Xantia of Desires - Farewell xantia!

[beko1987]

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.

This bloke got stuck right in! He's been with them 25 years and said he vaguely remembers doing exactly this job when the xantia was newish! Zero computers needed for my car! We had a lovely chat, whilst I was shaking with the cold! The big coat is in the car now too

[beko1987]

Also (I really should think what I was thinking to say before I hit post!), how does it work when you have to stop? Do you just stall it and have to start again?

[Guest Breadvan72]

Yes.  Traffic lights and junctions are a fecker.  There may be a DRIVAN SKILLZ YO way of doing it without stopping the engine, but that I don't know.

 

I reckon that you should always take a big coat in any car in winter, but especially when the car is an old one.  Ditto phone charger, winter or summer!

[Stebob]

Years ago I had a xantia td estate and I had the clutch pedal clip go ping on the m62 towards Manchester right between where it forks off left for the m6 towards Preston.

 

Had to drive it without a clutch, got pretty good at it after a few miles.

 

The problem came getting someone to actually do the job in the fact that most would t even quote (the part was about 6 quid from the dealership) and the ones that did wanted more in labour than the car was worth!

 

It goes without saying that if this has gone on yours (quite the common on them apparently,especially as the clutch gets heavier as it wears, something to do with have a reverse clutch) I have to say it was the worst job I've ever undertaken on a car in my life, it's a trip in to the footwell on you're back within the drivers seat out and it is fiddly as hell, also to make you're life easier disconnect the cable at the gearbox end to reduce the tension at play.

 

Seem to remember there was a guide somewhere online about it at the time.....

 

Citroen quoted 940 + vat back in 2005, this was because the job in their book says dash out.....

 

Steve

[Guest Hooli]

Also (I really should think what I was thinking to say before I hit post!), how does it work when you have to stop? Do you just stall it and have to start again?

 

Depends. You soon learn to slow down early & creep up at idle in 1st hoping not to stop. Otherwise aye, stop, turn it off, put it in gear & start it to go. It's much smoother to pop it out of gear just above idle, a tiny bit of throttle so its at a steady speed makes that easy. Then stop in neutral.

[SiC]

Doesn't doing this shag up the synchros? Being especially risky on an older/higher mileage gearbox?

[Guest Hooli]

Doesn't doing this shag up the synchros? Being especially risky on an older/higher mileage gearbox?

 

Not if you don't make grinding noises.

[Pillock]

I remember my uncle driving his Sierra Sapphire clutchless on holiday in skeg, although it was three years old on 100k or more and he'd just been made redundant I think so wasn't exactly brimming with sympathy for it.

 

He later towed a T25 camper halfway across Wales with it and gave it back running on 3 cylinders.

[tabact]

Just been out to my old xantia and it turns out I lied, the gear knob is a standard one not leather. I could have sworn it was leather but there you go. It's now sitting on my desk ready for when you come round. hopefully it will fit. Looking on the web it's unclear what type is fitted to a X1 xantia but looks the same to me.

[Richard]

I tend not to use the clutch for upshifts anyway, especially on the van because it has far too many gears.

[beko1987]

Just been out to my old xantia and it turns out I lied, the gear knob is a standard one not leather. I could have sworn it was leather but there you go. It's now sitting on my desk ready for when you come round. hopefully it will fit. Looking on the web it's unclear what type is fitted to a X1 xantia but looks the same to me.

Ah that's very kind! I'll be asking about your front seats too later...

 

I'm waiting for Amy to grt home then I'll give you a shout and hope to come and get you with no issues! It's snowing here...

[tabact]

You can have the front seats if you want but they are a bit manky from the car not being used for a couple of years and the drivers seat bolster is well worn but they'd be OK with covers. See what you think when you get here. My sister has just moved to Aylesbury and has said I can use her garage for storage of parts so i can strip the parts that are common to both Xantia versions as spares then get rid of the shell to create some room on my drive.

 

A bit of sleety snow here as well unsurprisingly.

[Lacquer Peel]

Not exactly local but my friend in Kent has a pair of Xantia front seats going spare.

[beko1987]

Well this morning was fantastic, the clip fully snapped...

 

Luckily I was mere yards from my mums, so I turned it off, into 1st, fired it up but couldnt get into 2nd, so just drove slowly to mums. Reversing onto her drive was fun*

 

So I'm now stranded at my mums house, no way easily of getting a clip, although I'm going to see if Citroen sell them and see if Amy fancies going to get me one, then I can book a day off work and dive into the fun* world of clip replacement with no previous experience.

 

Of course I'm now paranoid even more that it's something more sinister causing it to go, or it's just one of those things, it's been a fair few years since Chompy replaced it. Regretting selling the Meriva a bit now...

[conkerman]

Nothing sinister I reckon. They are just a cock of a design.

 

 

 

Sent from my Vodafone Smart ultra 6 using Tapatalk

[beko1987]

Hopefully. That must have been why the cable popped out the other day, it was weak/cracked and it fully went today

 

I am now at the mercy of these guys to post it out today and it arrive tomorrow - http://www.eurocarcare.net/clutch-control/ecc212821-clutch-clip-housing.html

 

I need to call Amy and ask her to bring me some clothes round and I'll have to sleep at mums. Then, if it comes tomorrow I'll have to book thursday off work to change the clip on mums drive, whilst I'm there I might flood the clutch cable with oil just incase it helps...

 

Gr9

[beko1987]

Clip has been dispatched.

 

Plan is my stepdad will run me home tonight when he gets home from work to get some tools and clothes etc, then bring me back to mums. Going to try and book most of tomorrow off to fit it, but will need to come into work until the clip arrives (work get their post by 9am, mum gets her post whenever the postman bothers). The fuck off and fit it and hope the job goes smoothly*. Then back to work to cover the last hour as late cover is needed and I dont think there will be any, need to wait for the boss to be out of a meeting yet.

 

I also have a deadline, Amy has work thursday night so I need to be at home on thursday one way or another. Amy said this would be a good test for when we separate, that made the day even better... She wont laugh when the rent isn't paid...

[Guest Hooli]

 I might flood the clutch cable with oil just incase it helps...

 

 

 

Aren't most modern cables coated with something that turns sticky if you do this?

[beko1987]

Who knows, it does move quite freely tbh so I left it, it's not that. Hang on, I did a few bits at lunchtime, let me do some work to catch up and ill put pictures up. Am very disheartened though as the FCF/Xantia people seem to be of the opinion it needs a new clutch again as it's gone too heavy and is snapping the clip...

[barefoot]

If it's any help, my Scirocco came with a ludicrously heavy clutch for the size of car/engine.

The clutch was newish and fine, the problem was a cheap aftermarket/repro clutch cable available everywhere for about a fiver.

A proper VW cable came from Germany, cost about a £30 ish and sorted it in an instant.

[bub2006]

I can't see it needing a clutch mate, cable maybe but not clutch.

[beko1987]

This is tricker than I thought getting the images to my work laptop, so please see my french car forum thread with the images!

 

https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56153&p=521371#p521371

 

(I can upload them to ultraimg on my phone and embed, I get an invalid file extension here)

 

So, citrojim seems confident it's just one of those things, but tbh no one can be sure until I get the new clip on and drive about a bit. Sadly I shall now shit myself every time I push the pedal down. Once fitted tomorrow and working, I'll buy some more clips and keep them and the tools needed in the car just in case, once I've done the job once and know what to do!

 

No idea what to think about the clutch, having never driven a xantia before I don't know if it's light or heavy. I don't find it particularly heavy, but Bub found it intolerable, wether that's injury vs no injury, personal preference or summat I have no idea. People on FCF say it should be feathery light, some people even complain theirs is too light and have had to adjust the cable to make it feel something, mine certainly isn't that light.

 

Who knows. Clutch clip roulette can start tomorrow, assuming the clip actually turns up. Big props to my boss and the person I work with for swapping shifts around so I can dissappear once the clip turns up and get it fitted in the daylight.

 

If it does turn out to need a clutch less than 3 years after vulg fitted one, then I have to concede I dont know if it will get one. With that, and all the other work I have planned, plus the arches and the cost I paid for the car, I could buy another car, maybe even partake in some roffles.

 

Who knows, only one way to find out!

[beko1987]

I can't see it needing a clutch mate, cable maybe but not clutch.

Me neither, the clutch feels fine, as in no slip or smell.

 

The cable moves about fine too though, not buttery smooth but not shite either, although obv I am testing it under no load. Might see about lobbing a cable on just to be sure, their not that expensive. Sadly that wont happen tomorrow. Hopefully the clip was just tired and went, and I'll get a few weeks/months out of a new clip. Friday was just a warning shot across the bow

[bub2006]

If the car is worth keeping its worth spending the money on mate. I've said the sane about the van but it's worth its weight to get right for me.

[beko1987]

I'm just in the place all shiters get to briefly I think, I'm sure I'll snap out of it.

 

Saying that, if I get halfway home tomorrow night and it snaps again, I may think differently...

[bub2006]

Oh I understand mate. As you know I've been there. I've gone past the point of throwing toys out the pram and scrapping cars for silly things now though. Things sent to test us

[tabact]

Sods law you sell the spare car to me and the clip goes. Stick with it, seemed OK in my short ride in it and at least you know what has gone wrong. Both mine are petrol and most part numbers unsurprisingly are different but the clip is the same and other parts with different numbers may be interchangeable. Get yours running then see we can see what parts of the red one are any use to you. My white one is on the edge of being scrapped due to cost of parts to get it up to scratch but like yours it would be a shame to bin it, you don't see many Xantias now.

[beko1987]

I'm hoping that a new clip and adjustment of the cable will see it right, I'll then buy a spare clip just in case! At least it snapped within sight of my mums house and not on the m40 or bypass though... reversing with no clutch is fun though, I tried 1st to 2nd with no clutch but it just stalled so I put the hazards on and drove in 1st at low revs!

 

Maybe we need a xantia fettling day? I have ramps I can bring and could swap your exhaust for you. Would need pre-arranging with Amy though so she's not at work...

[tabact]

Might as well remove the cable and clips off the red one anyway it's not going anywhere. Sounds like an idea to have a day when you can get the parts you want that are of any use to you and get the exhaust off. l  can have a quick drive up and down the street of your one and see what I think off the clutch. I found the clutch fairly light on my one although a bit low.

[beko1987]

Sounds fair to me, if the clip goes on you though your responsible for getting it back to my house with no clutch!

 

I possibly wouldn't be so worried about all this if it wasn't for the fact that the most crucial bit is that Royal Fail HAVE to deliver the part tomorrow morning... We get the post at work at 8.30, so by 9 I should have it... I'm going to adjust my clutch cable too as the bite point is right at the top, and apparently this is no good as the clip has to move in ways it should not, so the bite point needs to be moved down the pedal a bit. 

 

I printed this out earlier... https://frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21201