Xantia of Desires - Farewell xantia!

[beko1987]

Let us know how you get on with that Herbert Richter one

So far so good! Found another thing to take a photo with...

 

 

It certainly holds my 6p well, and could go bigger too. The ball joint seems a bit loose with no phone, but seems ok with a phone in. It's at a nice level too, didn't want it high/on the windscreen. So far, based on one journey I would recommend!

 

 

Here is the knob top. Bit loathe to glue it back on though as I did that with the zx's one then the whole knob crumbled, I don't want to tempt fate and end up having a knob_car

 

 

And here is the ashtray closed just for you vulg!

[Eddie Honda]

I need to get a holder, but it needs to hold my heavy bastard phone.

[SiC]

Epoxy resin or contact adhesive. To be found in your nearest Poundland.

[beko1987]

Or screws!

[Guest Hooli]

no more nails!

[scdan4]

just realised i'd read it all wrong.

 

(and don't know how to delete)

[Lacquer Peel]

Would a Xsara knob fit?

[beko1987]

Probably, their all the same I imaging. Someone on the xantia Facebook group said he has a spare knob as he upgraded his to an s2 leather one, so I've probably got one if I want, although now I kind of want an s2 leather one, and before he mentioned it I was fine with my headless knob!

[Guest Hooli]

 my headless knob!

 

 

knobs are always better with head

[beko1987]

Well that was entertaining...

 

Ill come clean, yesterday a click started from the clutch pedal, and having read about it before that's how it starts...

 

I ignored it for now, and carried on. Coming home from work tonight, was late anyway, m40 was a utter arse. 5 miles from home, nearing my turning to thame. Move from 5th to 4th,drop the clutch to change down and dink, pedal drops to the floor. Buggar. Luckily it's in neutral and the roads are pretty quiet so i pulled into the little road just before my turning, a d came to rest in a field entrance.

 

On the muddy floor u go, a d the cable has come out of the clip, the clip isn't snapped or damaged that I can see... Phone torch on, I try for about 15 minutes to get the cable back in. No dice, I have no tools, my fingers barely brush the cable and clip at best. I text Amy to say I'm fucked... Then my bastard phone dies. Double buggar.

 

Pondering my options, I remember breadvan lives a few minutes away, so get my coat on and get walking, and disturb him watching star trek. Top man as always, the kettle is turned on a d he lets me use the phone to call Amy to bring me a phone charger and call the aa.

 

Its amys birthday, and her sister was there, who has to drive past bv to get home, so she bought me a charger over and takes me back to hers for 20 mins. Aa bloke turns up at 8.

 

Aa bloke was fucking top. Between us we got the air box off and battery tray out, and he releases the clutch cable, and after hammering some brake pipe he had to push the cable end back into the clip, it's fixed. By this point I've been out in 0 degrees in just a fleece, t-shirt and wet jeans so he whacks the heating up in the van a d tells me to get in whilst he puts the xantia back together.

 

He followed me home and tbh all seemed fine. No clicking noise, the cable didn't fall out etc. Paperwork done, off he goes.

 

But now I'm paranoid. The clip isn't physically broken, but it must have come out somehow. He said the end of the cable was bent which didn't help, and the heavy, badly adjusted clutch cable probably doesn't help either. Any ideas on anything I can do to reinforce the clip? Tempted to have the pedal and clip out over the weekend and inspect it properly, but I won't get a new clip by Monday to get to work...

 

Hey ho, got a beer now, my hands are warmed up past the burning stage, ill deal with it after I've emptied the meriva out. I may pick the buyer up in the Zafira on Sunday if I've not had a proper look at the xantia by then...

 

Thanks again breadvan, sorry to knock so late!

[Guest Hooli]

Ahh a fun night out, shitter style

[beko1987]

Bv tried to get me drunk and offered to lend me a car to get home, am almost sad the aa bloke fixed it...

[Tickman]

But now I'm paranoid.

Recovery has fixed it until you can get round to it. (to me that means permanently)

Put some tools and some warmer clothes in the car as well as a charger and you are sorted.

Don't worry about stuff you cannot sort.

[beko1987]

I might see if I can get a small cable tie around the end of the clip, to sort of squeeze the plastic around the end of the cable. Cba to sort the pedal slop out, that can do one for sure for now!

[Lacquer Peel]

It's had a new clutch in the recent past if I remember correctly. The clutch cable is fiddly but not that difficult to change.

[beko1987]

Yes, new clutch recently, and new clip as it snapped on Chompy. It's not snapped here, just come apart, the guy said it did clip in with an audiable click, but he couldn't say for sure why it came out in the first place. That's why I'm wondering why it came apart, one of those things or imminent borkage looming?

 

The clutch cable needs the auto adjustment looking at, wondering if I do have it all off and give it a stern look and try to fettle it.

 

Ill give the pedal a good few presses tomorrow whilst parked, I pushed the pedal so gingerly on the way home with the aa man following me it was unreal!

[Guest Hooli]

Drive clutchless, it's a whole new world of skill.

[conkerman]

+1 GR9 fun. I ended up taking the pedal off my first car as the cable had seized and took about 30 mins to return without 'pursuasion' its supremely satisfying when you nail a perfect downshift clutchless.

 

Sent from my Vodafone Smart ultra 6 using Tapatalk

[vulgalour]

The clip is one of those things.  They do sometimes just come apart, sometimes because they're broken, sometimes because Citroen.

[twosmoke300]

If it has an auto adjuster cable I expect you will need to change that . It keeps the right amount of tension on the cable so if it fails the cable will be slacker than usual so more likely to pop off .

Either that or the release arm is bending / cracking .

[beko1987]

Hooli - I did try engaging gear with no clutch, it wasn't happening.

 

Vulg - I'm erring towards that thought, that it's just one if those things, especially as the clip isn't broken like it did to Chompy, but now I want to have the pedal out to check the aa guy got it clipped in properly!

 

Twosmoke - it's a manual adjust, and reading lots about it last night it's easier apparently!

[tabact]

You can look at the clip on mine when you come over Sunday to compare. The same assembly is fitted to both the X1 & X2 so I have my old Xantia sitting there waiting to be stripped if you need any parts.

[beko1987]

Very kind, I may well do that! Looking at Internet pictures of my clip it doesn't seem broken, but the aa bloke clipped it back in seemingly ok.

 

Im going to go and push the pedal a few times in a bit, do or die. If that works fine the ill see if I fancy having the pedal out to check it is clipped in properly...

[beko1987]

To drive with no clutch you have to switch the engine off and then put it in first gear. Then pull away using the starter motor. Once you are moving and the engine is running you can change gear without the clutch by matching revs. Switch off again when you need to stop.

 

Ben

Oooh I didn't realise that, good to know! If it had gone with it in 3rd or even 4th I could have blagged that just about. Thinking about it I was lucky it went in neutral as at least I could sit there with the engine/heaters on whilst I pondered!

[beko1987]

I'm sat in it not pushing the clutch a fair bit, soft and sharp etc and it feels fine. No clicking. The clutch feels a tad heavier, but I think he's adjusted it slightly by tightening up the engine bay side.

 

I think what I'll do is put all the tools back in the car, and see how it goes. Mainly because I've spent 40 minutes clearing out the meriva, and can't feel my fingers all ready, fuck being out here with the clutch pedal in my hands feeling the same.

 

Ill have a look when it gets warmer, and pay attention to any clicking noises.

 

If I have some long nosed pliers, 13mm spanner, socket set, some screwdrivers etc I should be ok. In a way the aa guy was handy as he showed me how to remove the cable from the gearbox end. He was happy I was willing to help I think. He has a Grenada hearse he bought from Wales last year that he is converting into a camper van, and we talked about how tuned my engine was, and he mentioned a mate of him had a volvo 940 derv that runs 14psi boost as a track toy.

[Guest Breadvan72]

I am glad that you got home OK.  AA blokes are generally very good in my experience.   It was hardly late when you knocked!

 

PS:  It was the Romulans.  Again.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Almost every AA bloke that I have met (and I have met a lot, for reasons obvious) has told me that he has at least one classic car/skanky old heap at home.  Most of them love fixing stuff that isn't computer says no.

[Guest Hooli]

To drive with no clutch you have to switch the engine off and then put it in first gear. Then pull away using the starter motor. Once you are moving and the engine is running you can change gear without the clutch by matching revs. Switch off again when you need to stop.

 

Ben

 

 

Yeah that. Then until you get a feel for the revs just hold the stick very gently against the gate (not enough to make noises) & adjust the revs slowly, when you get it right it just drops in. Downshifts are harder to get right than upshifts I always found.

 

I once drove my Discovery from mid Wales to West Sussex like this after the clutch release arm fell apart, seemed odd to be able use the clutch when I fixed as I'd got used to driving clutchless.

[Guest Breadvan72]

In 1989, my dad drove a Morris Traveller around Ireland and then back to Birmingham without a clutch (also without a second gear or, indeed, a driving licence).  I drove my Lancia Beta Spider without a clutch for a bit when the cable broke, but I seemed to have lost the knack when trying to do this in my Dolomite after the slave cylinder failed.

[beko1987]

I'm taking this all in, just incase it pops out again! Tomorrow I'm going 6 miles, we shall see!