Citroen Xsara (1997 - 2004) - Faulty brakes - possible skid risk?

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Wed 9 Sep 2009 20:53
Faulty brakes - possible skid risk? - David Horn
I seem to remember reading a few months ago a post from Number Cruncher discussing the risks of driving a car with a faulty ABS controller. Specifically, the risk was that of locking the rear wheels and losing control of the car.

I used to have a Citroen Xsara (no ABS), which once, under heavy braking, violently went into a skid/slide. I released the brakes and corrected the skid, and stopped safely, but was a bit shaken up. I put it down to oil or diesel on the road and thought nothing of it.

Anyway, a similar thing happened to my sister (she owns the car now), and it's taken me a while to put two and two together. At every MOT the tester told me that the brake distribution valve had seized, but he'd managed to free it off.

Is it possible that a failure of this valve led to the locking of the rear wheels, and the car going into a slide? It's the coupe version and due to the lightness of the back looks prone to oversteering anyway.

Just wondering whether it's worth getting this valve changed if there's a chance it could do it again.

Cheers,

Dave.
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Wed 9 Sep 2009 21:55
Faulty brakes - possible skid risk? - Number_Cruncher
>>Is it possible that a failure of this valve led to the locking of the rear wheels,

Yes, absolutely.

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Wed 9 Sep 2009 23:28
Faulty brakes - possible skid risk? - bell boy
yes
and dammed dangerousd as it is too
take car off sis till new valve fitted
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Thu 10 Sep 2009 20:31
Faulty brakes - possible skid risk? - David Horn
Thanks chaps, will get it sorted pronto.
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Thu 10 Sep 2009 22:32
Faulty brakes - possible skid risk? - Statistical outlier
I wonder if it has been a problem for a long time, I owned one of those Xsara coupes for about 60k miles and never once had anything like oversteer, even when driven 'enthusiastically'. Understeer yes, or a neutral slide, but not even in the wet....

Sounds like it needs doing ASAP.
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