Citroen Mechanic in the South West

[Betweenthewheels]

Greetings folks - I am finding it difficult to find someone mechanical here in Taunton, Somerset who understands the intricacies of my Citroen XM

Does anybody on here know or recommend anyone in the South West that might have an old Citroen background?

Many thanks,

Ultan

[Dieselman]

Try Tony Weston in Cambriidge, Gloucestershire.

What exactly are the issues?

[Peter.N.]

There used to be a Citroen garage at Ottery St Mary, don't know if its still there, might be worth a look.

Peter

[White Exec]

Maybe these folk, Peter?
https://www.saltersgarage.com/

[Peter.N.]

That would be the one. Thanks.

Peter

[Betweenthewheels]

Thanks for these suggestions folks.
The issue is still the brakes, I'm afraid.
Brought it to 3 mechanics here now and the issue of binding still exists - new calipers and 2 sets of brake pads later

[White Exec]

Front or rear, Ultan?

[Dieselman]

Possibly the park brake cables, or doseur valve not releasing fully.
Have you tried flushing the hydraulics yet?

[Betweenthewheels]

Hi Chris - front brakes.
It's being going on for a while now but because I haven't been using the car very much because of Covid I've not been very proactive in getting it fixed.

As I've said, I replaced (sourcing was a problem but got a load of help here) the callipers and new good Citroen recommended brake pads but problem persists.
I printed off the suggestions from the forum here (from my post on front brakes binding) and gave it to (three) mechanic(s) and asked him to do a hydraflush but I'm not sure if he knew what I meant. He said that he bled the brakes and when I said that's not what is suggested, I got the impression he thought I was a smartass. It was Christmas Eve when he was doing this so..........

I've even spotted two separate Xantias at the train station here and put a note on their windscreens to see who services their cars - very disappointed with the level of knowledge (shaking heads, what kind of car is that? kind of questions) of the 3 mechanics I've met here so far (moved from France in March)

I am going to contact the garage on Ottery St Mary (thanks Peter) and see if they can help.

As I might have said before, I absolutely love old Citroens but am not all that mechanically minded. The car is also parked on-street so not the easiest (and warmest) place to begin learning

Regards, Ultan

[White Exec]

I presume you've checked for brake binding by jacking up a front corner of the car, and with all brakes off, finding it difficult to manually rotate the wheel.

Could be parking brake not easing off - use a spanner or grips on the parking brake crank-lever to check it's relaxing properly.
Check that the pip on the brake pad is engaged in the slot in the piston face - If pads without pips have been fitted, the self-adjustment of the pistons/calipers will not function, and the brakes can continually tighten! The pip-slot arrangement is there to prevent the pistons rotating in normal use. Not all aftermarket pads have these pips.
Could be brake pads not able to move in their slots - clean up and sparingly copper grease the pad metal edges where they touch the caliper.
Could be caliper not able to move on its guide pins - check for movement and grease the pins.
Could be hydraulic piston not slightly relaxing in the caliper - wind the piston fully back (clockwise) and refit the pads; applying the parking brake repeatedly should bring the pistons out to their working position.

Could be unwanted and persisting hydraulic pressure in the brake lines/front hoses. Check by removing a wheel, engine running, and slowly release the bleed screw (bit of bleeding pipe and jar attached). Apart from a very small amount of fluid emerging, there should be no real hydraulic pressure or flow there, until the brake pedal is lightly pressed, when the fluid will flow. If flow is there without applying the pedal, problem is doseur/hydraulic.

Check those first mechanical things first, as they need to be in order and ticked off.