Just got an XM! ['92 TDi Estate, J71 MCW]

[citroenxm]

Reg is familiar.. but can't place it. . .I may have a green filler flap or if the hinges or broke a hinge assemble.

J71 MCW was Robert Smarts car, which you and He were under the back of at the Cxm rally in...2011, iirc. It's an early Sd-turbo.

https://www.club-xm.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... =19&t=3626

It was then sold on again in 2021 having been stood for some time.
https://www.club-xm.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10129

Only 3.0 estates were sold in Se trim and they had the Etoile alloys fitted. Etoile alloys were designed for the estate and only available when it was launched, they were then fitted to salons as well after then, but in my opinion appear too solid for the saloon body.

Blimey moses wow.. it has survived well then.. thats fantastic news..

[gwolfski]

I've got the cable detached from the pedal, had to take the front seat out, lie on my back and manoever a screwdriver in to push the clip up. Next point is to get it out of the bulkhead, but the intake of the diesel is like an inch from the firewall, as well as the heater core hoses, and I only have a small prybar.

I can only do a few hours a day, the car's parked in a hay shed with no electricity, and I get off work late.

There's a brown two pin conenctor hanging off the bottom of the seat, but there's nowhere to plug it in (it's seperate from the 3pin one for the power seats). I'm guessing it's for the heated seats?

[Dieselman]

To gain more access you could try removing the upper intake manifold, really for more general access and visibility, as the lower intake manifold is in the way of the cable unit.
On an engine without Egr there is enough room to pull the bell crank unit forwards and wiggle it out to the right side (looking forwards) of the manifold.
Tie a taper onto the old, lower, cable before pulling it out so you can pull the new one round the back of the engine instead of having to manipulate and route it past the manifolds and heater hoses.
If you need more access use a ratchet strap to pull the engine forwards, though this shouldn't be necessary.

I would need to perform a physical check, but the brown 2 pin connector is for the heated seats. Strange it should have the loom without seat pads.

Changing the clutch cable is one of the most awkward jobs there is on a diesel Xm, so you're off to a good start. Like most jobs on an Xm, it's not difficult, just fiddly due to space limitations.
With practice it becomes easier and there is no need to remove the seat.

Have a look how the self adjusting collet works on the new cable before fitting it. The upper cable has to be fully relaxed allowing the disk at the top of the lower cable to press on the collet to release it.
Once the collet is released the outer sheath is allowed to compress the long spring so reduces in length, effectively making the inner cable longer.
You could operate the cable mechanism to compress the spring and lock it off like that until installed, but I've never found that to be necessary.
Once installed, if the upper cable is too tight to allow the collet to release, whilst pulling on the lower cable reach round the manifold and press the disk down the cable to release the collet.
If the bell crank unit isn't installed fully the upper cable will be too tight to allow the collet to release, which is why upper cable length is critical. Once the hole in the bell crank unit and the one in the scuttle protrusion align, the unit should be correctly mounted.

If you do remove the upper intake manifold, it would be worth obtaining a new cam cover seal, as they tend to leak once old...and they leak a lot due to the engine being canted backwards.
P/no 0249 70.
My preference would be to use a seal from Elring, Corteco, or Victor Reinz, as they fit well, don't distort the cam cover and don't leak.

[gwolfski]

I've got the old cable out, the plastic crank lever thing is broken. The replacement has a steel one of those, so I'll get to fitting that one.

I took the plastic part of the intake off, and it is (edit: the inside) coated with a thin layer of black oil. However, the metal part of the is perfectly clean. I looked at the rest and it seems the pcv(?) valve is where the oil gets into the intake, just after the air filter

Edit 2: why is there no chamfers?? it's good practice to chamfer the edges of holes to get stuff to get in easier. I'm struggling to get the white plastic square thing into its hole, which is not helped by a coolant fitting digging into my hand

Edit 3: square part is in. Now getting that protrusion to line up with the slot in the rubber

Edit 4: got the pedal side in

[gwolfski]

Well, that's all the daylight today. I got the pedal end fitted, now trying to get the gearbox end. I think I'm making a mistake somewhere when trying to get the cable longer so it'll go over the arm on the gearbox.

Speaking of the arm on the gearbox: is it supposed to be spring loaded? Or is the free movement (about an inch or two
of travel of the tip of the arm) just slack before it gets to a strong spring?

[citroenxm]

Its a push clutch so the release bearing is on the forks and not attached to the clutch release fingers like a pull clutch so a bit of free movement without the cable attached it ok..

[Dieselman]

You are fortunate having a metal replacement bell crank, however don't dispose of the broken plastic one, they can be repaired.

You can change the bell crank without removing the complete cable by unclipping the upper cable from the pedal and pulling the unit out, then drift out the barrel shaped taper pins from the bell crank and unclip the pivot pin.
The taper pins lock into the metal cable ferrule rings and rotate in the plastic bell crank.

I'm not sure how Citroen would have chamfered the edge of stamped out metal sheet.

See linked posts on clutch cable ferrule and bell crank repairs.
I've subsequently had the upper cable snap, so replaced it with 3mm galvanised cable and a home made ring ferrule.
The original cable is 2mm, plastic coated.

Note the ring crimped near the top of the lower cable, which presses on the collet release when the cable is in the fully relaxed position. This is what allows the lower cable to be pulled out of the sheath against the spring pressure.
Once the ring lifts off the collet release the outer sheath is then locked at that length.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2665&start=130#p103140

[gwolfski]

Going to try to get the rest of the clutch done today. Also planning to take some more pictures of the car to psot here so I have a "before" comparison to look back at later. Should I put those in a new thread in Members Cars, or keep them in this thread?

[citroenxm]

Continue here. We can move the thread into member cars no problem. .

[gwolfski]

On the cable I took out, I can depress this collar and it lets me pull out more cable while compressing the spring around the outside of the cable. On the one I'm in the process of fitting, I can't depress that collar at all.

See attached image

Update: I added some penetrating oil to the gearbox end of the cable and it allowed me to pull more inner cable out - must've been stuck. This has allowed me to hook it over the end of the arm. New problem is, clutch pedal goes to the floor and doesn't seem to be operating the clutch arm at all

Update 2: it operates the clutch arm about a half inch. Not enough to change gears. I fear I might've broken the wlef adjustment mechanism?