Power steering pump, Broken Spring in Union

[mike H]

I found a fluid leak from the union on top of the power steering pump as my car was having a new starter motor fitted along with a replacement center exhaust box at my local garage and then going to another garage for it's MOT all on the same day. The mechanic said he could fix the leak which he did. To my horror my car failed due to the back brakes not working.The mechanic thought it maybe something to do with the hydraulics so he rechecked the union only to find that the spring inside was broken.The brakes seemed OK before I took it to the garage!!!

1st. Would this be the cause why my back brakes did not work properly.

2nd. If so where can I buy a new spring or does it mean a new or recon. pump.

any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks Mike

[Peter.N.]

Hi Mike

If this is an XM we are talking about it doesn't have a power steering pump as such the steering runs from the main hydraulic pump. I don't see how a hydraulic pump fault could only affect the rear brakes. The feed to the brake valve comes from the rear suspension so if that is functiong OK the fault must be in the brake valve unless the rear brakes have siezed - not unknown. They get so little use that the pads can rust to the calipers/pins.

Peter

[xmexclusive]

Even when working correctly the back brakes do very little work on an XM with no load in the rear. A 25kg bag of sand in the boot can often make a real difference to the way those rear brakes operate.

John

[mike H]

Thanks Guys for your quick replies. Peter I was told by my garage it was the power steering pump, but after talking to him again he now knows it's called a High Pressure pump.
He has had no luck in tracking down a replacement spring.
In the mean time I phoned Pleiades and they said you will have a job finding one. They could refurb. my pump and send it back, cost about 180 pounds. That's one dear spring!!!

My garage said they could get it refurbed and refit it for less. As they still have my car and have done all the other work so far which I have not paid for as yet and it's got to have a MOT re-test. I have decided to go with his offer.
It could be what you said Peter about the rear brakes have siezed, I will pass that info onto my garage asap.
When braking would you know if the rear brakes were working or not ? as I have not noticed any change.

John are you saying I should carry abit of extra weight in the boot. Would this improve the cars braking ?

[xmexclusive]

The extra weight in the boot can be worth putting in for the MOT.
It may make the difference between a fail and a pass with advisory.
Because of the way the Citroen hydraulics work the extra weight makes the rear brakes do a bit more work.

John

[Peter.N.]

The XM is very front heavy and as two thirds of the braking on a normal car is done by the front brakes on the XM its even more and its unlikely you would notice them not working until MOT time!. As John says, some added weight in the boot will make them work harder and may even unstick them.

Peter

[Jan-hendrik]

Hi Mike,
You seem to have the same car as I do. Year 2000 V6-24v.
This XM has the 6+2 LHM HP pump.
Your leak probably occurred at the top at A. If the spring underneath were broken you would have pressure issues that affect the whole suspension. If you have no suspension problems the cause of the brake failure is something different.
The broken spring is disturbing as well as suspicious, but before working on the pump the rear brake calipers need to be checked and freed up, something that needs to be done anyway always before an MOT.

[mike H]

Sorry Guys for not replying before this.

In the end I got Pleiades to refurb my pump, great service and very nice people to do business with.
Thanks to this forum for the link.

My local garage re-fitted the pump, fixed the back brakes and my car passed the MOT.

A Big Thank You for all your help and advice with this problem.

Kind Regards
mike H