Xantia handbrake cable change

[gjb02]

RH cable has snapped, and corroded and fallen apart, etc.
HBOL states the need for removing the exhaust, gear linkagage, heat shields, etc. To carry out the job.
Question is do I need to remove all of the above to change the handbrake cable? I haven't looked under the car yet so can't see for myself. I have searched for threads on this task, but didn't get the information I really needed.[:I]
Thanks in advance.

[citronut]

not rearly you can just ease the N/S/F corner away from the box cables conect into,this quite a simple job once you work out how the cables are attached inside the box regards malcolm

[RichardW]

Xantia H/B has 3 cables - one from the lever to a balancer, the other two from the balancer to each wheel. You only need to take half the car apart if you have broken the first cable. For the outer ones, jack car well up and support. Remove wheel from broken side, and disconnect cable from the caliper. Crawl under the car behind the front LH wheel, prise off the clip on the front of the heat sheild (carefully you need to refit it!) and prop the heatshield as far off the car as it will go with a block off wood. You should now be able to see the balancer on the side of the exhuast tunnel. Have a look at the diagram in Haynes, then just fiddle about with the balancer until the cable comes out - it's very difficult to describe, but reasonably easy to do (although it's feel only, as you can't see it!) - I think you need to be further back than you think. Remove the cable, noting the route, fit the new cable in the same route. Push the outer end of the cable right in and wire it so it stays that way. Back underneath and connect the inner end to the balancer. Connect the outer end to the caliper, and adjust the cable so that when the lever in the car is on the first click, the lever on the caliper has contacted the mechansim (again difficult to describe, but you'll understand!). Refit the shield and away you go (I flatened the clip out with a socket then used the same socket and small persuader to push it back on the car. Took me about an hour to do the RH side one. Remember the ask for the correct cable, as they're different lengths!

[gjb02]

Thanks Richard that has answered my question beautifully!!
I don't know if I could face another 4 hours working on the car, like the other night...changing the water pump!![V]
SWMBO wasn't a happy bunny!!

[danny13]

Hmmm, after a good couple of hours I've managed to secure my cable in the balancer, however no matter how hard I yank I can't stretch it enough to reach into the caliper loop.

Its the Right Hand side cable, my replacement part is 1330mm
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Citro ... 1fb&000168

Is there a knack to connecting it up or is this part actually naff and 10mm too short?

[Mandrake]

Bad news I'm afraid - Pagid handbrake cables for the Xantia do not in fact fit! Not even remotely!

I went through the same process as you a couple of years ago and pagid was one of the brands I attempted to get for my Xantia V6, but when they arrived they didn't fit.

If it seems like there isn't enough "travel" of the centre to hook over the calliper lever then you're not going crazy - that is one of the problems with the pagid cable. For some reason they have the wrong cables listed in their index, the guy I was buying them from showed me the listing on his computer system and we checked their website as well and they definitely listed the wrong one.

For all the details see the following thread starting at around page 13:

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... &start=180" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Probably best to skip to the very last message on the last page where I have a summary of the correct part numbers (bear in mind mine was a V6 so one of the cables is a slightly different length to other Xantia's) and also some photos of what the cables should look like and how much the centre wires should stick out from the cable.

Take your pagid cable back and get your money back. GSF do the correct cables for a standard Xantia but at the time had the left and right cables mislabelled! For the V6 GSF only did one of the cables so I had to get the other cable from Citroen.

Anyway all the details are in that thread if you read from page 13 onwards. (Make a cuppa first )

PS what engine and year is your Xantia ?

[danny13]

Thanks Mandrake, but I think I sussed it out....it now appears to fit but I had to trim off some of the rubber flexy gasket at the adjustable bit...probably me just being a novice.
Fingers crossed now good enough to get through the MOT, well after I've done both suspension arms and antiroll bars...at least the sun is shining today