Citroen XM Forum

Hi Chris

The outer is cast around the inner core and cannot be made as a one piece separate item to be fitted after casting.

There seems to be a shortage of spare levers, not even broken ones to experiment with.

John

Could the whole thing (inner and outer) be cast as single item?

John's repaired example is a really good effort – almost indistinguishable from new! And he pointed out the reason for the cracking that eventually disintegrates: the hard plastic inner handle (which has ridges in it) heats up and expands, putting pressure on the rubber outer which also hardens over the years thus becoming somewhat brittle.

Mark W

Hi Chris

Best to file the make new gear lever under not worth the effort.

My reasoning is:
The only two of us interested in making new auto gear levers have no need of them for our manual cars.
As far as I can see demand is going to be very low anyway.
Rebuild by glue repair now works.
I have one spare one to be able to run a rebuild service when needed.
I have been lucky so far in finding a full set of broken bits.
I have a plastic pen and ABS reel somewhere to fill in larger missing bits freehand.
The unacceptable appearance of some of the rebuilt heads will no doubt arise from our perfectionists members.
I am certain a carefully stitched leather cover can be made at extra cost to meet any such concerns.

Plastic printing is a superb tool.
Properly set up its output of already designed products can consistently produce great items.
Designing and proofing those products can be a lengthy nightmare that often does not end well.
Home plastic printers are difficult to set up and keep calibrated.
I regularly get told I am unduly pessimistic.
As yet we do not have an expert member in this field offering services.
That seems to confirm the difficulty but it would be great if someone proves me wrong.

John

Will go along with that. Not pessimistic, just realistic!
The auto gear handle got fitted to many PSA cars, so anyone desperate can always trawl the scrapyards or 2/h parts outfits.

Well I spent weeks trying to find a S/H one with no luck, except from forum member Jan-Hendrik who located one in Japan for some 800yen, plus carriage!

Add another zero to that figure. And, by the way, the part is no longer on offer. There IS a different one for sale, for only 2600 yen, but that's a cracked up one
Fortunately a disfigured lever won't render the transmission inoperative, it is not a critical part that could stop the vehicle in its tracks. We make our own choices, I picked up a new part when I realized there was a chance which was not likely to recur, but am aware this was my personal choice. You could stretch a firm piece of sponge over the top of the knob and ask your GF, wife or friend to knit and stitch a nice cover. I have seen those covers. Fashioning a knob out of wood as I have shown before is challenging, but feasible, and won't take more time than spending days trying to locate a usable part on the net and elsewhere. Anyone up to the task?

Just out of interest (can't quite let this one go, John), can anyone confirm whether our T-handle is reversible for LHD/RHD?
What I'm asking is, could someone try flipping it round, to check it fits and functions?
SFAIK, the central rod just has to lift.

There are a dozen huge breaker's yards here, and I'm not averse to a visit to the one street where they all are.
Seem to have a choice of XM XMII Xan Xan II ZX Xsara - auto except V6.
Just want to get hold of one of these to examine.

White Exec wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:32 pm

Just out of interest (can't quite let this one go, John), can anyone confirm whether our T-handle is reversible for LHD/RHD?
What I'm asking is, could someone try flipping it round, to check it fits and functions?
SFAIK, the central rod just has to lift.

There are a dozen huge breaker's yards here, and I'm not averse to a visit to the one street where they all are.
Seem to have a choice of XM XMII Xan Xan II ZX Xsara, all autos except V6.
Just want to get hold of one of these to examine.

Sorry Jan-Hendrik, I forgot one of my zeroes

John has now sent me back MY repaired handle, which is perhaps even more impressive than the one he sent me earlier. The man's a star! I will fit it tomorrow and try reversing the handle to see if it'll work on a LHD car, then report back.

Mark W

Thanks, Mark.
Splendid. Could you also post a photo or two of it and its fixing, if possible?