Useless Xantia clutch

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Chris Peddie
Posts: 50
Joined: 29 Apr 2001, 17:04
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Useless Xantia clutch

Post by Chris Peddie »

Hi all,
The much praised(!) plastic fastener for the clutch cable snapped today whilst changing gear on the motorway. Is there any easy way to replace this ridiculous piece of rubbish without dismantling the car or will I have to pay to have it towed to a garage and get them to do it? (was towed home by the AA, but its stuck there now unless I can fix it!!)
Any advice greatly appreciated, I'm sure this abominable defect will have caused much frustration to many others.
Cheers, Chris
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
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x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

Hello Chris
Sorry to hear you have got this trouble, you aren't alone on this one believe me,
Citroen want a good %$"@?*~ for using total and utter garbage like this, my sod snapped just before last christmas, It was a 3 hour job for me but the local Citroen dealer wanted 5 hours labour to replace it, bleedin thieves. A steering column out job (observe airbag precaution's), mark the wheel position on the shaft and also the lower shaft joint, slacken but don't remove the steering wheel nut, strike the wheel firmly with both your palms at centre height to break the tapers, Warning if you remove the s/wheel nut the wheel will fly off and smash the rotary connector, slacken the nut's holding brake valve to bulkhead NEARLY all the way back (but be sure to leave enough thread's engaged or the velve might be pushed into the engine compartment resulting in possible brake pipe damage), and you can just get the brake pedal to go down far enough to withdraw the pivot bolt from the clutch pedal, get an apropriate spacer or washer's and on re-assembly put the pivot bolt back in the other way round, you need a spacer or the protruding bolt will foul the brake pedal, the reason for this is incase the scabby little plastic git snap's again you wont have the bother with the brake pedal, I have a pair of long nosed pliers nearly a foot long, these were used to grab the clutch cable and prevent it sliding back while the clutch pedal was raised, this engages the end of the cable with the spring clip inside the the scabby plastic bit, If you do it yourself have a good long pair of long nose pliers handy, my side ached for a good week from groveling over the sill, but I would rather that than pay extortionate rates to have the official clown's do it for me, hope you get back on the road soon.
Regards Dave
p.s was your clutch heavy (worn cable) if so this places heaps of extra pain on that scabby little plastic bit, if I can assist further just get typing :o)
Steve Harvey
Posts: 3
Joined: 31 Jan 2001, 13:22
Location: United Kingdom
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Post by Steve Harvey »

Hi Dave,
The scabby clowns as you call them have to do this and worse day in and day out. I hope your back feels better but spare a thought for those that have a bad back and have to do it again!
Steve Harvey
Dave Burns
Posts: 1915
Joined: 14 May 2001, 05:30
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 2

Post by Dave Burns »

Hello Steve
My back is better now thank's, oficial clown's was how I refered to a local Citroen dealership, not scabby clown's, and not mechanic's in general, when I was looking for my present car I saw one at this dealership that I fancied, after being stood for ages the battery had gone flat so out comes coco with a battery to start it, it start's first time and coco floors it for about a good minute, would you rev the nackers off a cold engine that had been stood for a long time, I suspect not, and nor would I so I think clown is a very apt description in this case, didn't bother with the car after that.
Regards Dave
Steve Harvey
Posts: 3
Joined: 31 Jan 2001, 13:22
Location: United Kingdom
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Post by Steve Harvey »

Hi Dave,
My apologies I was quickley typing with 2 people talking to me. My point was that cars are very complex and hard work and while the official motor trade might describe the fast-fit centres as clowns good mechanics should be appreciated not continualy denigrated. Regards Steve
davemack
Posts: 1
Joined: 11 Jul 2001, 04:37
Location: United Kingdom
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Post by davemack »

Before you pull everything apart, this job CAN be done without removing the steering wheel etc.
Whilst hanging upside down in the footwell, remove the bolt that holds the clutch pedal in place and take out the pedal. This will allow you to fir the new clip to the pedal and if enough cable is fed through you can just about reach it to clip it onto the pedal. Obviously you then put the pedal back and adjust the cable etc. It's still a swine of a job, and you need to have long thin fingers, but having done it myself last week I can confirm it is definately possible. Mind you don't disturb the brake pedal whilst fiddling around down there!
Good luck,
Dave<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Hi all,
The much praised(!) plastic fastener for the clutch cable snapped today whilst changing gear on the motorway. Is there any easy way to replace this ridiculous piece of rubbish without dismantling the car or will I have to pay to have it towed to a garage and get them to do it? (was towed home by the AA, but its stuck there now unless I can fix it!!)
Any advice greatly appreciated, I'm sure this abominable defect will have caused much frustration to many others.
Cheers, Chris

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Chris Peddie
Posts: 50
Joined: 29 Apr 2001, 17:04
Location:
My Cars:

Post by Chris Peddie »

Hi all,
Have in the end had the clutch, cable and clip all replaced (as the clutch was on its way out at 113k and the cable was stiff). Hopefully it'll go for another 100k+ without snapping again now, and its lovely and smooth in comparison to before! Thanks for the advice :o)
Cheers, Chris
DaveK
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Aug 2001, 17:55
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by DaveK »

My Xantia tdi has done 122000 miles on original clutch (and towing caravan over continent several times). How much should I pay for replacement clutch assembly,cable and all? (Not a main dealer)
DaveK
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