Recently we have gotten several questions about Citroen CX brakes. Most often it is a case of the person replacing the pads on their front brakes, but not having replaced the rotors.

Here is the situation with this and any other modern car out in the real world when getting brake work done today. If you don’t want your brakes to pulse or chatter after you replace the pads, you have to replace the rotors also.

The manufacturers really don’t give you much tolerance to work with to turn or resurface the brakes anymore, so this is the best thing to do if you want to eliminate the chance of brake pulsing after you go to the work of replacing the pads.

This issue sort of popped it’s head with the late U.S. speced Citroen DS cars. Brake squeal and pad glazing was a problem, so the pads were made out of a harder and more aggressive compound, and the rotors were made from a softer metal. This got rid of the squeal and glazing for the most part, but it meant that rotors wore out much faster. This problem continues with the Citorën CX models that are in this country.

What you have to remember, is that as that rotor gets thinner and it’s mass is less, it does not have the same capacity to shed off heat that is built up during braking. It therefore warps easier, and things just get worse from there.

Turning or resurfacing the the rotor usually has very short term benefits, especially if the rotor is fairly close to it’s specs recommended by the manufacturer. Plus, a lot of mechanics feel that the metal has a bit of a memory, and it is only a matter of time after resurfacing and the rotor will be back to it’s old ways.

I know it is an additional expense to replace the rotors when you replace the pads, but if you really want to enjoy the high power braking that these systems demonstrate, then reach into your pocket and grab the change for an extra set of rotors when you replace your brake pads

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The Citroën CX introduced in 1974 was the the replacement for the Citroën D Series. It was the last car that was designed by Citroën before Peugeot took them over. A wonderful riding and quite car, the CX was made through 1989 and was then replaced by the Citroën XM.

Over the years working on the Citroën CX  one thing we found that needed attention was the rear suspension trailing arm bearings.Where the D Series car was equipped with very large tapered roller bearings for this function, the CX had light weight, (by comparison) needle bearings.

What would happen over time is these bearings would start to wear and begin to freeze up. This would cause the rear axle not to move up and down freely, and in extreme cases the axle would start to dislocate and cause the alignment to change with extreme tire wear being the result.

That amounted to quite a problem. You see these axles when they are worn in this manner can be very hard to remove and replace the worn out bearing. So what we started to do when a Citroën CX would come into the shop that had rear axle bearings still in good shape was a bit of preventative maintenance in the form of greasing the bearings.

Now to you died-in-the-wool Citroën CX people out there this might sound a bit extreme, but it sure worked for us. This was to locate a spot that was accessible on the bottom of the axle housing where the bearing is housed. (see arrow on parts drawing) Here we would drill and tap a hole into the hollow portion of the housing to accommodate a grease fitting. (As a side note when doing something like this you want to apply some grease to both the drill bit and the tap so that the chips and the filings you make will stick to the grease and not go into the housing).

Once this is done and the grease fitting is threaded in you can apply some grease into your Citroën CX axle bearing housing with your grease gun. You will find that the housing will take a fair amount of grease to fill it up, but use your better judgment and do not pump too much grease into the bearing housing and blow out or damage the bearings .You will know when you start to get a bit of resistance to the grease gun.  After this a pump or two at each service should keep the bearing in good shape.

Another option is to try and get higher up on the housing and then get some gear oil into the housing. You will want to have a plug to plug up the hole after you do this. Either way will get some lubrication into the bearings and that is what you want to do.

Good luck and always remember to wear some eye protection when you are drilling into this material. The use of a variable speed drill will also give you much better control of what you are doing with this project. Stay safe.

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So you want to flush out your Citroën hydraulic system?

OK, so one last hydraulic article and I will move on to other topics, but I couldn’t let you get away with out telling you about a hydraulic flushing product made by Total called Hydraurincage . We seem to call it Hydroflush over here, but Hydraurincage is the correct name for it from the mother land.

This is a good product that I personally have had some very good results with. Any LHM vehicle can benefit from the use of this product if it has any age on it or has sat around or been in storage for any length of time. Total’s Hydraurincage will flush and clean out the hydraulic system making it perform very near to new again.

Now here is what the manufacturer says for use instructions.

1. Drain the hydraulic system as much as possible (Also clean out the Hydraulic filter at this time)
2. Fill the system with TOTAL Hydraurincage . (Bleed the brakes until you see Hydraurincage coming out) (You want it throughout the system to get maximum results.)
3. Drive the vehicle for 1500 to 5000 Km maximum. (Take through one oil change or 3000 Miles)
4. Drain and clean the hydraulic filters . (You will be amazed at the amount of crud you will find)
5. Refill system with Total LHM Plus . (Bleed those brakes once again until you see LHM coming out)

The results that I have found with Total Hydraurincage in the system for just 100 miles is pretty profound. Much better steering response. If the car had Citromatic , or a hydraulic shifting transmission , the shifting was night and day better.

The ride was even improved. In fact, I am told that the product was developed during the production of the CX to help with the varnishing up of the suspension cylinders causing sticking in the suspension cylinder pistons and a harsh ride.

However it was developed is beside the point. It is just a very good product that should be used in every old LHM Citromatic transmission before you set it up with the Dellinger adjusting article .

Total Hydraurincage can be purchased in this country in the East from Brad Nauss Automotive at www.bradnaussauto.com phone: 717-691-8550. Tell Brad you want hydraulic system flush . (and tell him Denis Foley sent you. :0) )

In the West it can be found at www.westernhemisphers.com It is listed as part# M-1200435 Cleaner,hydraulic flush Total.

Now what this product does is get all the varnish and dirt out of the system and bring it back to the filter, and it holds the smaller stuff in suspension until you drain it out. Very good product that I can’t say enough about. Take care of those Citroen beauties, don’t make ‘em any more.

Later,

Denis

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Here is a quick tip when setting the dwell on your Citroen Traction Avant 11B, the 11BL, or the 15/6. It also works on your Citroen D Model, both 3 main and 5 main bearing models. You can use it for the Citroen GS and pre 1982 GSA or the Citroen SM as well. It even works for the Citroen CX. For that matter, it works for any Citroen model that you may have that is equipped with a distributor with points.

This method can also be used on any car, truck, or motorcycle out there that has a distributor with points.

Assuming you have set the timing and the gap on the points it is now time to set the Dwell. Here are the steps to follow:

• Remove the distributor cap.

• Remove your spark plugs.

• Pull the coil wire from your Citroen’s coil.

• Make sure your Citroen’s transmission is in neutral.

Now connect up your dwell meter. If you have a Citroen D Model you can use the nice little starter relay that is located on the positive post of the battery.

If you are not setting the dwell on a Citroen D Model, then you want to use a remote starter trigger switch that is available at the same auto parts store that you obtained your dwell meter from.

Now we will assume you have a good starter and a fully charged battery.

Get your favorite small, flat blade screwdriver in hand. Flip on your ignition. So with your Citroen’s ignition on, your favorite small flat blade screwdriver on the points adjusting screw in the distributor and the dwell meter turned on, push the relay or starter trigger button and turn the engine over.

As you will notice with the spark plugs removed, the Citroen engine is able to turn over quite quickly with no compression. In fact it will turn over fast enough for you to see what the dwell is and adjust it very quickly.

So hopefully this little tip will let you adjust your Citroen dwell accurately and in a very short amount of time, without having to turn the engine on and off to take your distributor cap on and off.

Best of luck, and please leave your comments and questions.

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