Citroen Traction Avant Repairs and Servicing
Whatever the model, age or condition of your Citroen Traction Avant, our workshop is equipped and ready to do whatever necessary to keep it on the road and enjoyable to drive. We keep the more common service and repair parts in stock and what we don't keep, we order in prior to your car arriving - provided we know what we need beforehand.
From routine servicing to major mechanical work, we do it all. We have the special tools required for the suspension, brakes and steering - and have plenty of experience in using them.
Traction Avants need to be serviced at least every 6 months regardless of mileage as there is no oil filter meaning the engine oil must be changed frequently. The ball joints need frequent greasing too.
Although the Traction Avant family of cars are perfectly capable of being used on a daily or weekly basis, not many are and therefore spend a long time sitting still. This tends to make the brakes seize up and if they do, we can rebuild them, front or rear. We generally use brake cylinders sleeved in stainless steel to help prevent the problem recurring. Coolant pumps suffer from lack of use too and we can machine the seal surfaces and rebuild the pumps as good as new.
We have rebuilt many Traction Avant engines over the years, both 4 and 6 cylinder. From reconditioning the cylinder head with hardened valve seats to a full engine rebuild - nothing is too much for us. One aspect of rebuilding engines is balancing. I'm always amazed at how many engine builders do not balance the engine parts prior to assembling the engine, as the extra cost is minimal, but the engine runs so much quieter and smoother when balanced. This is especially important in a Traction Avant with little sound proofing and minimal engine / body isolation.
Traction gearbox noisy or not working as it should? No problem, we can repair or replace it. The gearbox oil is often not changed as often as it should be and when it is, a general garage will probably use a modern GL5 oil instead of the correct GL4 oil, thereby ruining the bronze synchros. A shuddery clutch will hasten the demise of a Traction Avant 3 speed gearbox, so if your clutch doesn't take up smoothly, do something about it before you have to buy a new gearbox too!
All Tractions suffer from heavy steering by modern standards. The first and simplest thing to minimise this is to keep the tyres pumped up to the right pressure - we recommend 29psi (2 bar) all around. I know the handbook says less, but with 29psi the tyres will wear less and the steering will be lighter.The large diameter of the ball joints means that if they are not kept properly greased, the steering will be heavier too. If the steering is still too heavy for you with the tyres pumped up and the ball joints greased, we can supply and fit an electric power steering conversion. This is quite a simple fitment and as it is all hidden away under the dash, nobody need know it's there. The electric power steering completely transforms the way your Traction drives - just ask other owners who've had it fitted already.
Whatever your Traction Avant needs, look now further than Citroen Classics for a top quality repair. Our workmanship carries a lifetime warranty!
