Citroen XM Forum

I'm going to try and get a metal replacement support tray made up to replace the plastic one that protects the hydraulic pipes under the passenger foot well as the plastic design is poop especially with age. Possibly looking at £50 maybe less if possible if I order a batch of 10.

They will be unpainted and untreated but possibly stainless if needed and approx 1mm maybe 2mm thick

Also the potential for front under trays to be made up if people wanted...

Id sooner rip the under trays off..

They are a good source of damp or moisture holding between them and the pipe clips resulting in rot..

They may well be but this one in particular protects your pipes from road debris. The under engine one can protect or trap dirt if it's not taken off often enough, ie at least once a year when a service is due. Regular washing also flushes moisture holding dirt out of these areas which are just as bad as arch liners and arches. It's poor lazy care that leads to the rot. Regular rinsing to get the moisture holding dirt and salt from winter off the body is the only way to go really as you can't remove every plastic shield on the car without much worse detriment

I have had recent experience on two cars where the hydraulic pipes underneath became corroded and holed against the plastic clips where moisture is trapped, therefore on the balance I think exposure to the air and ventilation is probably a good thing. Although the pipes appear very exposed and minor damage does sometimes occur I am not aware of any failures due to impact from road borne debris etc. With regards, Matthew T.

The section I am on about is extremely claustrophobic for pipes, they all bunch up together in the few XMs I've seen underneath so leaves and muck will easily catch and hang up around there. If there's no interest still then at least I've tried

The large number of pipes there do deserve some sort protection from flying road debris - although varies according to what sort of roads you drive on.
The pipe runs do sit where the FL wheel kicks up stones.
Agree that the OE plastic duct-tray isn't very stout, and the fixing holes in it give out.

If the pipework were to be more tightly encased (to prevent entry of mud, grit, stones), then the risk is that dampness and dust would still get in, and promote rust.

Probably what's there at the moment is a good compromise:
- It stops stone impacts
- It allows ventilation
- It allows some sight of how much mud is trapped

A more durable and louvred tray would be good, which could still be dropped for inspection, cleaning out.
Pipes should obviously be kept waxed.

On reflection I think there is a case for protection behind some form of cover as the pipe painted coating if not the pipe itself can certainly be damaged by road debris, leading to corrosion and eventual holing. I also agree with that regular checking to extract trapped debris and coating with waxoil or similar is beneficial, including as I have found to my cost removing and refitting pipes from plastic clips! The only other possible problem with covering something up is that it does not get checked until a failure occurs! Regards, Matthew T.

Best to keep the pipes covered up.
The MOT man is not allowed to remove to examine the pipes.
When you count up there are something in excess of 100 fixing points where the coated pipe goes into a plastic clip.
Any visible corrosion at a single one can be a test failure.
A single drip of LHM on one whatever the source can be a test failure.

I went to repair some pipes on a MOT failed V6 a couple of years ago.
Report said two pipes severely corroded.
Had to have the trouble spots pointed out to me.
If it had been my car I would have argued but I had stopped off for half an hour in the middle of a 250 mile trip.
Car owner was not present and needed the car through the test.
I cleaned up the affected areas, painted one black and cut out and put a joint in the other.
The cut out bit clearly showed there was no significant loss of pipe section.

There is an even greater number of hidden pipe clips on the top of XM back axles.
They usually let you know if you XM has a pipe corrosion problem.

John

The rest of the plastic pipework covers tend to hold ok from what I've seen but the front angular piece takes the full brunt of the crud being flicked up and airflow under the car bending it back.

I agree the front one is the main problem.
On my first 2.5 flood water was enough to rip it off.
Those were the days when Citroen still supplied new pipe covers.

John