Clutch pedal...meet floor! Gear lever...meet ceiling!

[sparksie]

Hmmm.
Pics didn't work for me first time.
Now I've seen them I'm having a twinge of doubt.
The calipers are definitely nowhere near as off as those... in fact they look straight, but one of the discs is on its way to looking like that, although nowhere near as bad! There's a narrow contact band which seems very slightly raised, if anything, above the rusted majority of the friction surface. In the pics, the rusted area is less extensive than mine, but looks to be severely pitted and wasted away. Mine isn't like that. Not yet, anyway!!!
I suppose I'd better have another look, but not until after the test, because if I do it before I'm guaranteed to break a bolt and miss the test date!
Just getting ready to abandon ship for the night and noticed sleet passing the window! I bet I'm going to be shovelling snow in the morning...

[sparksie]

Well, the snow didn't actually arrive over the weekend, but it never stopped raining, so I did a recovery instead of having fun with Cit.
The snow HAS now arrived, so Cit is looking sorry for herself in Volvo corner. She now has a flat tyre too! I might pop over there with the air line before I pack it in tonight. If the snow really takes hold I might get workshop time, if clients heed the authorities instruction not to drive unnecessarily. Not really seeing that as desirable, though having a fallback use for the bay is better than sitting twiddling thumbs, I suppose!


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[sparksie]

Well!
Cit and I had a whole day together, with no interruptions, thanks to clement weather finally arriving!
We still don't see eye to eye, but...
I lifted the front and dismantled the bottom ball joint and track rod end on the near-side. Then, while waiting for the gear oil to drain, I removed the air filter box, battery and battery tray. I had fun getting the plastic cable carrier out from between the cables and the gearbox.
Just as I was about to dive underneath and try to pull the N/S shaft clear enough to work, while leaving it attached to the hub, what do you suppose I saw hiding between the ridges in the gearbox case?
You guessed it... the famous "impossible to remove" pin that's supposed to lock the release arm to the shaft!
After a bit of a fight, I was able to get the pin back in and verify that the clutch was now releasing properly. Finding it not at all difficult to remove, I decided to pull it out for a proper look. Incredibly, it's parallel sided with no head or tail. It's equally insecure, whichever way you fit it.
I toyed with the idea of borrowing the General Motors method and threading the shaft to take a bolt, but awkward access and dark clouds approaching put paid to that.
So I used a dab of Locktite on the outer end of the pin. Hopefully that won't come back to bite me!
Then I noticed that a small hose clip had been tightened on the end of the clutch cable, to take up slack. This was starting to eat into the white plastic dome washer, so I removed it and went looking for an adjuster. Nothing apparent near the gearbox, nor at the pedal. I followed, as far as possible, the tortuous route of the cable, but still found nothing. Giving up, eventually, I tried the clutch, but it was not releasing fully. I made a plastic spacer for the outer cable, taking 8mm of slack out of the cable. The difference this made was incredible. The pedal almost felt as though it was not connected, simply because now all the pressure was being transmitted through matching curved surfaces, designed to move easily even when under heavy loading.
I carefully put in the same volume of oil that had come out, with a small extra "squeeze" for luck, not being able to decipher the level in the rapidly falling dusk and wanting to get it back together before going home.
More fun getting the wonderful cable carrier back in on top of the 'box, battery tray and filter box back in, battery hooked up and suspension back together, before finally starting it up for the first time in about a fortnight.
Lots of unexpected Citaerobics, with front and rear initially out of phase with each other, but once it had settled down at the correct height it drove perfectly.
Feeling I had achieved enough and not wishing to test my luck, I didn't try to fix the gear lever, which is still inclined to pull out in my hand when engaging 2nd or 4th, though not reverse for some reason. So, if I decide to go in tomorrow, the remaining jobs are to refit the carpet and plastic trim in the drivers footwell and under the dash and find out (and hopefully fix) whatever's wrong with the gear lever.
Though it would be quite fun to drive it in to the bay on Monday morning and force the others out into the yard for a bit, too!
So, a lot of unnecessary work later, she's still alive!
If it wasn't for the stupid, all concealing, plastic cable carrier, I could have correctly diagnosed and fixed this at the side of the road immediately after it happened!
Oh well. Next big hurdle will be the test.
Wonder what joys that'll bring...

[Xantidote]

Never heard of the pin coming out of it's own accord, but more experienced members may disagree. I thought the spring that fits over the pin and shaft would stop the pin coming out? Glad you found out before stripping further

[sparksie]

Spring???
No spring in evidence, nor any obvious place for one.
Thought it seemed spectacularly bad design, right enough.
If the locktite doesn't hold it, I'll have to try and have a look at one in the breaker's.
The arm is slightly different from the Peugeot ones, which I took to be a Citroen "improvement", but perhaps it's bodgery!
At any rate, the gearbox end of the drivetrain is back in working order.
Sadly, the same can't be said for the pulley end.
I decided to put the Cit back in the same parking place as before the weekend, as part of a little prank planned for tomorrow.
When I started it, however, I was greeted by a dry, scraping sound, varying in time with rpm. There's a bearing in trouble somewhere, obviously.
That'll be a belt off job for morning, so!
Insane how quicly things seem to happen on this car. Everything was smooth and quiet when I fired it up last night!
Grrrr

[sparksie]

Hmm
In the unprecedented joy of finding an easy job, with parts readily available (see alternator belt tensioner post), I forgot to try and figure out why the gear lever comes out in my hand.
Doesn't pose a problem for me, once I know about it, but makes it "MY" car for certain. SWMBO definitely wouldn't be up for driving it in this condition.
I won't have time to play with it tomorrow, as we have to go to the city and visit her father in hospital. Wondering whether to risk taking the Cit.
Anybody had this happen, or know why it happens?
Is it something I could possibly fix in the hospital car park, while SWMBO does the visiting thing?

[Northern_Mike]

Used to happen to RUNN ( a 1.9 TD SX with 220k miles) usually changing from 1st to second. I just used to centre the lever and give it a good vertical belt down and it would pop back in. Never bothered me much and it did another 15k before the diff died.

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[sparksie]

Yes, 2nd and 4th, but oddly not reverse!
Mine needs no encouragement to go back in.
SWMBO is used to Mitsubishi reliability, though. Her '99 Spacestar has nothing whatsoever that doesn't do what it should on first asking.
She'd probably have a heart attack if the gear lever popped out!
The only problem it has ever had, in the 9 years and 100k miles we've been servicing it, is the tailgate struts lost gas and the tailgate wouldn't stay open without a prop. Hope I haven't just jinxed it, by saying that...
Now that I'm taking ownership of the Cit, the hunt is on for a dependable dinosaur I can loan out.
I can't keep borrowing sales stock from my neighbours... Even if they don't get fed up of it, the favour they can look for in exchange is getting a bit too big for comfort.
I think I'll hold out for a Carina or Bluebird this time, though. Or maybe a Galant or 626.
Definitely not the Laguna out in the trade-only compound, down the road, nor the C5 estate that seems to be taking root in the front of the same outfit!
I'm all quirky-ed out for the foreseeable future and I need a clunker that'll earn its keep for a while, before being weighed in for nearly what it cost, with minimal maintenance costs in between! I think maybe I was lucky with the 406 and I'm reluctant to risk it again, though it was a great car.

[lexi]

Ireland is a real haven for Jap cars. Wonder if there were favourable import conditions for them.
There is no home built competion in Ireland mind.

All good cars them Japs mentioned..........snoozmobiles of course

I don't think the Cit is for you?

[sparksie]

I don't think the Cit is for you?

Hi Lexi

Strangely, even though my big toe is rubbing the bottom of the steering column when I use the clutch, and I still have to lean forward to reach the 10 and 2 O'Clock position on the steering wheel, it's definitely becoming "my" car. I must have caught a viral strain of masochism!
The simple truth is if any of the other cars I've ever owned had a record like this, it would have been given up on long ago.
Logic has simply gone out the window on this one. The only way it can ever make financial sense is if I keep it until it's the last one still running and has value on that basis.
I don't know what the future holds, for me and my Cit, but I'm pretty confident it doesn't include any more Cits.
I'll probably hold on to this one though! It's kinda getting under my skin
Had another day with nothing falling off today. Almost not bothered by gearlever and manual locking rear doors. Just a question of cultivating appropriate habits!
Oddly satisfying to drive and great fun seeing people's expressions when they see who's driving it.

[BX]

Yes if you get good service from a French or Italian vehicle you are really lucky. If carrying out a repair just bang it together as its not really worth doing in the first place. If something goes wrong with a jap or a German vehicle you are really unlucky. When repairing it use good quality parts and ensure that everything is assembled with care as they are well worth repairing. Don't worry about dual mass flywheels, engines guzzling oil, gearbox bearings, front hub flanges, water logged ecus or bulbs welding themselves into the headlamps. Each of these is a one off problem.
As far as I can see there is very little difference overall. However French and Italian vehicles seem to suffer more from bodgers. Main dealers seem to change weekly and seem to have mechanics who are not really into their product. Japanese cars really took off in the 1970s due to their superior reliability and equipment and good pricing at the time. The k20 corolla and the 140j Datsun only had the escort and the kadette to compete with. Peugeot only had the 504 and the 404 at the time. They were expensive but were beloved of the vets in rural areas. They were very tough vehicles and at that time gave good service for over 150000 miles. Renault also had some fine cars, for example the R16. However like some of the British Leyland cars were front wheel drive and so must be no good either. The R4 van kept the country postal and telephone service going at that time. They were tough little vans that withstood constant trashing from constantly changing drivers. Their little 850cc engines were very reliable.
The modern French cars can be just as good. Like everything else they need proper servicing and also need to have a lot of things left alone. Most xantias covered huge mileage without complaint. Every manufacturer produces some excellent, some average and some poor vehicles. One Asian manufacturer introduced a petrol engine in the late 1990s which was as poor as the previous one was excellent. It didn't damage the reputation of its vehicles though. Likewise from a reliability point of view the 206 seemed to be a major downgrade on the 205. The 406 (still several 97 models knocking about) however seems to have been a major improvement on the 405 which wasn't that bad but its rear axle couldn't stand up to west of Ireland roads. I really don't know much about the 407 but I'm told that its not as good as its predecessor.

[sparksie]

Maybe you're on to something.
The 406 was certainly very good.
Cost peanuts to buy, nothing at all to keep going and would probably still be here had it not had a hydraulic lock, due to a careless driver taking it through a flood fast enough for the bow wave to reach the air intake. It was almost worth putting an engine in it!
BUT, the build quality was never good, the materials were obviously chosen for price rather than durability and it had a squeak from one rear door that we could never eliminate, which made long journeys excruciating, teeth-on-edge experiences.
My Citroen seems to be a bit of an exception in this regard. All doors close with an expensive BMWesque "clunk" and let no noise in, no matter how gently you close them.
She's certainly met some of your bodgers in her time. I'm having lots of fun clearing up after them.
I don't subscribe to the theory that a bad job is worth doing if a good one isn't. It's either worth doing properly, or not worth doing at all.
I take the engine out of R4 and R5 to change the timing chain. Chiseling the bulkhead was never meant to be how it should be done and the car will never be the same after doing it that way!
I still have (I think) the special box spanners we made, to fit the bell housing nuts on a 4L the first time we did one.

[Hell Razor5543]

What is the problem with the rear doors? Is it that they are not responding to the central locking. I had this on Gracie, in that one was deadlocked, and the other would open, but could only be locked by the button. I read up on the problem on the forum, and then went into the door concertina sleeves. I found failed wiring, carefully added in new lengths, and now all doors are working properly. 5 wires per side, and although they are not colour coded (the wires I added were different colours), they are numbered.

[sparksie]

Hi
We discussed this in a separate thread, soon after I joined the forum. It was the first foible I became aware of.
The electrics go "clunk", but don't lock the doors. They do unlock and, having done so prevent the doors from being manually locked.
To lock them, you must first lock the front doors, the rears go "clunk", then you can push the buttons down.
I ripped one door and found the problem is inside the lock, where it can't be accessed without destruction.
My plan is to source solenoids from something else and abandon with the integral ones.
They used to be available for retro-fitting central locking, back in the days when it wasn't standard. Also for aftermarket alarms, you could get a solenoid that locked the driver's door, leaving the C/L to lock the rest.
I did loads of those, back in the '90s, but they're probably no longer available off the shelf. I'll be checking the breaker's, if I ever get time!

[BX]

Some of these locks might just need a good lubricating. I found this out lately on a 307 when I went to fit a replacement lock. I gave the old one a good soaking in oil after removing it. I then refitted it. Two years later it still works and I still have a replacement lock I don't want. I had forgotten the timing chain shortcut onto the 4 5 6 and 16. At least the 12 had the engine the right way round. I also forgot about the almost indestructible Peugeot 305 diesels with both the 1.6 and the xud engines.