Citroen brake disc roulette (Xsara Picasso - wtf)

[Toaster Pilot]

Trying to change the discs and pads on a Xsara Picasso that I have at the moment - it doesn't have ESP and has Bosch brake calipers so out of the 3 options for that model/year/engine (!) I seem to have the right discs.

Only problem is the pad carrier doesn't fit over the top of them and fouls on the disc before it's located where the bolts go - the discs seem to be too thick (old discs are a fair bit thinner than they would've been when new)

There is a thinner option but Euro Car Parts say it's for Lucas calipers only....

Anyone else had this kind of fkwittery trying to find the right brake parts? Seems that Citroen just fitted whatever they had lying around the factory.

[ezi]

Have you made sure the caliper is slid all the way back? It's possible that the sliders have rusted and so they aren't sliding all the way back, get some WD40 sprayed into the seals and leave it for a while to work it's magic then try again. I find that I sometimes need to get a pair of large grips on there to push right back.

[anarki]

Yes I remember replacing the discs and pads on our old picasso - it was a 51 plate 1.6 8v petrol. I had the same problem as you.

Basically I had to go back to GSF with the old disc and old pads, to get the correct disc/pad combination but the guys there were very helpful.

Obviously I had a second car to do this in, I don't generally drive cars without the front discs/pads in place

[Toaster Pilot]

ezi said:

Have you made sure the caliper is slid all the way back? It's possible that the sliders have rusted and so they aren't sliding all the way back, get some WD40 sprayed into the seals and leave it for a while to work it's magic then try again. I find that I sometimes need to get a pair of large grips on there to push right back.

Not got as far as putting the caliper back together - the bracket that holds the pads in place (that the top half of the caliper with the piston bolts on to) doesn't fit over the disc

[Toaster Pilot]

anarki said:

Yes I remember replacing the discs and pads on our old picasso - it was a 51 plate 1.6 8v petrol. I had the same problem as you.

Basically I had to go back to GSF with the old disc and old pads, to get the correct disc/pad combination but the guys there were very helpful.

Obviously I had a second car to do this in, I don't generally drive cars without the front discs/pads in place

I'll probably end up needing to do this but the problem is that the old discs are not the thickness they should be - obviously been running with fked pads for a while and not for the first time.

[anarki]

Toaster Pilot said:

anarki said:

Yes I remember replacing the discs and pads on our old picasso - it was a 51 plate 1.6 8v petrol. I had the same problem as you.

Basically I had to go back to GSF with the old disc and old pads, to get the correct disc/pad combination but the guys there were very helpful.

Obviously I had a second car to do this in, I don't generally drive cars without the front discs/pads in place

I'll probably end up needing to do this but the problem is that the old discs are not the thickness they should be - obviously been running with fked pads for a while and not for the first time.

The discs I replaced were shot, like no contact patch left. I used a set of vernier calipers to measure the thickness of them and went by the minimum thickness give or take .3 of a mm.

That left me with one sure option of the correct disc to get.

The pads are differentiated by the springs clips on the top so they were easy to match in the shop.

[ezi]

Toaster Pilot said:

ezi said:

Have you made sure the caliper is slid all the way back? It's possible that the sliders have rusted and so they aren't sliding all the way back, get some WD40 sprayed into the seals and leave it for a while to work it's magic then try again. I find that I sometimes need to get a pair of large grips on there to push right back.

Not got as far as putting the caliper back together - the bracket that holds the pads in place (that the top half of the caliper with the piston bolts on to) doesn't fit over the disc

Ah I read it as though the caliper was in one piece and it was just the pads wouldn't fit over the disc.

[Toaster Pilot]

anarki said:

The discs I replaced were shot, like no contact patch left. I used a set of vernier calipers to measure the thickness of them and went by the minimum thickness give or take .3 of a mm.

That left me with one sure option of the correct disc to get.

The pads are differentiated by the springs clips on the top so they were easy to match in the shop.

I suspect in that case I'll end up fitting the "lucas only" discs, they're the only thinner option that still comes in at 266mm wide.

Not handy that it's my only transport at the moment (currently running new pads on old stty discs, going to probably need to buy another set of pads now too!)

[anarki]

Toaster Pilot said:

I suspect in that case I'll end up fitting the "lucas only" discs, they're the only thinner option that still comes in at 266mm wide.

Not handy that it's my only transport at the moment (currently running new pads on old stty discs, going to probably need to buy another set of pads now too!)

266mm will be the diameter of the disc not the thickness/width

There were 3 options for our car - NU51 KWK, 20.5mm, 22mm or 26mm.

After measuring the thickness, even the worn thickness, it was a simple choice to make to get the correct disc.

[Toaster Pilot]

The 26mm thick one is the bigger diameter disc for vehicles with ESP though isn't it?

[anarki]

Toaster Pilot said:

The 26mm thick one is the bigger diameter disc for vehicles with ESP though isn't it?

Sorry but I don't know on that one.

Honestly I was in the same boat as you, had a random parts bin Citroen, on axle stands with discs/pads that had no bearing on what was on the car.

Phoned GSF who said just bring the parts down we'll work it out, their database couldn't match up what the car had, figured stuff out, fitted it, job jobbed.

This was over 18 months ago and the missus has since purchased a 100NX, so finding parts for that is the exact cyrstal maze I had in the first place with the Picasso.

Sorry I can't help any more mate, but rest assured the French are s.

[Toaster Pilot]

yes they are!

Will work it out and post my findings, hopefully help someone else with one of these piles of st

[MG CHRIS]

Citroens are a pain with disc choices in work we just have all 3 etc choices send out and normally just by looking at the box where it has been tapped together the one that hasn't is the right one. The other choices then will go back and sent out to another garage to do the same thing.

Just take the disc back to them and they will match it.

[acf8181]

Just had a nightmare with discs for my xsara coupe

initially fitted ones with slightly wrong offset which rubbed carrier, and thus couldnt be returned

[shoehorn]

Renault used to be famous for this as well.
The problem is worse than you think there is a combination of Bendix,Girling,Bosch,Lucas and ATE stuff across the range and having a Bendix master cylinder coupled with Lucas calipers and ATE back brakes is not uncommon,or indeed any combo of the above.