Xantia rear suspension

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 07 Nov 2004, 21:55

Hi,
My 1995 Xantia TD has just developed a fault with its rear suspension. The fault first seemed to materialise about a week ago when the steering seemed rather stiff at certain positions. This seemed to clear but today the rear suspension has sunk and will not rise. Front seems OK, brakes and steering seem OK. The warning light goes out OK and there is plenty of LHM. I have checked the height corrector linkage and it all seems OK. Could it be the central sphere at the back? The rear end is right down and will not rise at all. Any help greatly appreciated.

Ian Fearn · Post by **Ian Fearn** » 07 Nov 2004, 22:17

Having completly messed up the replacement of the centre rear sphere on a Xantia i can tell you it shouldn't be effecting your suspension as i its there for your rear brakes in the event of a stall. (correct me if i'm wrong!)
I blanked off this sphere to drive the car to a garage and the suspension operated fine.

bernie · Post by **bernie** » 07 Nov 2004, 23:54

Sounds like the small white plastic link piece has come off the H/C linkage.

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 08 Nov 2004, 01:09

Thanks for the help. From reading various posts it seems the small clip is not part of the manual lever linkage. If so, should the car rise when the lever is set to high, even with the clip missing? If so, it doesn't. I'm not too sure how the H/C's work.

bernie · Post by **bernie** » 08 Nov 2004, 02:28

Yes it should rise with the lever set to high even if the clip is missing.
If the linkage is actually moving the rod on the H/C then I would say it's blocked internally.
If it's not moving it (just the spring is moving) then the H/C is jammed solid.
Take it to bits and clean.
Anders has written a piece on how to clean it

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 08 Nov 2004, 03:16

Thanks for the reply. Watching the H/C as the lever is moved it does seem to move although the car rear never rises. As you say, this does seem to suggest it is blocked internally. Looks like I will have to strip it out and clean it.

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 08 Nov 2004, 12:12

After thinking about it, is there any way of finding out if fluid is reaching the rear H/C. I don't really want to strip it out if it is something else that is blocked.
Thanks for your help.

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 08 Nov 2004, 13:29

Before you start ripping things apart, try this:
I don't know if you can get to the pressure relief screw on the pressure regulator from above on your model, if you can, great, other wise drive it up on something to give you access to it from underneath (the pressure regulator is a metal block bolted to the front of gearbox close to the bellhousing with a sphere on to of it - it has one 12mm bolt sticking out of the front - all the others are 13mm)
- lower the car fully with the height control lever (with the engine running)
- open the pressure relief bolt not more than one turn - you should hear a loud suck as the pressure is released
- wait about 30 secs and tighten it again, try raising the car with the height control lever to max - wait a few minutes, if this doesn't help, repeat a couple of times.
This should hopefully remove any air trapped in the system and it doesn't cost anything (except time).
Otherwise I would make sure that the height control linkage really is moving the height selector arm on the height compensator.
//NiSk

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 08 Nov 2004, 19:44

Thanks, I will try that tonight. Do you loosen the screw with the engine running or stopped?

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 09 Nov 2004, 00:18

Oh Well, tried it with no success. Any other ideas anyone?
Thanks for your help.

keitharb · Post by **keitharb** » 09 Nov 2004, 00:21

Oh Well, tried it with no success. Any other ideas anyone?
Thanks for your help.

bernie · Post by **bernie** » 09 Nov 2004, 01:03

I take it you tried //NiSk suggestion?
I think you will have to strip the H/C

ghostrider · Post by **ghostrider** » 09 Nov 2004, 03:52

Just check that the h/c is moved by the manual lever, the manual lever is connected via a spring arrangemant so it is possible for the manual rod to move and all it does is stretch the spring rather than moving the vertical lever it is attached to, the whole of that assembly is a bodge, the levers are made of bent bits of mild steel strip. the bearing rods are psuhed in and burred oever to stop them coming out, which also coveniently makes them hard to lube, I've not read Anders bit yet.
Just for your info you can buy a new bit from cit which is the manual and auto h/c levers the mounting bracket for the h/c all as one lump for the princely sum of ?82 +VAT[xx(] [xx(] [xx(] [xx(] , how do I know? I have problems with the little ball the pastic clip fixes to, it is worn and because it is not designed to be dismantled replacing it seemed the only solution until I used Chemical Metal to build it up. Whether this will last too long I don't know but it only takes 5 mins to do.
Pete
________
Juggalo