Hdi clutch

[ken newbold]

My bro in law broke his XM a while ago and bought a Xantia Hdi estate.

Today the clutch went bang and pedal went to the floor. The RAC man said he thought it was a hydraulic clutch and messed around in the footwell. The pedal is now sat at normal height again but is VERY stiff.

Any ideas would be most welcome, as would some sunshine.

[Citroenmad]

Does the clutch still work?

Luckily the HDi Xantias dont have a DMF. Either something has gone wrong with the clutch assembly or the cable. Though as the pedal is now at the correct height its probably the clutch.

How was the clutch before it went bang?

[CitroJim]

Hi Ken,

depends on the HDi. The 90 HDi has a cable operated clutch and BE3 gearbox whereas the 110 HDi has a hydraulic clutch on the ML5.

If the hydraulic/ML5 goes bang this is because the release bearing has pulled out of the centre of the diaphragm spring. This often blows the pushrod/piston out of the slave cylinder and is not an easy job at all to recover.

The fact the RAC man has the pedal back up suggests a cable.

If hydraulic and the slave is the worse for wear after pulling off the 'box to find the cause, see this excellent forum post by HDI Dave, i3 and I on how to recover the situation..

[ken newbold]

As far as I know it is the 110 version. sounds like a bleedin nightmare

[CitroJim]

sounds like a bleedin nightmare

The operative word very much being bleedin

[HDI Dave]

The fact the RAC man has the pedal back up suggests a cable.

Ditto...if a hydraulic clutch goes bang/lets go/explodes, the pushrod will be ejected,leading to loss of fluid/ptressure, and pedal on the floor,NO recovery..broke - unless there's a kink in the pipe? and the rac bloke's bodged a fix?

A cable snag /plastic pedal thing etc seems more likely.

What model is it exactly?

[ken newbold]

It's an X reg 2.0Hdi 110.

I've had a quick look under the bonnet today and it does look like it's hydraulic. No sign of a cable

Am I right in thinking the cylinder is actually mounted somewhere inside the bell housing? and as such I won't know how bad the damage is until I get the gearbox out.

[HDI Dave]

Am I right in thinking the cylinder is actually mounted somewhere inside the bell housing?

No mate,the clutch slave cylinder is bolted onto the outside of the bellhousing.

Have you not read read Jims link?

I know it's a 10 page thread etc...but it really does explain it all... in detail.

[ken newbold]

Many thanks for the reply, I read into about page 4 and started to get worried

Yesterday I had a look at a Picasso with the same engine and noticed the clutch cylinder on the front of the bellhousing but couldn't see it on the Xantia, maybe all will be revealed when I start stripping all the junk out of the way.

[RichardW]

Picasso uses a development of the BE3 box with the slave on the front of the bellhousing. Slave on the ML5 box used in the Xantia is on the top, under the air filter. Canging a clutch on one of these is apparently not fun - even without the added buggeration of the slave popping out....

[CitroJim]

Ken.

Here is the cylinder:



You need to take the airbox off and sight directly down from the edge of the fusebox. The bright green "spoldge" at the bottom centre of the picture is a relay in the fusebox.

[ken newbold]

Thanks Jim

That picture has just sent a nasty shiver down my spine memories of the last time I was looking down on the gearbox of one of these.

[aneesh84]

I also have similar problem. Did you find what was the reason for the clutch pedal getting stiff?

[Wiltrac]

My clutch pedal went flat to the floor following a clutch pipe fluid leak on my C4 HDI, there was no fluid in the system as a result - not sure if it's the same clutch system though..

[citroenxm]

I've had three hdi 110 clutch pedals drop by pulling release bearings out.. and all my slave cylinders survived without loosing any fluid at all.. xantia slave cylinder arent bolted but twist fitted to the gearbox... the other issue is space.. it is a stuggle as the ml box is a bit bigger then a be3 making a clutch in situ swap very challenging .. I have managed it by moving the box over but it was increadably tight.