Series 1 Xantia - TRACTION CONTROL! Who knew? PLUS Other things...

[Rhothgar]

I took Die Fliegender Zitrone for its MOT two days ago.

Only did 29 miles since the last one so started it up on Sunday. All good apart from the battery.

Came to drive to MOT on Monday and the rev counter had stopped working, an ABS light (or so I thought) on the dash was on and it had lost a bit of fluid so I pulled over banged her on high and topped the LHM up.

Drove up to MOT station in a bouncing fashion characteristic of depleted spheres and it promptly failed on a damaged CV boot (which actually turned out not to be damaged but my mate just got the job done without going through the rigamarole of thoroughly checking it - didn't charge me labour so all good on that front). The front indicator needed clicking back into place. Not bad for a 31 year old car.

So I say to the MOT guy who was time served Citroen, "I think it's a fail as the ABS light is on!". He looked at it and he replied, "You're fine! That's the TRACTION CONTROL light!".

"TRACTION CONTROL on a 1.9TD Xantia? You're having a laugh" I said.

So apparently they have a primitive form of traction control which the ABS unit senses. It obviously knows one wheel is turning faster than it should be and kills the engine. I am guessing it does this by switching the fuel solenoid off momentarily.

I still cannot believe it and need to check my electrical manuals to confirm.

The wire on the offside front brake pads was bare but not broken and he wondered if that would also cause that light to come on.

AND SO ON THE SUSPENSION!

I checked the spheres yesterday and the pressures all seemed fine (actually I added a bit to the rears and ended up at 35 bar). The fronts were at 60 bar.

So the question is how can the suspension feel almost rock solid at the rear if the spheres are well pressurised?

Thanks in advance.

[wurlycorner]

The Xantia doesn't have traction control, it only has ABS.
It does have a brake pad wear indicator system, which has a warning light on the dash (image below to Xantia Owners Manual linked from Julian Marsh's brilliant Citroenet https://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger- ... tia-7.html):


That system uses wires that run to each front brake pad and works by when the pad has worn down enough, the wire contacts the disc and therefore goes to ground - which brings the warning light on (same system as used on countless Citroen models before and since).
There's a wiring loom that runs down onto the wheel hub and then has a connector that two individual wires plug into and then plug into holes on the brake pad backing plate (see Haynes manual section 10-4 for images).
If the loom or the wires that run to the pads are 'bare' as you describe and are contacting part of the suspension etc then yes, that would bring the light on.

[wheeler]

He looked at it and he replied, "You're fine! That's the TRACTION CONTROL light!".

"TRACTION CONTROL on a 1.9TD Xantia? You're having a laugh" I said.

So apparently they have a primitive form of traction control which the ABS unit senses.

Sounds like nonsense to me, I'd have then said OK which one is the ABS light then?

[Rhothgar]

Thanks wurleycorner.

It is the ABS light then! I could have sworn it was but his recall was because the lines show the car swerving that it was traction control.

It’ll probably be a sensor. I’ll get it checked and rectified then.

The ABS wasn’t coming on when I stamped in the brakes so I figured it was but who was I to argue?

[Rhothgar]

He looked at it and he replied, "You're fine! That's the TRACTION CONTROL light!".

"TRACTION CONTROL on a 1.9TD Xantia? You're having a laugh" I said.

So apparently they have a primitive form of traction control which the ABS unit senses.

Sounds like nonsense to me, I'd have then said OK which one is the ABS light then?

He’s getting on a bit so perhaps his memories of working on Citroen are failing. That was sort of proves when he states that the indicators are held in by springs!

That’s on the BX!

[xantia_v6]

I think that your MOT tester was doing you a favour with a wink and a nod by renaming the ABS light.

[wurlycorner]

TBH renaming it to traction control wouldn't make any difference on that - a car should still fail MOT with traction control INOP?

[xantia_v6]

The MOT manual, doesn't list Traction Control as a form of Stability control, so presumably not testable.

[Rhothgar]

There is a traction control light in the above posting but probably only on the V6 I guess and the TCT 2.0 perhaps.

[Stickyfinger]

No traction control on any Xantia......ABS yes but not TC

[Rhothgar]

No traction control on any Xantia......ABS yes but not TC

I thought it was far fetched. However, if you look at the manual posted above there is a traction control symbol in that hence my comment.

I suppose just because it is mentioned doesn’t mean it is necessarily installed on any version. Well not in the UK at least.

EDIT.

SORRY. It isn’t in what wurleycorner posted. It is in the official workshop manual.

[Rhothgar]

He looked at it and he replied, "You're fine! That's the TRACTION CONTROL light!".

"TRACTION CONTROL on a 1.9TD Xantia? You're having a laugh" I said.

So apparently they have a primitive form of traction control which the ABS unit senses.

Sounds like nonsense to me, I'd have then said OK which one is the ABS light then?

Tested it yesterday. Seems like the worst sensor to change has gone or the wiring to it at least.

Nearside rear. Just above the trailing arm with the exhaust back box in the way!!!

I suppose I should load test the wiring to ensure that’s not corroded.