Advice when working on Xantia rear brakes?

[ashy90]

Never rreally worked on these cars before now and I'm learning about them.

Any advice or things I need to know when changing pads?

I know the rear calipers are weird and are in two parts, which when unbolted come apart and cause fluid loss! Should the brakes be bled after? Should the small rubber seal be replaced?

Does the piston just push back in?

[RichardW]

Pistons just push back, but you need to push them both, or one goes in and the other pops out! No need to remove the retaining bolts, just the long thin pad bolt on the yop. However, usual problem is corrosion of the caliper causing it to sit at an angle. If this is the case you will need to remove the caliper bolts and caliper, and then scrape the corrosion off. Go very steady with the bolts as they are M9 on a hatch and no longer available. If you refit the pad bolt it will hold the caliper together, and it's just possible to do the clean without disconnecting the pipe. Bleeding is easy if necessary, run engine, wedge pedal down, open bleed screw, let the car do the work

[Harlequin]

The biggest issue is that Citroen, in their infinite wisdom have loctite the entire bolt , which makes removal a huge pain.

[RichardW]

Only on the C5, no such problems on Xantia!

[Stewart(oily)]

Top tip ! when refitting the rear calipers make a shim out of visqueen or old plastic milk carton and fit it between the caliper and arm, keeps the dissimilar metals apart.

[ashy90]

I've already had the bolts out no problem.

I've got a brake squeel so took it apart to investigate, the two halves of caliper separated and I lost some fluid. I did bleed that caliper after the fluid loss. However I was wondering if as the little seal between the two halves had been disturbed, if it needs replacing?

[Hell Razor5543]

One thing I definitely would do is to see if there is any weird corrosion on the face of the calliper and the trailing are (where they meet). It is an electrolytic thing, and it will be hard but brittle. When I had it (on both of my Xantias) I used a hammer and sharp chisel to crack the corrosion, and then (tapping lightly at an angle) knock it off the trailing arm.

On my previous C5, when the rear brake callipers needed to be replaced, I had gasket paper placed between the calliper and arm, to try and prevent corrosion build up. Unfortunately she was written off before we could find out if it worked.