One of my staff has a P reg Xantia 1.9 TD .
Between the seats is a built in console with gear lever ,handbrake , coin and key tray ,suspension adjuster and ashtray at the back.
So he gets to work , puts the handbrake on , picks up his office keys from the tray and then accidentally drops them down a gap which appears when the handbrake is on full into the channel underneath.
He cannot work out how to get them out , any suggestions as to how to get to the channel without destroying the console gratefully received.
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Magnet on a stick
Trained ferret
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Don't know about the ferret mss1tw.......
I have actually got somewhere an excellent tool for picking up those screws which drop into awkward places in the engine bay which is like a magnet on the end of an aerial .
It is pen size but extends to about 2 ft.
It might do the job - if only I could remember where I left it but I don't think it will be flexible enough.
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Unless you have answer before, I will look in the "book" when I get home.
PS Don't put ferrett down there, trained or not. They can damage the handbrake cable and play havoc with the wiring!
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I have just had a look at the car with him and I found that when you remove the ashtray at the back there are a couple of screws which hold the back end of the console but I think my magnet on a stick may do the trick so I am going to have a hunt for it tonight.
I am very surprised at how big a gap there is when the handbrake is fully on .
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You "may" find a hidden one at the front in the tray, covered with a plastic push in plug, worth a look.
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Can you see them ?
Items that might help
Mirror on a stick + maglite.
Flexible retrieving wand with little claws in the end operated by a plunger at the othe end.
Various extendable ( aerial like) devices with a magnet on the end.
e.g
www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040219351
www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040211428
www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040211429
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Be very careful about putting magnets near car keys--many of them have embedded microchips.
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Be very careful about putting magnets near car keys--many of them have embedded microchips.
A very good point.
A cut off length of wire coathanger with a tight hook fashioned at the end might be useful.
It might be better to try and extract the keys by their reverse route rather than backwards through the centre console.
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Why should a magnet affect a microchip?
Are the office keys magnetic??? Most highish security keys are brass/alloy eg Chubb et al
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pmh (was peter)
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I have a "Controle technique for the Zantia.
Instructions for removal of centre console are as follows.-
1. Remove front armrest
2. Remove ashtray and "vide poches" (the bigger tray at front of console and small one back left)
3. Disconnect the two connestors for electric windows (if fitted)
4. Disengage the gear lever "sock"
5. Undo the two screws at the front and the two at the rear of the console then lift the cental console (unfortunately irt doesn't say where these screws are located!!!)
Exploded view of console can be found at
groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?Page=Last
Hope this helps
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Phil
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Phil,
I'm glad you posted that, I had a look in the manual and started going a bit faint when I got to the disconnect handbrake cables from the calipers bit!
The 2 front screws look as if they are in the next aperture forward of either the gearlever or the immobiliser aperture (illustration isn't that clear. The rear are hidden by the ashtray but I think helicopter has found those.
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Well thanks for all the suggestions and the diagram - SWMBO found the magnet on a stick for me eventually ( in the place that I thought it was and checked twice without finding it !)
The keys are usual Chubb brass type office keys , not his car keys so we don't need to worry about the that.
He has them on a steel dog lead type keyring so I hope to be able to lift them out tomorrow.
It looks like dismantling the console could be a fiddly job but hopefully will not be necessary.
I'll let you know how we get on.
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Well we managed to fish them out with the magnet this morning - ideal tool for the job . It took about 30 seconds of fishing around.
Thanks to all for the suggestions and assistance .
He now keeps the office keys on his belt loop......
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Well we managed to fish them out with the magnet this morning - ideal tool for the job .
Re magnetic recovery tools.
I bought another varient in OZ that I have not seen in the UK. It is an aluminium/alloy soft bendable rod about 12 inches long with a magnet on the end.
I have yet to try it out in a panic situation.
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Ask your nearest Citroen dealer how they do it. They probably have to recover items lost in this area all the time.
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L\'escargot.
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Mine is the phase 2 facelifted model, 1999 reg and there are no apertures in the consol with the handbrake on or off. The height control selector's slot is also sealed regardless of the selected position. Either Citroen had complaints about it or helicopter's colleague's car has a bit broken/missing.
PS make sure that he keeps his belt done up!
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This is a bangernomics car. He buys cheap for a years use, hes had Lada, Skoda and old Rovers.
I think the Xantia is a MK 1 .Its an ex taxi and has had a long and hard life it has over 200 K on the clock..
The handbrake does not have a skirt around it and when it is on it is almost verical exposing the hole.
In its previous life the console may well have been dismantled and put back together incorrectly or with skirt missing.
He bought it very cheap three months or so ago because the clutch was going, got it sorted , gave it a years MOT and has done 6000 miles or so in without any further serious problems. If it lasts the year it doesn't owe him anything.
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"The handbrake does not have a skirt around it and when it is on it is almost verical exposing the hole."
Not sure if this is the case with rhe Xantia but in my old BXs you could "adjust" the handbrake by (stationary but engine running) pressing hard on the footbrake and then pulling the handbrake up and releasing it several times - a sort of pumping action - until handbrake only needed 3 or 4 clicks to be fully on. Might be worth a try.
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Phil
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Just to advise that he tried out your BX suggestion to adjust the handbrake on the Xantia Phil but it does not appear to work..
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If the front calipers & handbrake cables are in good condition then there should be no need what so ever to adjust a Xantia handbrake.
Normally its the handbrake part of the caliper sticking or a cable stretching / snapping that causes the issues with the Xantia ( unless it missed the very early Xantia handbrake lever rachet recall )
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