Drove our 306 for the first time in a while yesterday (my wife drives it most of the time), and thought the clutch seemed heavier than i remembered. Not sure if it was just because i was used to the lighter clutch on my car, but SWMBO also commented on it, saying she thought it was getting slightly heavier.
Reading the car-by-car breakdown, it comments on the clutch cable being susceptible to drying out, which might cause this. Has anybody got any more thoughts on this before i rush out to buy a new cable? Or is there any way to test if the cable is at fault?
Ta,
Owen
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Its not the clutch cable in my experience, its the clutch itself. I have changed the cable on many a 306 with no resulting change in pedal stiffness. It seems as the clutch wears, it gets heavier; the same is true of cars which use the same engine/gearbox setup such as the Citroen Xantia. (I also cannot really see how the exhaust 'dries' out the cable. The cable passes under the exhaust pipe by some distance, right in the airflow, also partially protected by the engine subframe.) You may not notice any clutch wear in the traditional sense that the biting point rises, as the cable has a self adjuster built into it. You may find gear selection is baulky and it may sometimes grind when selcting reverse.
Hope this is of some help!
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The 306 XSi is well known for this - it's to do with the location of the cable and exhaust, particular to this car. A cable is MUCH cheaper than a new clutch (although ISTR it's a git to fit on these!), and if you do end up with a new clutch, at least you will know the new cable will be silky smooth :-)
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Of course a new cable is cheaper than a new clutch and of course the cheapest options should always be explored first; but in my experience the clutch is just as heavy when the new cable is fitted.
RossD
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i remember on my old Mk1 golf GTi, the clutch pedal was considerable lighter after a replacement clutch was fitted (due to slipping). Thing is that the golf had 147k on the clock when the new clutch was needed. The Peugeot only has 58k on the clock, which seems very early for a new clutch, even taking into account a possible hard life before we had it.
Oh well, i'll try a new cable, it's only £15 from euro car parts. Really, really don't want to have to change the clutch though!
BTW, why does the clutch feel heavier when worn?
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Owen, to quote Dave Burns from the Andyspares forum:
"I believe as do some others that the clutch gets heavier due to the changing geometry of the diaphragm spring as wear takes place, there are other contributory factors also like the drying up lubricant and the onset of rust formation at critical points, heavy dust build up is another hinderance."
Ross
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cheers Ross - a degree in automotive engineering helps me understand how things work, but doesn't help that much in understanding why things stop working!
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