****minor tweaks to content and typo's!!
Posted: 31 May 2008, 23:02
Important lesson learned the hard way it seems.
The sphere bracket crown was as rotten as a peach on close concentrated
attention where I tugged all the rubberised covering off the underside, yet
to look at it without actual prodding it all 'looked fine'. The giveaway had I
taken the trouble to be more thorough was the paint lifting on the topside
ledge which flaked away in big swathes to reveal a less than happy more
regularly found bobbly rusty surface.
It would seem that removal to check isn't strictly necessary if you're
prepared to have a real go at the faces visible. I've had the car since
January and done little more than drive it, change the engine oil & filter
and all the Activa rear spheres with the plan to have a thorough going
over checking brakes etc when the weather improves and the light
evenings lengthen - seems events overtook me here.
I must be out of practice as it took me near 2 hours; that's after I'd
finished faffing about getting the bracket from Citroen, bought some
silicone sealant and then remembered I needed to get LHM fluid from
GSF before they closed at 2 just in case I spilled loads about the place!!
FWIW, I've taken some rough and ready pics with my mobile as I was
afraid of doing nasties to my damned expensive Canon Digital Camera.
This is the car as I managed to leave it outside my work with the system
fully depressurised - the bonnet is scrap but is still managing to just about
stop the weather getting into the engine bay.
As Richard said earlier, in a nutshell you basically have to remove
everything connected to the 'sphere mounting bracket' or strut top;
the fluid feed pipe and it's clip/bracket, the main corner sphere and
then you need to undo the big nut on the crown that holds the end
of the strut's inner ram against a taper inside the strut top.
sphere wrench from GSF:
As the car is hydractive, the feed pipe for the hydraulics is the same
diameter as your finger as opposed to the usual 3.5mm.
The big nut of the top is usually very tight; here the whole strut head
swung around and round as it'd totally broken/separated off the wheelarch
- I had to put the sphere back on hand tight to brace it against the
surrounding engine bay fitments:
The next bit is my dodge to knock the inner piston downwards into the
main body - I've learned the hard way in the past that the thread on it's
end can be burred over if you're not careful hitting it as there's not much
to see or hold the nut - I usually have another identical nut to take up the
depth of a socket that I can then give a short sharp tap against - here I
used a small adapter from the socket set - the allan key head in the piston
end allows the nut to be threaded off if it catches and just turns:
You then need a long bar with a slim diameter to compress the inner piston
downwards into the main strut body which will eject a fair bit of fluid about
the place and you could keep the main hydraulic feed connected until after this stage:
The broken head was loose to simply lift out here though it would normally
be connected to the donut/collar attached to the wheelarch if it's still in one piece
- chance would be a fine thing...
you can see here the top face of the LHM covered bump stop:
and this is that inner bump stop:
Then the totally mullared collar/donut is undone:
and dropped down the main strut leg:
and fished off. I've been very nasty to it tugging it about before it got
removed and the lower rubber has hidden a multitude of sins behind it's
smooth rustfree outside surface...
A totally rusted lump of rubbish - no wonder it collapsed!
My dodge that is a 'bit hairy', is to have the car supported by a big trolley
jack (additional blocks/timber is additionally used to hold the bodywork up
with both wheels off the floor and the wheel of the corner in question is left
on - I've found it's easier to get a purchase on the whole strut leg and
move it about to get the right orientation
BUT YOU MUST WATCH THAT YOU DON'T PULL THE DRIVESHAFT
OUT OF THE GEARBOX OR SPLIT ITS TRI-AXE KNUCKLE ON THE
INBOARD END!!
For this particular side of the car, I had the car with a slight left lock on it
to help prevent this happening so easily although it doesn't look very nice:
I then fitted the newer gaiter bellows before I forgot (guess how I found
it's IMPORTANT TO DO THIS BEFORE BEING DISTRACTED BY
EXAMINING THE OLD KNACKERED STRUT in the past...)
Old and new:
The new strut top has a noticeable bump on it's forward facing edge which
must allow easy identification of it's presence on prospective new Xantia
purchases:
Rightho - the assembly!!
I'm determined that this one will be around as long as I can keep the car,
so lashings of clear silicone sealan**** applied:
****EDIT - not such a good idea I've been advised - Acrylic based? TBC
Top of the strut has been swung out to allow access for the old/new sphere
mounting bracket:
Now fit the lovely new strut top and FIT THE BUMP STOP - remember this:
it's a fiddle but you need to fit it inside the strut top head from underneath!!
DO NOT FORGET TO FIT IT!!
I HAVE IN THE PAST AND NEARLY DID AGAIN TODAY!!
Yep, it'll all need to be dismantled to fit the offending item AGAIN...
only handy if you need the practice!!
Now with the wheel aligned right by leaning against it, I can orientate the
strut and grip the inner strut and feed it upwards into the sphere mounting
bracket - it's a bit slippery with LHM so you may need a bit of paper towel
to get a grip on it.
you will find with a bit of jiggery pokery and patience that you can feed the
inner piston up through the head to protrude enough to feed the nut onto
it's thread!!
I could now almost just reshow the removal pics and pretend they're
fastening it all but you get the general idea!! Take your time and reattach
the remaining pipes etc and the jobs a good'un!!
****EDIT - use loctite/threadloc on the big nut on the stru top to maintain
a secure fastening/seal - there are two o rings on the taper and this is the
only way to guarantee no leakage!!
I'm not saying this is the definitive method, just the way I find it works
for me, and if everyone finds a better procedure/sequence post it up with
piccies here!! ****Thanks Simon/Lexi for additional pointers/corrections!!
Andrew
The sphere bracket crown was as rotten as a peach on close concentrated
attention where I tugged all the rubberised covering off the underside, yet
to look at it without actual prodding it all 'looked fine'. The giveaway had I
taken the trouble to be more thorough was the paint lifting on the topside
ledge which flaked away in big swathes to reveal a less than happy more
regularly found bobbly rusty surface.
It would seem that removal to check isn't strictly necessary if you're
prepared to have a real go at the faces visible. I've had the car since
January and done little more than drive it, change the engine oil & filter
and all the Activa rear spheres with the plan to have a thorough going
over checking brakes etc when the weather improves and the light
evenings lengthen - seems events overtook me here.
I must be out of practice as it took me near 2 hours; that's after I'd
finished faffing about getting the bracket from Citroen, bought some
silicone sealant and then remembered I needed to get LHM fluid from
GSF before they closed at 2 just in case I spilled loads about the place!!
FWIW, I've taken some rough and ready pics with my mobile as I was
afraid of doing nasties to my damned expensive Canon Digital Camera.
This is the car as I managed to leave it outside my work with the system
fully depressurised - the bonnet is scrap but is still managing to just about
stop the weather getting into the engine bay.
As Richard said earlier, in a nutshell you basically have to remove
everything connected to the 'sphere mounting bracket' or strut top;
the fluid feed pipe and it's clip/bracket, the main corner sphere and
then you need to undo the big nut on the crown that holds the end
of the strut's inner ram against a taper inside the strut top.
sphere wrench from GSF:
As the car is hydractive, the feed pipe for the hydraulics is the same
diameter as your finger as opposed to the usual 3.5mm.
The big nut of the top is usually very tight; here the whole strut head
swung around and round as it'd totally broken/separated off the wheelarch
- I had to put the sphere back on hand tight to brace it against the
surrounding engine bay fitments:
The next bit is my dodge to knock the inner piston downwards into the
main body - I've learned the hard way in the past that the thread on it's
end can be burred over if you're not careful hitting it as there's not much
to see or hold the nut - I usually have another identical nut to take up the
depth of a socket that I can then give a short sharp tap against - here I
used a small adapter from the socket set - the allan key head in the piston
end allows the nut to be threaded off if it catches and just turns:
You then need a long bar with a slim diameter to compress the inner piston
downwards into the main strut body which will eject a fair bit of fluid about
the place and you could keep the main hydraulic feed connected until after this stage:
The broken head was loose to simply lift out here though it would normally
be connected to the donut/collar attached to the wheelarch if it's still in one piece
- chance would be a fine thing...
you can see here the top face of the LHM covered bump stop:
and this is that inner bump stop:
Then the totally mullared collar/donut is undone:
and dropped down the main strut leg:
and fished off. I've been very nasty to it tugging it about before it got
removed and the lower rubber has hidden a multitude of sins behind it's
smooth rustfree outside surface...
A totally rusted lump of rubbish - no wonder it collapsed!
My dodge that is a 'bit hairy', is to have the car supported by a big trolley
jack (additional blocks/timber is additionally used to hold the bodywork up
with both wheels off the floor and the wheel of the corner in question is left
on - I've found it's easier to get a purchase on the whole strut leg and
move it about to get the right orientation
BUT YOU MUST WATCH THAT YOU DON'T PULL THE DRIVESHAFT
OUT OF THE GEARBOX OR SPLIT ITS TRI-AXE KNUCKLE ON THE
INBOARD END!!
For this particular side of the car, I had the car with a slight left lock on it
to help prevent this happening so easily although it doesn't look very nice:
I then fitted the newer gaiter bellows before I forgot (guess how I found
it's IMPORTANT TO DO THIS BEFORE BEING DISTRACTED BY
EXAMINING THE OLD KNACKERED STRUT in the past...)
Old and new:
The new strut top has a noticeable bump on it's forward facing edge which
must allow easy identification of it's presence on prospective new Xantia
purchases:
Rightho - the assembly!!
I'm determined that this one will be around as long as I can keep the car,
so lashings of clear silicone sealan**** applied:
****EDIT - not such a good idea I've been advised - Acrylic based? TBC
Top of the strut has been swung out to allow access for the old/new sphere
mounting bracket:
Now fit the lovely new strut top and FIT THE BUMP STOP - remember this:
it's a fiddle but you need to fit it inside the strut top head from underneath!!
DO NOT FORGET TO FIT IT!!
I HAVE IN THE PAST AND NEARLY DID AGAIN TODAY!!
Yep, it'll all need to be dismantled to fit the offending item AGAIN...
only handy if you need the practice!!
Now with the wheel aligned right by leaning against it, I can orientate the
strut and grip the inner strut and feed it upwards into the sphere mounting
bracket - it's a bit slippery with LHM so you may need a bit of paper towel
to get a grip on it.
you will find with a bit of jiggery pokery and patience that you can feed the
inner piston up through the head to protrude enough to feed the nut onto
it's thread!!
I could now almost just reshow the removal pics and pretend they're
fastening it all but you get the general idea!! Take your time and reattach
the remaining pipes etc and the jobs a good'un!!
****EDIT - use loctite/threadloc on the big nut on the stru top to maintain
a secure fastening/seal - there are two o rings on the taper and this is the
only way to guarantee no leakage!!
I'm not saying this is the definitive method, just the way I find it works
for me, and if everyone finds a better procedure/sequence post it up with
piccies here!! ****Thanks Simon/Lexi for additional pointers/corrections!!
Andrew