nickd

Thanks for that Jonno. I had been a bit worried about the cambelt for that reason, and it's probably due for a change anyway. It's not what you'd call a huge leak, but leaves a bit of a mess on the drive. The cover seal is rubber as far as I know, and I've got the torque wrench settings so I'll give it a go. Is it best to have the cambelt cover off at the same time and have a look at it? I don't think I'm up to changing the belt myself - too much chance of getting it wrong! I've had the top end of the main breather off, where it joins the air cleaner box, and it's usually full of gunk 'cos I drive round town mainly, especially bad in winter. How does the lower end of this breather come off, above the sump? Does it just pull away? Thanks again for your help.

Hi everyone, i'm after an opinion/some advice.....My '94 Xantia 2.0 8v has a bit of a an oil habit. There is oil dropping from the pump/cambelt end of the engine, and also a little that appears to be from where the dipstick tube enters the block. I've resealed the dipstick tube having taken advice from my local dealer, and that seems to be mostly solved. Could the main leak be from the cam cover joint, as there is also a bit of oil collecting in the sparkplug holes but none in the ports when I take them out? Does anyone know how reliable or longlasting the seal for this joint is? In cold weather it suffers from the same problem as BX engines, ie the breathers get blocked - I wonder if that is anything to do with it? Any ideas welcome - I'm willing to change the cover seal myself as they're only about £6-£7. Thanks

Thanks for replying. I did finally remove the pedal and replace the clip, so I'll share what I found out - much brute force and probably a bit of luck too. Took me a whole weekend until I had some inspiration. Patience seems to be quite important. In the end I had to bend the supporting bracket with a bar (it's springy though so it returns to place OK) and pull the bolt out with a spanner under the head. You need to remove the plunger from the back of the brake pedal so that drops out of the way first. That only got it halfway though, so next trick is to bend the bracket some more by twisting the pedal, and use your free hand to turn the bolt and basically unscrew it by hand from the bracket - otherwise the threads just stick in the bracket and the head traps on the brake pedal and it won't move. Once the bolt is out look carefully at where the return spring fits, then pull the pedal down into the footwell. The spring will unhook itself from the bracket. Use a punch and a small hammer to drive the plastic pin out (if you prise it out with a screwdriver the end part just breaks off as it's brittle). Put the new clip on the cable first and push the metal retainer over the plastic. Then fit the plastic clip to the pedal, using mole grips to pop the plastic pin in - this part takes a good push and is then pretty hard to reverse if you have to start again. Put the pedal back between the brackets and hook the return spring in first - if you try to do it after bolting the pedal in (1) there is not enough room and (2) you'll end up trying to push it in with a screwdriver and it's very painful. Put the bolt in the opposite way to how it was when you started so that you can get a socket to the bolt head and an open spanner to the nut. Put the nut in the spanner jaws and hold it there with tape, to stop it repeatedly dropping into the footwell and making you swear. Most important of all, don't believe the Haynes manual when it says to take th ecloks out - there is a hole in the back panel but you'd struggel to get a pen through it let alone your fingers. Save your time and ignore this part. They are right about the access though; I'm 5'8 and had to psuh the seat back, recline the backrest and balance on my head in the footwell after removing the steering wheel. The wife thought I'd gone into labour....gas & air might have helped. Have fun, hope this may be of use to someone and save their weekend.

Hi everybody I need a bit of help....The cable retaining clip on my 1994 Xantia broke last night. I have a new one (£8 from a dealer!!) but need to remove the clutch pedal to change it. I have removed the nut, but the brake pedal is in the way so I can't remove the bolt. I've tried moving the brake pedal up/down as far as it will go, but no luck. Does anyone have any ideas (preferably not involving removing the dash as I have seen suggested in other places!) Thank in advance. Nick