Xantai Clutch

[pandp]

Hi to all,

 

I have just purchased a 98 Xantia 1.9 TD LX. The car drives great apart from the clutch. To me it feels stiff and when you have been using it for a while, it seems to stick a little. The last time i had a clutch behave like this,the cable snapped. Does anyone know if they are meant to be quite stiff or is the cable about ready to snap? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[avatar12m]

Hi to all,

 

I have just purchased a 98 Xantia 1.9 TD LX. The car drives great apart from the clutch. To me it feels stiff and when you have been using it for a while, it seems to stick a little. The last time i had a clutch behave like this,the cable snapped. Does anyone know if they are meant to be quite stiff or is the cable about ready to snap? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

i just bought a 1.816v andm ines exactly the same, like the pedal is binding but i'm no expert and would also like to know what could be causing it

[comedance2me]

i just bought a 1.816v andm ines exactly the same, like the pedal is binding but i'm no expert and would also like to know what could be causing it

the thrust that the cable attaches to can become coroded and bind try a little lube on the pivot point.

[avatar12m]

thanks for the reply, i'll spray some grease up inside the drivers compartment clutch pedal area.

[streaky]

hi i'm newbie on here but been a mechanic for 17yrs. the hard pedal on a xantia is most cases down to the clutch wearing and may be getting due for replacement. the 1.9 td has a pull type clutch and mine a (1997 1.9td) had the same problem.

 

changed the clutch and its now as should be.

 

in some cases it can be the cable but sadly i would say more than likely the clutch.

 

unless your a very good mechanic do not attempt to change the clutch as these are known for the arm release pin seiezing as does the arm which have to be removed to remove the gearbox. a lot of heat and patience can be needed and a new bush for the top of the gearbox.

[Ronin]

Definately the clutch itself. Xantia's can go and go and go for loads of miles on one clutch (mine 193,000 miles on the original) the clutch pedal gets heavier and heavier and before you know it , the damn plastic pedal connector goes and its a very fiddly job to replace. Lol 15 minutes when you've figured it out but 8 hours of head scratching and bleeding knuckles.

 

Even when they take the clutch plate out, you will still see that there is plenty of "meat "left on it... the springs often seize up causing the heavy feeling.

My advice, bite the bullet and get the clutch changed before the clip goes and you end up with three hours minimum extra labour on top of the clutch replacement.

 

The clutch is a very awkward job to do on a Xantia and involves a lot of positioning to get the bell housing back on so look around for a good garage that have done plenty before.... get a price first and agree on it lol

If your brave and tooled up , by all means DIY but dont say I didn't warn you lol :rolleyes:

[streaky]

if you do attempt diy make sure the release arm fork start facing straight towards the clutch plate so when relocating the box it should slot into bearing which should have the arm wholes located towards the front of the car at 10 and 8 o clock as per a clock face.

 

once gearbox in place just engage two bolts to engine to secure the box. replace arm and pin and clutch cable to test the clutch is operating before refiting everything. just in case the release arm has not engaged properly.

 

if anyone wants i can write a guide to doing this job.

[Guest Whitey491]

hi i'm newbie on here but been a mechanic for 17yrs. the hard pedal on a xantia is most cases down to the clutch wearing and may be getting due for replacement. the 1.9 td has a pull type clutch and mine a (1997 1.9td) had the same problem.

 

changed the clutch and its now as should be.

 

in some cases it can be the cable but sadly i would say more than likely the clutch.

 

unless your a very good mechanic do not attempt to change the clutch as these are known for the arm release pin seiezing as does the arm which have to be removed to remove the gearbox. a lot of heat and patience can be needed and a new bush for the top of the gearbox.

 

Hi my car is a Xantia 1.9TD 1997 EST 120000 miles, the clutch is very heavy and when a garage had my car to sort an electrical fault the plastic clip broke on the top of the pedal, they replaced it and i got my car back, but the next day it snapped again! They will replace the clip for me again free of charge, they said a new cable may help £20 fitted but it would be prudent to change the clutch at £200 fitted. I have changed clutches before on other cars so i looked in the haynes manual- what a nightmare!! I think maybe i should bite the bullet and get the clutch changed, does £200 sound good i can see its a lot of labour.

[Ronin]

Hi my car is a Xantia 1.9TD 1997 EST 120000 miles, the clutch is very heavy and when a garage had my car to sort an electrical fault the plastic clip broke on the top of the pedal, they replaced it and i got my car back, but the next day it snapped again! They will replace the clip for me again free of charge, they said a new cable may help £20 fitted but it would be prudent to change the clutch at £200 fitted. I have changed clutches before on other cars so i looked in the haynes manual- what a nightmare!! I think maybe i should bite the bullet and get the clutch changed, does £200 sound good i can see its a lot of labour.

 

I've seen prices ranging from £170- £300 so I would say £200 is fair enough on one previso, ask them if they have done Xantia's before.... The garages who have, know what they have to do to get the job done right first time m8....

One thing for sure, it ain't no astra mk2 clutch.... :rolleyes:

[Guest Whitey491]

Definately the clutch itself. Xantia's can go and go and go for loads of miles on one clutch (mine 193,000 miles on the original) the clutch pedal gets heavier and heavier and before you know it , the damn plastic pedal connector goes and its a very fiddly job to replace. Lol 15 minutes when you've figured it out but 8 hours of head scratching and bleeding knuckles.

 

Even when they take the clutch plate out, you will still see that there is plenty of "meat "left on it... the springs often seize up causing the heavy feeling.

My advice, bite the bullet and get the clutch changed before the clip goes and you end up with three hours minimum extra labour on top of the clutch replacement.

 

The clutch is a very awkward job to do on a Xantia and involves a lot of positioning to get the bell housing back on so look around for a good garage that have done plenty before.... get a price first and agree on it lol

If your brave and tooled up , by all means DIY but dont say I didn't warn you lol :(

Any tips on removing the plastic clutch cable connector, I would like to save the 8 hours of head scratching, 15 mins sounds much better!

Cheers

[Ronin]

Any tips on removing the plastic clutch cable connector, I would like to save the 8 hours of head scratching, 15 mins sounds much better!

Cheers

 

 

Yeah ...cut the old bolt off(the one that holds the clutch pedal). Its far too long and put in the wrong way to start off with..... Get a slightly shorter one (1cm less makes all the difference) and put it in the opposite way. That saves 2 hours alone.....lol :(

Use a bungie or string to hold up the brake pedal (wrapped around the stearing wheel)

Take the pedal out and put the new clip on. put the metal spring clip halfway on.

Release the clutch cable from the lever in the engine bay to get as much slack as you can and then grab hold of clutch cable in the footwell with very long nosed pliers and pull down . remove the old broken plastic clip, whats left of it

Put the end into the new clutch clip as far as it goes. then touch the metal spring clip with a spare finger and it will spring into position. Check that it wont pull back off.

Twist the pedal the right way round and move it up into position. .. Back in the engine bay, pull the spare cable back through and reclip back onto the clutch lever.

Put the new clutch pedal retaining bolt through collar , pedal and pedal spring . clip the pedal spring onto the top notch only and using adjustable head ratchet spanners(saves another hour struggling) tighten up. use a long flat head screwdriver to force the bottom pedal spring onto the pedal... release the brake pedal back into position ... Your done. ;)

 

 

Would I do it again? Sure but not in a hurry even 15 minutes is still a pain in the A***... you are pretty much sure to get sore fingers or bleed lol... :D

My son "13" years old was a great help last time (long thin fingers) and got it done quicker than me lol.... :lol: cost me £10 extra pocket money though. :huh:

 

There is a company that do a metal replacement instead of the plastic clip which stops this happening as often (much stronger)... google it.

However, all that does is mask the main problem.... Citroen knew they had probs with the clutch getting heavy and chose to use a plastic clip that breaks easy as a "warning" that it needs replacing... the problem was the clutch plate was "over engineered" and lasts longer than the rest of the spring assembly... According to my local citroen service manager anyway lol. :blink:

 

 

The moral of the story is ... if it goes, get a new clutch put in first or you''ll be spending your weekends getting very good at replacing the clip! ;)