Xantia brake pedal

[cc101]

Hi all, I have an early xantia (sinker fdv) when I press the brake pedal it vibrates, you can keep the same pressure applied to the pedal and it seems as if the brakes apply pressure then momentarily they give slightly then apply again if you know what I mean!? Car rises fine from cold, very quickly, fdv doesn't hiss much, accumulator sounds fine! Any ideas guys.

Also the fuel gauge doesn't work, no orange low level light when ignition is turned on like you get with the temperature gauge!?

Thanks in advance.

[cc101]

Sorry meant to add that the car is an early 1994 1.9 TD without abs.

[CitroJim]

Have you firstly given the brakes a good bleed and secondly, is the accumulator good?

A good sinker should rise very quickly...

[citroenxm]

The fuel gauge orange light doesn't show with ignition on .. it only does come on when your fuel is low.. about a gallon left...

[Mandrake]

Have you firstly given the brakes a good bleed

I second this motion

I bet the rear brake line are full of air. Not much else that can cause those symptoms really...

[cc101]

Thanks all, I'll give them a bleed this weekend and let you know how I get on.

Could the fuel gauge issue be the sender in the tank? Stripped the instrument panel out yesterday, couldn't find any thing obvious like a burned circuit board.

Thanks for the quick replys, great forum.

Chris.

[citroenxm]

No it won't be the sender.. in the instrument cluster behind the speed there's a small added circuit board that controls the fuel gauge.. its usually this little board that goes and causes the gauge to stop but not many know about it and either change the sender or the gauge itsself ...

[cc101]

Thanks, do you think the easiest thing to do would be to change out the whole instrument cluster for one down at the scrappy?

Thanks again.

[CitroJim]

Be a bit careful with sinker instrument clusters. Some had mechanical speedos in them whilst most had electronic ones..

I believe the fault you speak of Paul, involving the regulator board is failure of the 7805 regulator chip. An electronics whizz should be able to fix it...

[cc101]

When I had the instrument panel out yesterday it is indeed a mechanical Speedo, off to all the scrappys in Cardiff this morning to try and find one!

Cheers

[citroenxm]

I have both sorts available if you cant get a cable one from scrap yard which i think could be highly unlikely...

[Mandrake]

Be a bit careful with sinker instrument clusters. Some had mechanical speedos in them whilst most had electronic ones..

Wasn't there just a hard cut-off from mechanical speedo to electronic ones around 1995 ? (Therefore no sinkers with electronic speedos ?)

Out of our Xantia's the 1993 sinker and the 1994 non-sinker both had mechanical speedos but my 1997 had an electronic one.

I've got a feeling the change occurred around the time when the chevrons went from the bonnet to the grill.

[citroenxm]

Yes mandrake your correct with that.. i have got a xantia with chevron On the bonnet but IS an anti sinker on an L plate and its cable.. the change to electronic happened on M reg when the chevron moved to the grill and air bags were fitted to the steering wheel..

[CitroJim]

Ahh, that's interesting I was always under a misconception that it was only the diesel sinkers that had a mechanical speedo. For some odd reason I believed all petrol ones always had electronic...

[Mandrake]

Nope, the petrol 1994 with anti-sink and chevrons on the bonnet my Dad has definitely has a mechanical speedo. How do I know ? Because it has a kink in the cable that causes the needle to pulse upwards a bit each revolution

I'm sure I also read in the service manuals that I used to have a copy of that the change occurred in the '95 model year when the chevrons moved...but I can't be certain now.