Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

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pete the bus
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Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

It's been a while since I've posted here but I'm back looking for advice about the clutch on my Xantia Exclusive Estate with the HDI engine.
On my way to work, changing up from 2nd to 3rd, gears crunched and pedal went floppy. Still had a little bit of clutch but bite point near the floor and grinding noise when changing gear. After a couple of gear changes pedal went completely to floor and that was that - no clutch at all.
I can't see any fluid under car so not sure if slave cylinder has survived intact.
Is there an easy check for slave cylinder damage?
And is it a complete clutch change or could anything else have caused the pedal to hit the floor?
Car is too good to scrap but replacement clutch might mean the end for it.
Thanks for any help.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by daviemck2006 »

That sounds like what happened to the clutch on my activa. I think the 110hdi and tct activa use the same clutch. The release bearing will have pulled itself through the pressure plate? Im not sure of the naves of the parts, and the only way to fix it is a replacement clutch. It very nearly wrote off my activa, if it was not for a very king forum member who is now no longer active on the forum who volunteered to change it for me mt car would have been scrapped. There is a thread about the clutch change in the blogs and galleries section.
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pete the bus
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

Hi Davie, thanks for the reply.
I guess the much missed ex forum member would be Jim.
Shame he's not around to do mine!
My concern is not so much the clutch needing replacing, but that the slave cylinder has broken. Apparently the hydraulic system for the clutch is a sealed system and cannot be bled and a replacement system is prohibitively expensive.
But without having a garage take the gearbox off to do the clutch how would I know if the slave cylinder has gone bang or not?
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by xantia_v6 »

The slave cylinder can be removed from the bell housing by twisting and pulling (like a bayonet light bulb). You will soon know if it is broken, but be very careful not to touch the clutch pedal with the slave cylinder removed, or you will pop the piston out!

Jim devised a method of bleeding the clutch hydraulics, so if the end of the cylinder is not damaged, it can be re-used. It is also possible to recover just the slave cylinder from a car that is being broken if yours is damaged.

Here is Jim's blog of Davie's clutch job: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=54694
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

Thanks for the reply.
I've had a read through that blog - I'm assuming a garage would tackle it in a completely different way as they would put the car on a lift.
I'm still unsure about the slave cylinder/bleeding concerns. Even though Jim found the slave cylinder to be in good condition it still needed to be bled. Am I going to find myself in a similar position - clutch changed but not working because it needs bleeding? And then finding garage can't do it because it's a sealed system?
Sorry if I sound confused about this, I'm struggling to understand how it all works as I've never had a clutch problem before.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by myglaren »

I wonder if a C5 slave cylinder would fit as it has a bleed nipple integrated with it.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Different fluids. The Xantia uses LHM, while the C5 uses Dot 4 brake fluid.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by xantia_v6 »

In that blog, or perhaps another, Jim described how to add a bleed screw to the fitting on the end of the slave cylinder. I was there when he did it.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

xantia_v6 wrote: 22 Sep 2018, 15:25 In that blog, or perhaps another, Jim described how to add a bleed screw to the fitting on the end of the slave cylinder. I was there when he did it.

Yes, it was that blog. I would be asking a garage to fit a new clutch. I doubt they would go the lengths that Jim went to in order to get the job done. It's looking like another perfectly good Xantia going for scrap...
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

Hell Razor5543 wrote: 22 Sep 2018, 15:05 Different fluids. The Xantia uses LHM, while the C5 uses Dot 4 brake fluid.


In Jim's blog
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=54694
He uses DOT 4 to bleed the clutch.
See page 22 which is also the thread which explains how he made up a bleed nipple to fit on the slave cylinder.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by myglaren »

I was fairly certain my Xantia used DOT4 for the clutch too. That was 20 years ago though.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Oops, I was thinking about the brakes!
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by xantia_v6 »

pete the bus wrote: 22 Sep 2018, 15:31
xantia_v6 wrote: 22 Sep 2018, 15:25 In that blog, or perhaps another, Jim described how to add a bleed screw to the fitting on the end of the slave cylinder. I was there when he did it.

Yes, it was that blog. I would be asking a garage to fit a new clutch. I doubt they would go the lengths that Jim went to in order to get the job done. It's looking like another perfectly good Xantia going for scrap...

For a garage, it would be a fairly normal clutch replacement job, other than having to make the modification of adding a bleed screw (which should be no more than 15 minutes work).
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by pete the bus »

xantia_v6 wrote: 22 Sep 2018, 16:52
For a garage, it would be a fairly normal clutch replacement job, other than having to make the modification of adding a bleed screw (which should be no more than 15 minutes work).


Thanks, that's reassuring. I'll have an ask around at some local garages. Most of them shy away from working on Citroens or are not clued-up enough and come across problems they've never encountered before.
Meantime I'll see if I can get to the slave cylinder to check it for obvious signs of breakage.
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Re: Xantia HDI 110 clutch pedal on floor

Post by oscar »

There are a few your end that will do there is also guy in Sussex.
What you could do is get another slave cylinder and do the mod then when there doing clutch can fit it.
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