Xantia Pad Change

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Guru Meditation
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Xantia Pad Change

Post by Guru Meditation »

Hi all,
Just wanted to get some quick tips if there is anything special to look out for when changing front brake pads on a Xantia-I am changing my mates pads for him on saturday. I have never worked on a Xantia before-the car is a t reg 1.9td hatchback, no abs.
On my ZX I just unbolt the caliper, lift it off and swap the pads, what's the Xantia like in comparison? Also do I have to do anything with regards to the handbrake mechanism on the Xantia?
I've done a search and can't find much and I don't have a work shop manual for it so any advice would be appreciated.
Guru Meditation.
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Post by RichardW »

It's pretty straight forward.
Knock the pin out and swivel the pad carrier upwards (persuasion probably required from hammer!). Remove old pads, then SCREW in the piston - use a bar of some sort in the slots in the face - do not try and push it in as you can't / will break the handbrake mechanism! They need a lot of turns as the thread is very fine. Once you get it nearly there, make sure that when you reassemble the tit on the back of the pads fits into one of the slots in the piston face, otherwise the handbrake might not adjust properly. Couple of heavy presses on the foot pedal when all back together will bring the handbrake into correct adjustment.
You can do it I think without removing the handbrake cable, but I was changing the discs also, so had to remove the cable to get the carrier off the pivot. If you have to remove the cables, just push the operating lever back until you can force the cable nipple out, then pull the adjuster out of the caliper - it will come eventually!
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Post by Kowalski »

Xantia front calipers slide on two pins, the borrom one has to be knocked out first with a hammer / pin punch (it should be secured by a spring clip which should be removed first). Once you've got the bottom pin out, the whole caliper will then swivel up on the remaining pin at least 90 degrees(be careful to avoid damaging the handbrake cables) and the pads can be removed.
"Reassembly is the reverse of the above steps."
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Post by mbunting »

Remember to pump the brakes BEFORE letting the car off the stands. I had a nice experience once:
I'd changed the pads with the handbrake down.
Pulled the handbrake on again, and lowered the car.
The car then rolled down the drive towards the neighbours hedge and garden !
Step two should have been to pump the brakes, as this pushes the calipers back together again !
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Post by Guru Meditation »

Excellent, thank you for the advice.
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Post by blueboy2001 »

A few pounds invested in the correct piston retraction tool is money well spent on a Xantia. Mine cost a fiver from a motor factors, but I had the pistons screwed back in to the caliper in about 10 seconds using the tool, using a bit of bar takes a good while longer.
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Post by Guru Meditation »

Got the pads done on sunday-thanks for the advice, worked a treat. Although those pins were a btich to get moving. Blueboy I reckon a piston retraction tool WOULD be money well spent as it took 5-10min per side to wind the pistons in manually, and I scraped my knuckles.
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Post by mbunting »

It can take a while to work out which side of the cube tool to use, so it would be worth putting a bit of tippex around the socket that the wrench goes in !
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