Xantia brake pedal

willowthehat · Post by **willowthehat** » 18 Nov 2010, 15:28

Ever since I bought my Xantia 6 months ago the brake pedal has been slightly lower than the accelerator pedal. The brakes have been working fine for the last 15,000 miles. Is this normal or do I have a problem?

swiss_steve · Post by **swiss_steve** » 18 Nov 2010, 15:33

Quite normal - from my personal experience....

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 18 Nov 2010, 16:12

I second that. On a Citroen where the brake pedal has very little travel, it's a simple safety measure that makes it much harder to catch the welt of a shoe under the edge of the brake pedal with potentially fatal results!

willowthehat · Post by **willowthehat** » 18 Nov 2010, 17:38

Yey its not broken then.

flying clutchman · Post by **flying clutchman** » 18 Nov 2010, 23:24

The brake pedal is lower than on most cars because citroens that use the hydraulic suspension and braking system (not many these days!) don't have a conventional brake master cylinder. They have a break actuator which is just a valve that allows the hyraulic pressure from the pump to enter the braking cicuit. Hence shorter travel. The very first citroens using the hyraulic suspension in the late fifties did'nt have a brake pedal at all, just a large button on the floor that you pressed with your foot! Never actually seen one, I'm not quite that old yet (nearly)

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 19 Nov 2010, 08:12

yes the button on the floor on early D's was similar to the old FIX OR REPAIR DAILY foot operated screen wash bulb,

regards malcolm

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 19 Nov 2010, 12:43

citronut wrote:yes the button on the floor on early D's was similar to the old FIX OR REPAIR DAILY foot operated screen wash bulb,

regards malcolm

So those that went to D's from Fords had a bit of a surprise when they went to clear the windscreen...

flying clutchman · Post by **flying clutchman** » 19 Nov 2010, 17:22

I don't think many people made the move from a DS to a ford.

spider · Post by **spider** » 19 Nov 2010, 17:27

Was it the DS that had a mushroom 'button' on the floor instead of a conventional pedal ?

Come to think of it the NSU RO80 had a big 'button' on the floor too, from what I can remember.

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 19 Nov 2010, 17:28

red_dwarfers wrote:
So those that went to D's from Fords had a bit of a surprise when they went to clear the windscreen...

flying clutchman wrote:I don't think many people made the move from a DS to a ford.

I agree

rmunns · Post by **rmunns** » 27 Nov 2010, 14:57

spider:

no button on Ro80 floor. Unless you dropped it!

HDI Dave · Post by **HDI Dave** » 27 Nov 2010, 21:11

OP, yes, I concur with above posts, as I noticed it myself, on my Xant, the pedal is indeed lower

Taking it slightly more off topic:

citronut wrote:yes the button on the floor on early D's was similar to the old FIX OR REPAIR DAILY foot operated screen wash bulb,

regards malcolm

Didn't the early Mini's, (the ones with the hinges on the outside of the door/A panel ), have a button on the floor? I had one and I'm sure it did..could have been the starter though?? Years ago it was.Anyone re enlighten me?

Post by **CitroJim** » 27 Nov 2010, 21:16

Yep, there was a push starter button on very early Minis Dave. Pre-'63 I believe. That was down by the handbrake and was there because it was cheaper than a solenoid and conveniently by the cable-run from the battery in the boot...

They also had a footswitch to the left of the clutch acting as the dipswitch...

Bloody good idea. My first Mini, a '64 model had the luxury of key start but retain the foot dipswitch. A good, logical place for it...

I've heard of V6 owners wiring in a footswitch to activate sport mode on the gearbox