Siezed Front Brakes, Siezed front brakes

[J370UBL]

Hi, my XM 2.0 Si was taken off the road and placed in storage about 4 years ago when the front brakes siezed on. I suspected at the time that the problem was caused by sticking calipers but the likelihood of this happening on both sides at the same time is minimal... The alternative scenario is a problem with the hydraulic system causing spurious pressure to be appiled to the front calipers. Has anyone else heard of this problem? If yes, any suggestions as to how it could be sorted out?

Thanks in anticipation.
Paul

[aengus-xmv6]

Could be the doseur valve, check the pivot is moving free that links the pebal pushrod to the actuator on the valve.

Also, check the front wiper motor linkages - apparently they can wear and disconnect, ending up with an emergency braking effect when the linkage hist the acruator on the doseur.

regards
Dave

[xmexclusive]

Hi J370

My first check would simply be the front brake pads. If your car has the later (from 91) Bendix calipers then these have a history of locked front brakes from wrongly fitted pads. To tell the caliper type look at the parking brake lever on the caliper. If it is the old type it will be cast metal with a cruiciform cross-section. If it is the later suspect type the parking brake lever will be formed from a piece of round bar. To check the pads are correct only one of a pair should have a metal nib at the center of the backing plate. The nib MUST be fitted piston side as it is the control stop for the parking brake auto adjust. It is common to find XM's with both the nibbed pads in one caliper or the nibs fitted the wrong side. It usually takes a few months from fitting for the pads to lock up so it is assumed to be a new fault.

Regards

XMexc

[J370UBL]

Thanks very much for the feedback so far! For info, the brakes started locking up shortly after they were fitted by a (non Citroen specialist) local grage. This would indicate that the wrong pads were fitted or they were fitted incorrectly. It would have been quite a coincidence if the system failed so soon after the pads were replaced...

Regards,
Paul

[citroenxm]

Welcome to the fourm!!

I just want to say, you may well get some comments from your UBL registration!

There are a fair few dotted about, but useually on S2 cars, your looks like a first on a S1 car wearing the UBL reg.. well, at least the "BL" area code!


Glad to hear another car may be hitting the road again soon!


Good luck


C

[J370UBL]

Hi C, Thanks for the welcome: I think 'BL' is a Berkshire registration and I presume a lot registered in this area were probably originally Citroen UK fleet cars (even though Slough is in Bucks I think... Reading VLO was/is more convenient to get to than Buckingham, Milton Keynes or wherever in Bucks...)

Mine will hopefully be back on the road this summer, providing I can actually move the thing out of the barn to fix the brakes...

Paul