What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

I have a braking problem on the above. The car pulls to the right when using the foot brake and its slow to come to a halt. I give it to my friend to sort out who is an old school mechanic working from home. He has said that no brake fluid would come through and he has even tried using a compressor to force it through and it still would not come through. He has told me that he has traced it back to the ABS ...what ever that means and he is looking for a part in the local scap yards where we live in Merseyside as a new one is about £280 pound. Rob is old school and does not use the internet to look for parts.I am worried it will drag on and am wondering if I could find the part for him it might speed things up.Any ideas ?Thanks Mart.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - gordonbennet

I haven't a clue whether it would be much cheaper than that very reasonable, IMO, £280, but i would be much happier with a properly rebuilt and tested remanufactured unit over one from a scrappy, several companies offer these, my not easily impressed MB indy swears by BBA Reman but i haven't used them myself.

This assumes the diagnosis is correct.

Edited by gordonbennet on 02/03/2014 at 09:09

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - dieselnut

There are plenty of these available cheaply on eBay, here is a typical one :-

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-Xsara-Picasso-ABS-PUMP-...d

It certainly need fixing pronto & not driven until then. Sounds like the left front caliper isn't working at all.

I would be surprised if it were the ABS pump though. Brakes should still work even if the ABS unit fails.

Perhaps the flexi pipe has failed. Your mechanic should be able to find the relevant pipe at the ABS unit & see if there is fluid there.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - Wackyracer

I'm with Dieselnut on this, I'd want to be 100% certain that it is the ABS before buying one, Simple because This is not the kind of fault I'd associate with an ABS pump.

As has been said, It could be a flexible brake hose has internally failed (I've seen this many times) or it could be the master cylinder itself has failed on one circuit. Has your mechanic tried to get fluid out of the rear wheel on the opposite side of the car? that should tell if it is a master cylinder fault. or even just open the brake unions a turn on the master cylinder and see if fluid comes from both when the pedal is pressed?

Like with all faults, Diagnosis is much cheaper than throwing expensive parts at it.

If the fault was with the ABS it should show a warning light for the ABS.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

sounds like good advice...am going to print this off and show him. thanks

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

thanks sorted ebay £40 ....we will see ??

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

thanks for that.the car is not worth that much so am trying not to spend 280 on one part.cheers mart

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

thanks I have found one for him on ebay for £40 pound though going on what one or two other people have said it might not be the abs

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - Avant

Moved to Technical.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - Collos25

I assume he is trying to get fluid through with the engine running.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - Collos25

Sounds to me like a ceased caliper and a mechanic who is out of their depth.

2003 citroen xsara picasso 2.0 HDI - Brakes to the right.. - hmsliverpool

not sure but am going to print all this out and give it to him. I do have a part now but if it dose not work he could try some of the other ideas cheers mart.

ps first time I have used a site like this ...thanks to one and all.