2012 Citroen C8 2.0 Hdi FAP 165 Clutch ???

[MattBLancs]

Well that's odd. I'd say to crack like that it's fatigue - the offset nature of the ball joint relative to the pedal flexing that section (minutely) with every operation. Ultimately a crack has propagated across the bracket untill there was insufficient steel left to resist the forces (i.e. the bit left then bent)

I'd have said fatigue failure was normally unusual, so perhaps a contributing factor - e.g. poor machining of you particular pedal - lead to a stress propagation point and started the crack.

Not something I would have thought to check for, and clearly not visible before disassembly on any of the photos loaded previously.

Matt

[parnell]

We replaced the master and slave clutch cylinder while we were at it. Obviously with no pedal we can't yet bleed it - and have ordered the part for the car model.
But we are mystified how the spring actually returns the clutch pedal to the starting position - the spring pushes the two pivots apart - not pulls them together.
It's quite different to the configuration that Rp0thejester has - with his the master cylinder is on the same side as the spring - with ours the master is on the opposite side (further away from the brake) and his bracket looks further back towards the engine and makes sense - but we'll see in a few days when the new pedal gets here. Here's hoping...
Again thanks to everyone for the help.

[MattBLancs]

If it's the same as mine (C5 X7) then it goes "over top dead centre" and so pushes up only at the very top of its travel (ie when the pedal is nearly at the top it pulls it up) but for most of its movement it it helping push it down. With my failure the pedal would shoot down to the floor once about quarter of the way into its travel (and same even with the hydraulics disconnected - movement all coming from this spring)

Matt

[parnell]

If it's the same as mine (C5 X7) then it goes "over top dead centre" and so pushes up only at the very top of its travel (ie when the pedal is nearly at the top it pulls it up) but for most of its movement it it helping push it down. With my failure the pedal would shoot down to the floor once about quarter of the way into its travel (and same even with the hydraulics disconnected - movement all coming from this spring)

Matt

Thanks Matt - that makes a lot of sense - we have replaced the master and slave cylinder (Bosch quality seems so much better than the one we took out) now so when we have the new pedal installed and bled the system we will be truly be out of options. Will keep everyone informed about the now clutch saga. thanks

[Rp0thejester]

Well let's hope that's the issue sorted and cheaper than a new DMF and clutch, fingers crossed

[GiveMeABreak]

The Clutch Pedal is still available:

(1) Part: 1440187880, £83.29 inc. VAT still available from Citroen.

[parnell]

Thanks Marc, the part has already arrived!

[Rp0thejester]

So.... How's the clutch looking now, don't leave me hanging!!

[parnell]

Well folks... we finally got it done - put the new pedal in and bled the system until it couldn't be bled anymore and its a totally different feel to the clutch now with the spring operating as it should - as MattBLancs wrote above the spring actually pulls the pedal UP for a very short portion of its travel - otherwise it pushes the pedal DOWN. So now the clutch pedal has the feel of constant resistance throughout its entire range of motion - which I suppose some people might see as a positive.
However bottom line is that gear change is now super smooth and we hope and believe that the job is done - HUGE THANKYOU to the forum members who helped out!

[Rp0thejester]

[parnell]

One final question if I may - we noticed a tiny bit of brake fluid at the brake master cylinder post bleed and we estimate that we bled about 0.35L from the 0.66L reservoir capacity. We have decided to let a garage do a complete brake bleed in Germany - but one thing - the outflow from the reservoir to the clutch system is above that for the brake system. Are there any tips or advice I should give to the garage on bleeding to prevent any air getting into the clutch system other than "be careful of this" ?? Thanks all once again.

[MattBLancs]

I use a cheap "Gunson Easy Bleed" pressure bleeding kit - pushes fresh fluid in so (assuming you don't let its own 0.5 litre reservoir run dry) it won't drain the system whilst bleeding.

I'd have thought most garages used (a more expensive Snap On or whatever) equivalent bit of kit.

Matt

[parnell]

I use a cheap "Gunson Easy Bleed" pressure bleeding kit - pushes fresh fluid in so (assuming you don't let its own 0.5 litre reservoir run dry) it won't drain the system whilst bleeding.

I'd have thought most garages used (a more expensive Snap On or whatever) equivalent bit of kit.

Matt

Just bought a Gunson Easy Bleed on your recommendation - thank you!

[MattBLancs]

It's a good gismo, hope it works well for you (has done for me)

Don't be tempted to have the tyre pressure too high - I've tried mine higher than the one bar recommended and just seems too encourage leakage (easy bleed bottle cap, special brake reservoir cap, etc, air leaking out all over)

Also recommend a bike tyre , wheelbarrow wheel or similar - I've a cast-off kids scooter wheel and put it on top of the engine bay close at hand.

Matt

[parnell]

It's a good gismo, hope it works well for you (has done for me)

Don't be tempted to have the tyre pressure too high - I've tried mine higher than the one bar recommended and just seems too encourage leakage (easy bleed bottle cap, special brake reservoir cap, etc, air leaking out all over)

Also recommend a bike tyre , wheelbarrow wheel or similar - I've a cast-off kids scooter wheel and put it on top of the engine bay close at hand.

Matt

That's a great shout - I have an old motorbike wheel with tyre I have no earthly use for ....until now. 1 bar is 14.5 psi - according to the manual https://mossmotors.com/media/instructions/386-868.pdf (page 4 line 6) it says 20 psi max though.