Citroen XM Forum

Looks like i have this issue! I back filled the line with the pedal down and got resistance at the syrynge.. i pressed the syrynge a bit harder and the pedal popped back up to the released position.. after a bit of resistance.. then there was none and the resoviour filled.. so.. line full.. filled the slave cylinder wet connected it and put it in the gearbox... pressed the pedal and flop.. to the floor with no resistance. So it looks like im stumpped.. starting to wish id never started this now.. its getting a bit much..

What do you sugest i do now john? After i get a clutch drive shafts are in and its reassemble hydraulics and front end.. so near so bloody far...

Hi Paul

Is the push rod still in the slave cylinder?
What slave cylinder and length push rod did you use? (There are 3 variants each with different dimensions).
Do You have standard 2.5 bits with the joint box by the passenger side of the central console?
If so do you have the tool to part it?

Need to know the above to suggest anything other than complete replacement.

It was Malc that tried a direct feed on the blue 2.5 exclusive car after he took the engine out to put a new clutch in.
He put a bleed point at the slave end and eventually lifted the header tank well over half a meter and still could not get it to maintain pressure.
Pipe routing is such that air gets trapped along the route when you try to bleed.
I think this is why Citroen used a two part sealed system for RHD.
Each of the system parts has a long high point without bleed access.
Malc with his single pipe on the same route could bleed it enough to get it to work but not too get rid of all the air.
In frustration he had added head by moving the header higher.
This got a working system for quite awhile.
Driving quite a bit eventually moved enough air to the wrong place where it would compress and you could not get enough clutch to change gear.
Bleed again and the process started again.
I did this twice in the first 20K miles then ripped it out and put a recovered 2.5 system in.

John

Could the header/reservoir be pressurised to help a swift air-purging bleed?

You may find some useful information at: https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... =3&t=27041" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

I have not personally worked with one of these systems, but I had the impression that when the 2 halves are connected, the connector allows fluid to flow from the top to the bottom half. This seems sensible, as the volume of fluid needed to move the slave would exceed the amount that the connector could push through if the 2 halves remained separate.

White Exec wrote:Could the header/reservoir be pressurised to help a swift air-purging bleed?

Assuming there is a bleed nipple on the slave cylinder. Is there?

I had to revert to using compressed air to pressurise a reservoir on a Renault Master van. The setup is very similar, with a joint in the pipework in the engine bay and high points in the pipe that are above the master cylinder.

It is not hard to add a bleed point at the elbow fitting at the slave. Just drill and tap for an M3 screw then fit a screw with a fibre washer when done.

Xm doesnt have an elbow at the slave.. its straight to plastic. I assumed the body was thick walled on the slave. Its not and so wrecked one.. see my slave picture on previous page..

Lot to wade through on the FCF posts.

The blue connector is not fit for life.
It can be uncoupled with the correct tool.
Citroen recommend parting a max of 4 times before replacing with complete new system.
They also prohibit mix and match recovered parts.
The clutch thrust bearing is designed to be recovered and reused.
It must be assembled loose and then fitted with a tool through the slave cylinder hole.

John

citroenxm wrote:Xm doesnt have an elbow at the slave.. its straight to plastic. I assumed the body was thick walled on the slave. Its not and so wrecked one.. see my slave picture on previous page..

You are correct, my XM doesn't have the elbow either, I had not noticed that. Maybe because the ES9 XM re-used the 2.5 clutch parts that were designed earlier than any of the other ES9 installations.

There are at least 3 different designs of slave cylinder and 3 different push rod lengths.
That was fully covered in the FCF posts.
Similarly there were two variations of MG gearbox (slave cylinder variation) and the ML version.
MG and ML clutches use different length thrust bearings.
That gives a fairly wide range of combinations when using second sourced parts.
Some combinations will be correct, some you can get away with and quite a few do not work.

John