MoT failure points

[red_dwarfers]

Right, after taking the Xantia in for its Citroen MoT yesterday it has failed on the following points:

1 Offside and Nearside front suspension arms have excessive play in a pin/bush
2 NS steering rack gaitor split
3 Parking brake has no reserve travel
4 OS/NS front brake discs are excessively worn
5 OS/NS front brake pipe inadequatly clipped

Advisories:
6 NS front anti roll bar linkage has slight play in a ball joint
7 Front and rear fluid suspension accumulator slightly deteriorated
8 Suspension joint NS upper dust cover split/missing
9 Slight play in top steering column mount
10 Front brake discs badly corroded

Quite a list! The ones Im going to need some guidance in are 1, 2 and as that side of the car needs dealing with 6. Im guessing on 1 he is on about the pin on the lower suspension arm that attaches to the subframe area?
What is the general test for these bushes and pins is it wobbling them with a bar? How much should they move?

I questioned 7 and after all the faffing about after I told him that they were actually brand new a few months ago, he then decided that the problem wasn't the accumulators but both the well lubricated height correctors!
I didn't question 8 at the time but after a brief look this afternoon, presuming that its the one that covers the front strut, can I find a split on it? Err no.

[CitroJim]

Oh dear Kev That'll keep you busy for a couple of hours.

1. I assume is the P bushes. Not has hard as they look...
2. Is a job of questionable parentage
3. Seized cables/adjustment

4 and 5. New discs and reclip. Easy.
6. Drop Link?
7. WTF? Does he have a sphere tester then?
8. Possibly damaged boots on the lower swivel joints. Easy to damage them if the suspension has been dismantled carelessly - like when you had your clutch done. Another job of questionable parentage
9. Many do, new top column needed really... Like with it.
10. As for 4.

Still, nothing show-stopping or major

[ken newbold]

Would this be one of Citroen's free MOT tests by any chance?

[RichardW]

I'm confused as to how you get a failure AND an advisory on the front discs....

[citronut]

(1) could well be the lower swivle joint's

(9) this is probably the MOT tester thinking there is movement, were he see's the sphere and sphere bracket moveing from side to side whilst the steering is being turn lock to lock,


regards ,malcolm

[Homer]

3 Parking brake has no reserve travel

This could be just the tester not understanding the Xantia handbrake, I even had a BX fail because the handbrake didn't work - he had of course tested it on the rear wheels.

Or it just needs evening up on the adjusters.

[citronut]

the corect way to adjust these hand brakes up is, with car on level ground, hand brake off,engine running, press on the brake pedel hard two to three times, but do not stapm on it just even presure,

this goes for all front hand brake citroens with the hand brake being on the main brake pads,

as 9 times out of 10 the self adjusting dose not adjust as it should

regards malcolm

[XantiaDaveEire]

Steering rack leak cost me €600 to fix Kev and the chap didnt even fit the right rack ,so now im left with a steering wheel that doesnt do its job,he tried to brush it off saying it needed to be tracked ..Are you going to try all the jobs yourself ?

[CitroJim]

I believe you can get hold of a super-stretchy gaiter to replace the split one on the NS. You have the problem of lifting it over the ram spigot. The arm also needs removing.

It's a toss-up if it is easier to remove the rack complete to to the job...

[citroenxm]

Steering rack quite easy to remove, but a bit involved because the steering colum has to come off to get the UJ off the pinion valve..

You also need the RAM off to get the boot on, which is much easyer on the bench then on the car..

So steering colum off, UJ joint off pinion valve, track rods off, PAS feed pipe off, return pipie off and the tiny return pipe on the end of the PAS Ram off, drop subframe on drivers side, whthdraw rack.

The Pinion unions are an absolute SOD tight to undo in situ!

So personally, its a rack off job every time! Done it twice now... glad I did!

Paul

[CitroJim]

Thanks Paul Excellent. You have turned a toss-up into a definite yes...

That's it then, the definitive answer. Out with the rack!

It may help to drop the front subframe a tad to give a bit better access. That's easy, just four bolts...

Just beware that the rack is shimmed so be careful not to loose the shims under the attachment clamp bolts and ensure they are properly replaced.

That's the most difficult job of the lot Kev. get it done and the rest, with the possible exception of the lower swivels, (if they do indeed need replacing) is plain sailing

[addo]

Steering rack leak cost me €600 to fix...

Holy smoke!

I paid $120 for the seal kit, and had a local fellow dismantle the pinion valve and install the new kit ($50 more). He'd done plenty of them for the BX era. You don't need to remove the column to get the valve out, just loosen/remove the locking bolt inside and wiggle the lower shaft section up its splines. Then crack the pipes, then unbolt the valve. If you've done it before, 90 minutes total hoist time is plenty.

[red_dwarfers]

Thanks chaps!

I've run myself through the lower suspension arm bushes and I have worked out which ones have gone (the rear ones attached to the subframe at the end of the wishbone) and how I'm going to replace them.

Had a look at the steering rack also and saw that pipe spigoty bit. I'll take a printout of this thread and relate what you have all said to it and it should then click into place before I go taking everything to bits!
Am I right in saying that the track rod ends screwed on either end of the steering rack are the ones that have to go back on exactly the right number of turns for the tracking?

I'll crack on with it at first light tomorrow, emergency flask and hot tea cakes in hand

[red_dwarfers]

I'll see if I can get hold of a flexible steering rack gaiter though what size seals are needed for the supply and return pipes if I have to take the steering rack off?
Any other consumables apart from the track rod ball joint, drop link ball joint, wishbone to subframe and wishbone to hub nuts?

[jonathan_dyane]

Am I right in saying that the track rod ends screwed on either end of the steering rack are the ones that have to go back on exactly the right number of turns for the tracking

Yes, however sometimes replacement track rod ends are slightly different dimensionally

The way I do it i to note the straight ahead steering wheel position before starting work, then replace one taking care to count the turns, but only do up the lock nut finger tight. I then go for a test run to find a nice straight street (ideally the same one I noted the steering wheel position on) and fine tune the track rod until the steering wheel is in the original position, then do up the lock nut. Repeat for the other side if necessary...