Xantia CT 1996 Petrol Turbo, 130,000Km
Problem started with the pedal having a shorter and shorter stroke. Typical of a hydraulic clutch with air in the system, but I thought it had a cable clutch, and immediately ordered one of those plastic pivots. The one that is almost impossible to fit.
Anyway I found that looking under the dash, there was no cable. You would think I would do that first!
Rang my friendly spare parts dealer, Auto France in Sydney, (shameless plug), and he "Ah yes, that’s right the CT has a hydraulic clutch. Sealed system. You have to buy the whole thing and it's a bitch to fit. I think its about $1000, or some thing like that.”
Thinks I “Sealed system? That’s bull. Citroen has gone to the dogs. Not only can’t you get any technical info, but they put stuff like this in the car these days. It’s a hydraulic clutch for crying out load, how complicated can it be. Just about every second car has one.”
So I resolved to fix it. Nothing to lose. Its that or fork out $1000.
I topped up the fluid. Uses brake fluid, NOT LHM.
Step one find the master and slave cylinders, and the reservoir.
Master cylinder is almost impossible to see. All I could find was where the pipe goes into it. How you get this out, I don’t know. It helps to pull the slave out first, because then you can look for the way the pipe goes into that, to recognise the master. Look behind the motor. You may need to move some hoses.
Reservoir is almost impossible to find. I actually found this when I over flowed the reservoir but pushing fluid from the slave cylinder end. The top popped off. It is neer the master cylinder.
Slave is on the bell housing under the air filter. I found it easiest to remove the Battery and battery tray, and then the air intake tube and filter holder. Then undo three bolts that hold a plastic holder that simply hold the wires and tubes in place.
The slave cylinder is now accessible. It is a bayonet fit into the bell housing so you just need to push in and turn. Bit like a radiator cap
Once the slave is out drill, out the pin that holds the pipe in place. This can be replaced with a M3 30mm nut and bolt, or some other 3mm pin.
Important!!. There is a quad ring (a type of O-ring) that will probably have stayed in the end of the slave. Carefully remove this, and keep it safe. If you try to fit the tube back into the slave without removing it and fitting to the tube you will most likely cut the Quad ring. I did! They are almost impossible to find. I ended up having to work out an alternative which, took some trial and error and extended the repair from an afternoon to a week.
I then took a syringe and filled the slave to over flowing and pushed fluid back up the pipe. I then used the syringe to pull the fluid back through. I repeated this several times keeping an eye on the level in the reservoir until I was sure the air was out of the system.
Connected the slave and pipe together using a wet connection, ie the fluid was dribbling out the end as I put it together.
I think that all CT owners should see if they can check the level of fluid in the reservoir if they can find it.
Sealed system!! Not by my reckoning. If I have to top up too often I’ll tackle, the seals. They are bound to be something off the shelf, otherwise I’ll just check the level every service.
Xantia CT Clutch
Moderator: RichardW
