knocked out a pipe and it came next day. Brakes are much improved - hope that the pads and discs will bed together - some weight in the boot should help! Is LHM supposed to be the colour of bitter.... No time to change it just now though.

Tip for anyone doing the job and not wanting / able to remove the calipers - removing the clamp on the pipe next to the sprial makes for a lot more play to move the caliper about to de-rust it.

[RichardW]

As a bonus, freeing off the rear brakes has reduced the consumption from 45 to 48 MPG. Bargain

[citronut]

probably improved your 0 to 200 time as well

[steelcityuk]

Well what a job, the calipers came off the old XM without any problems or pre treatment. No signs of corrosion, someone must have done them previously.

Steve.

[Old-Guy]

Does anyone know the part number for rear caliper bolts (95/6 Estate) please?

Thursday lunchtime I took my/our Xantia to my tame workshop to check tyres and fluids - prior to setting off at sparrow's for a long weekend (family celebration) in Devon. Less than 10psi in OSR tyre B great screw in tread. Checked the spare - last of the original Michelins, date code 9514 - pressure OK but looking a bit perished! Fortunately, daughter had saved me a brand new tyre on an alloy rim from the blue estate before it went to the scrappy. Spent the afternoon keeping out of the everyone's way while I swapping tyres around. Noticed that the rear calipers are just starting to scrape the rust on the back of the discs - have to wait until we come back. Soaked exposed threads in penetrating oil (not PlusGas, but it would have been rude to have refused the big aerosol can thrust into my hands).
A week later, have just read this thread before attempting to remove the caliper bolts (definitely 16mm heads - I've checked). Decided it can sit with more penetrating oil soak in overnight and I'll go get a new set of bolts from the local Citroen agents first thing in the morning (supposing they have got some).

BTW what are the tiddly little 5mm hex head ?screws? protruding from the wheel flange of the discs?

[RichardW]

For an estate p/no 440526. A mere £2.34. EACH hatch ones appeared to be on back order when Simon (Mandrake) tried to get some recently - I got my estate ones next day, but that was a while back! Estate ones you could probably go after market as they are M10 (note they are 10.9 not 8.8 stength) - hatch ones being M9 will be (much) more difficult after market.

The bolts sticking out are 5.5mm and are the disc retaining screws - but they also serve as wheel locating pins otherwise it's almost impossible to fit the rear wheels! Not necessary to remove them unless you are changing the discs, but if the discs will come off it makes removing the corrosion much easier.

If you undo the clamp on the brake pipe at the outboard end of the spiral you will get much more movement if you don't want to / can't remove the calipers. Inspect the pipes before starting if they look suspect, then best to lay in some replacements ready to go beforehand - Plaeides will supply next day.

[Old-Guy]

Richard, many thanks for the advice and the ptno. Naturally our local (rural Gloucestershire) Citroen dealer hasn't got any in stock - probably threw them away when they had a clear-out of 'obsolete' parts a year or so ago!

In the morning, I'll have to ring round an expanding circle till I find some or some 10.9 high tensile equivalents. Probably Bristol, where I was this morning! Hind-sight is such a wonderful gift.

To my surprise, at 17 years-old the brake pipe gland-nuts turn with no problem and under the road dirt the pipe look like new (as far as I wiped them). Similarly, the pad and shield retaining bolts all move without any problems - it's just the caliper bolts that are solid. I've left them all soaking overnight, but I'll have to put the wheels back on first thing to go searching for bolts.

[Mandrake]

For an estate p/no 440526. A mere £2.34. EACH hatch ones appeared to be on back order when Simon (Mandrake) tried to get some recently - I got my estate ones next day, but that was a while back! Estate ones you could probably go after market as they are M10 (note they are 10.9 not 8.8 stength) - hatch ones being M9 will be (much) more difficult after market.

Indeed. Mine were on back order and took 42 days Despite me quoting them the part number given by CitroJim when ordering them, which turned out to be the correct part number on the bags when they arrived, they claimed that there was a mixup with the part number with their system telling them a wrong (obsolete) part number... whether that was true or just an excuse for them taking so long I don't know.

They did eventually arrive though, for £16 for a set of four.