Xantia V6 front discs/pads advice needed

[Mandrake]

Hi All,

I've done very little mileage on the Xantia in the last year (maybe 2k at most) and MOT time is coming, due mid July. Last time I was warned that the front pads were down to minimum thickness, so leaving it rather late I had a chance to look at them today and didn't like what I found.

The pads are indeed down to about 3mm of lining left, and are totally wedged in the pad carrier - I was unable to remove them to try to free them up without actually damaging and de-laminating what was left of the pad material, so I decided not to try any further. So it absolutely definitely needs new pads and the old pads will need to be butchered to get them out.

Before starting I thought I might get away with keeping the same discs but after having a look today I think they're well past saving. They have sufficient thickness left but they're literally exploding with rust with a bit split "seam" around large parts of the circumference.

Also they have had a problem with vibration when braking hard from high speed for a couple of years, which gets worse as the discs heat up - I knew the discs were probably to blame but had been putting off replacing them. On the inner surface of the disc towards the middle of the disc there is a very old "rippling/bubbling" effect to the surface where it is not flat but kind of lumpy, a bit like bubbles in wallpaper - I can only assume that there is so much rust inside the disc that it is causing bubbling of the surface!

Anyway, I'm looking for advice on what to get because I've seen a few posts on her saying 3rd party discs/pads for the Xantia V6 leave something to be desired, so what should I get ?

A quick look on Mr Auto shows a wide variety of brands and prices available:

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/brake-d ... 00007.html

I assume that the prices quoted are for ONE brake disc, and they are:

Bolk - £20.40 ea
Eurobrake - £31.95 ea
Febi Bilstein - £28.95 ea
Ferodo - £69.45 ea
ATE - £29.45 ea
Bosch - £19.10 ea
TRW - £32.95 ea
Brembo - £33.95 ea
Valeo - £25.40 ea
Textar - £26.45 ea

Wow, too many to choose from, and some I've never even heard of! And I'm surprised the Bosch was the cheapest of the lot - are they not considered a good brand anymore ?

Anyone have any personal experience of any of these on their Xantia V6 ? I have to admit, I'm very cost conscious, the Xantia is now effectively my second car with the Ion the daily driver, and it does hardly any mileage, so I can't really justify the most expensive ones like the Ferodo, but on the the other hand I don't want junk that will warp easily or corrode away rapidly - I'm looking for a good middle ground with reasonable performance and good value for money to keep the old girl on the road on a tight budget.

As it does such a low mileage wear rate is not really a consideration, how prone the discs are to corrode is more of an issue as the car sits around a lot.

Similar situation with brake pads with many to choose from, and these prices are for a "set" which I presume means 4 pads not 2 ??

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/brake-p ... 00005.html

Valeo - £31
Ferodo - £38.60
ATE - £32.60
TRW - £31.70
Bosch - £33.30
Textar - £32.60
Febi Bilstein - £27.30

So what do people think ? Is it a good idea to use the same brand pads and discs to ensure that they mate well or will any pad go with any disc without issue, especially when they're both starting off brand new ?

I'm hoping to get something ordered this weekend to get the parts in time to fit them next weekend.

[Mandrake]

Bugger. It's not my day today.

While stripping the rear brakes to give them a clean and check, (as they also haven't been working well recently) I managed to break the main pin that goes through the eyes in the pads. Must have been pretty rotten as I was using the tiniest spanner and ratchet in my toolbox - both are only about 4" long so it's not like I was applying a lot of force!

Service box shows the bolt, washer and nut with captive washer as 3 separate part numbers, if I order one for both sides of the car (as I'm now worried about that breaking too) it's £7.66, which is not the end of the world, but I have a strong suspicion that there will be a considerably higher minimum order than two of each bit!

I don't suppose anyone has a couple of these lying around ? Has anyone else ever broken one ? First time it's happened to me after years of working on many different Xantia's, so it never even crossed my mind that it might happen! I was planning to overhaul the rear brakes today since I can't do any more on the front but that is now stopped dead until I can get replacement bolt(s).

[xantia_v6]

Bosch disks and pads are probably OE for the front, I like Mintex, but they are not so easy to find now. Stay away from Brembo or anything promising performance, as they are too hard.

[Gibbo2286]

I would always go for Ferodo if they were available, Mintex can be a bit hit and miss with the material quality sometimes too hard and other times overheat and smoke if driven fairly hard.


Ferodo have been in the game for a very long time and have a fine R&D record.

[GiveMeABreak]

Those pad retaining pins are only £1.49 inclusive each and nothing to say they are not available individually, which usually is for trim clips and plastics that sometimes come in a pack.

[Mandrake]

£1.49 ? Did you include the washer and nut with captive washer in your price ? The reason it broke in the first place is because the nut was badly rusted.

BTW if Bosch are the OEM type I’m inclined to go for Bosch for pads and discs when the discs are discounted so much at the moment...

[Gibbo2286]

Simon, that bolt doesn't do a lot other than hold the anti rattle springs in place you could bodge it with a bit from a wire coat hanger until the new bolts arrive.

My experience of the main dealer this week was good, I ordered the silly little level plug for the AM6 gearbox, took a week to arrive but when I went to collect it the guy said, "You can have that free Eric, it isn't worth writing an invoice for."

[GiveMeABreak]

Just the pin, but here are all three with part numbers and prices (Mark I 3.0 V6)

[myglaren]

They are allegedly available from Halfords - who order them in from ECP.
Yes, I have had the same experience

[Mandrake]

They are allegedly available from Halfords - who order them in from ECP.
Yes, I have had the same experience

You sir are a champ!

I assumed it would be dealer only but you spurred me on to search ECP and while it was difficult to find I did find a kit which includes the springs, nuts and bolts and even the stone shield:

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Citr ... 56a&000416

As I'm going to order front discs/pads from Mr Auto I checked and sure enough they also have a rear brake accessories kit:

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/accesso ... BA460.html

So £6.80 gets you a full kit for both sides, and I'll just order this together with the discs and pads. Problem solved!

[Mandrake]

Thanks everyone.

I decided to get the Bosch discs and Pads, and the Ferodo rear brake caliper accessory kit for the pad locating pins all together from Mr Auto. Total cost all up including free shipping £78.30. Not too bad. Should have them by Thursday.

[RichardW]

Let's hope the front caliper bolts on the NS are not as tight as the ones on the OS were

The discs looked pretty tired when we had the hub off last year, I am not surprised they need replacing now.

[Mandrake]

Let's hope the front caliper bolts on the NS are not as tight as the ones on the OS were

The discs looked pretty tired when we had the hub off last year, I am not surprised they need replacing now.

Bugger. I didn't even think about the caliper mounting bolts! I'm not sure if I'll be able to get those off with my tools if they're really stuck.

That reminds me, do you still have my Clark impact driver or do I have that buried in my garage somewhere ? Although if I remember right it's too big to fit in the wheel arch to attack those bolts even with the steering turned...

[Mandrake]

A couple of other thoughts - unlike the Ion discs that I replaced recently that had no locating/retaining screws, the Xantia disc has two torx locating screws.

Are they likely to break or are they usually pretty easy to remove ? Are they positioned such that there is only one orientation that the disc can be fitted, or two ?

If more than one orientation is possible what do those of you without dial gauges do to check which orientation gives the least runout, or is that not a worry on modern discs ?

[Hell Razor5543]

When I replaced the front disks on my first Xantia I found the locator bolts came out easily, but the calliper bolts were somewhat more stubborn. The locator bolts are 180 degrees apart, and the disks can go in either way around.