Need to change spheres

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Dave Bamber
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Post by Dave Bamber »

Yes, you can lower the car on stands. Change the spheres then restart the engine, then you can get the car off the stands.
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davek-uk
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Post by davek-uk »

Don't worry; it's all pretty easy. For a start the hydro suspension makes it so easy to put the car on axle stands; put the suspension on high, put your stands under (I have to use my stands without the adjustable inserts), lower the suspension and switch the car off - job done!
To depressurise the suspension, undo the 12mm bolt on the front of the pressure regulator (a few inches to the right of the acc sphere) a quarter to half a turn. It's the only 12mm bolt there and you'll hear a hiss as the system depressurises. You can get to it from the top or from underneath.
To remove the spheres the main problem you'll encounter is turning them to break the initial seal, for this the sphere tool from GSF is a godsend. Other methods are strong chain wrenches or hammer and chisel. Initially I tried with a strong oil filter chain and a strap wrench and all I did was waste time and damage them.
The front suspension spheres should be fairly easy, the accumulator will undo with a bit more heft. Simply unscrew them and replace, use a rag to catch unwanted spills of LHM.
The rear suspension spheres may be a bit more of a struggle. If they are really tight you'll need to 'crack' the spheres with the suspension on high - just a fraction of a turn to get them moving. I did this as a precaution anyway - put the suspension on high, put the axle stands in place under the rear and 'crack' the seal then lower, depressurise, etc.
If you have an anti-sink sphere to replace, after you have lowered the suspension leave the engine on idle for a minute or two to empty the sphere; if you switch off too soon it will retain pressure. This sphere has a central oil feed to its rear retained by a 9mm nut. There is enough give on the pipe work to 'crack' the sphere's seal but if you go any further without undoing the oil feed's bolt you will fracture the pipe. If you can undo the bolt first (access is limited) it would be safest.
As with any subject, do a search on the forum for more info. There are some very knowledgeable people here and by now very few problems that haven't already been encountered and solved.
Lastly, good luck...
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Post by JohnD »

You should be able to do the accumulator and front spheres without lifting the front wheels from the ground. I've just put on a new accumulator this morning. To do the rears, I find it best to get the back wheels on ramps. With the suspension down, you need room to move - especially doing the anti-sink sphere.
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davek-uk
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Post by davek-uk »

It is possible to do the accumulator from the top, but I found mine to be on very tight. So it was far easier (and safer for the rad) to do it from underneath.
When you want to jack the car up just set the suspension to high, place axle stands under the front or rear (or both!). To release the pressure in the suspension you need to set it to low (and wait a minute or so with the engine running if you have anti-sink). This is ok with the axle stands under the front subframe or axle stands carefully placed at the rear. You can even change the wheels this way. With no pressure in the suspension, the wheels will be on the ground but where the car is supported by the stands you'll be able to lift the wheels up! It's no different from a 'normal' sprung car but you don't have to jack it up first! And with the suspension on low (and/or depressurised) you don't have to fight springs to lift the wheels off the ground.
The car doesn't need to be level. In fact if you have the rear wheels on ramps and the suspension on high, when you set the suspension on low and the front does down first you get a very uneven car! You're thinking of the self-levelling suspension. Self-levelling is a bit of a misnomer any way, they only self level and keep the body level with a theoretical line drawn through the wheel centres. If you park facing up hill, the rear doesn't pump up and the front go down - so it doesn't really self-level.
It really isn't scary - just really useful. When the suspension is set to low, what can sink will. Without any support the car will rest on the suspension stops. Jacking it up manually and placing it on axle stands is no different than using the high setting to get the car to jack itself up, placing the axle stands and setting the suspension to low. The only difference really is you don't have to jack it yourself and you'd have trouble jacking a low set car.
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Post by Kowalski »

Twice I've done accumulator spheres from the top, both times I used a block hammer and an 18" chisel. Ideally I'd have got the chain wrench or the stilsons onto the sphere but access is near impossible top or bottom without taking the radiator out and the chisel just goes in.
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