Citroen Xantia Suspension/Brake issues

dazzydecks · Post by **dazzydecks** » 25 Jul 2006, 15:13

Hi,

I posted the following message on Parkers forum, and was redirected here - I hope you can help - thanks,

Darren

Citroen Xantia. 1995N. 1.8 16v Dimension II. Manual gearbox. 65,000 miles. Hasn't been professionally serviced recently - 2 years+ since last service.

I have had the car 2 years, and until now, the obscure suspension system has seemed to be ok - it always raised up to its normal ride height within about 30 seconds of starting the car from cold.

For no apparent reason, 3 days ago, I noticed that the car looked very low; even though the engine was switched off. I started it up, and the front end rose, but the rear did not.

In addition, there is now a slight delay with the brakes: it's like if you try and drive away before the suspension is set (not something I have done on purpose!).

Obviously, with the suspension being at the bottom of it's travel at the rear of the car, and the brake issues, it isn't currently drivable.

As the car only cost me £650 two years ago, I'm not prepared to spend a fortune on repairs.

Can anyone offer me some quick and easy to perform advice, or am I resigned to calling a scrap yard?

Thanks in advance

Darren

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 25 Jul 2006, 15:38

You need a rear height corrector, this can be seen on the online shopping at www.citroen-hydraulics.com or give them a ring.

All Xantia's get this trouble eventually.

You will get a lot of talk about spraying with easing oil etc, but in my humble and honest opinion, it's easier and quicker to fit another one. even if you are paying someone else to do this it shouldnt cost more than £50 labour + parts and vat

Regards
Slim

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 25 Jul 2006, 16:42

First call would be the plastic clip - item 6 on this schematic :
http://www.citroen-pr.net/catalogues/il ... 366100.gif

If this is missing or has snapped - the height corrector is not signalled to correct the height.
The clip is only some £1.6.

Generally you MUST be prepared to DIY working to keep the car running - when buying bargain cars - especially HYDRAULIC Citroens.
Why do you think they are bargains as sechond hands in the first place

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 25 Jul 2006, 17:45

If the plastic clip has come off then it is because the height corrector has seized up.

Fitting a new clip will make it a much stronger joint at the ball and sockets, this will ensure that the clip does not come off again !!

You will now have created a different problem, the small metal link to the adjustment clamp on the anti roll bar will flex, as the height corrector cannot move and in a very short time will snap.

The rear height corrector is siezed, replace it.

if you own a Xantia, it's not a case of if you replace the rear height corrector, it's a case of when you replace it.

Regards
Slim

deian · Post by **deian** » 25 Jul 2006, 19:00

or maybe the height corrector has seized up, another tip is to spray wd40 on the height corrector over a period of a few days, and also do some citrobeotics, is the lhm fluid level ok too, just a few basics before you get your hands dirty.

Post by **CitroJim** » 25 Jul 2006, 19:01

slim123 wrote:The rear height corrector is siezed, replace it.

if you own a Xantia, it's not a case of if you replace the rear height corrector, it's a case of when you replace it.

Regards
Slim

Unless yu have a Mk1 Xantia and then the rear height corrector never gets a chance to seize up. It gets exercised at least from low to normal ride height every day by virtue of no anti-sink

davethewheel · Post by **davethewheel** » 25 Jul 2006, 19:22

i had this problem on my Xantia was going to strip the corrector down but my local garage said they could supply and fit a recon corrector for £95.00 all in including vat , so thats what i did as i need the car daily and couldn't risk not having the car

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 25 Jul 2006, 19:57

BUT FIRST . . .

If the car hasn't been "properly" serviced for 2 years - check the level of the LHM (suspension oil).
Check the little plastic bobin in the plastic tube on the top of the LHM reservoir. It should be between the two red lines on the tube when the car is at maximum height (which you apparantly can acheive at the moment, but if the level is low, you won't get it fully up either).

//NiSk

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 25 Jul 2006, 21:13

slim123 wrote:If the plastic clip has come off then it is because the height corrector has seized up.

Fitting a new clip will make it a much stronger joint at the ball and sockets, this will ensure that the clip does not come off again !!

You will now have created a different problem, the small metal link to the adjustment clamp on the anti roll bar will flex, as the height corrector cannot move and in a very short time will snap.

The rear height corrector is siezed, replace it.

if you own a Xantia, it's not a case of if you replace the rear height corrector, it's a case of when you replace it.

Regards
Slim

Hi Slim,

Will due respect I don't believe this is the case at all, and heres why - height correctors don't "seize up", all the moving parts are constantly bathed in LHM. At worst their hydraulic damper/delay ports can get clogged with particles of grit from dirty oil.

This can slow them down and make them a bit unresponsive, (and in extreme cases prevent them from working at all) but in NO WAY can this cause excessive strain to make the plastic clip jump off.

Why ? Because the hydraulic damper ports are there specifically to stop the height corrector from moving in response to short term stimulus - the suspension can move over its entire travel in under a second on a very undulating road for example, (hitting both bump stops in the process) and a normally functioning height corrector will NOT MOVE during that time, even though the roll bar has turned through its full range and is applying force to it.

What moves is the spring mechanism between the height corrector and the plastic clip, which is specifically there to "give" when the rollbar turns and the height corrector hydraulically resists moving.

The specific spring strength together with the size of the holes in the damping chambers in the height corrector (pinhole sized) work together to give you your 5-10 second delay for height corrections.

Because the spring is there to allow for temporary lack of movement of the height corrector, it follows that if the height corector were actually physically seized, all that would happen is that it wouldn't work, there would be no additional force on the plastic clip than there would be under normal operation.

No, the only thing that can cause the plastic clip to jump off is wear in the nylon ball cups, or the spring unit itself being rusty and sezing up, or a combination of both.

The thing that makes it jump off is you have one end of the clip moving in an arc, and the other end moving in a straight line, and in one direction of rotation the balljoint at the spring end is being pushed in such a direction that it is trying to disengage, and only the tightness of the ball coupling keeps it on - and if its worn and/or the spring is a bit seized it will jump off.

It always jumps off at the spring end. I've replaced both the plastic links on my Xantia as a preventative measure and both were badly worn and had well over half a millimetre of slack. The new ones were free of slack by comparison.

My advice is to thoroughly clean and lubricate the spring mechanism, (take the assembly out of the car if necessary) and fit a new plastic clip, and I think you'll find everything is fine without wasting money on an unneeded height corrector. (They really are extremely reliable devices, unless abused by years of dirty oil)

Regards,
Simon

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » 25 Jul 2006, 22:26

First, I have to admit that I am not such an expert on the suspension as Simon and others on here are, but I also have never come across a seized height corrector.
I have owned BX's, looked after my son's Xantias and helped friends sort out many BX problems but have never seen a HC that did not work.
I have seen suspensions that did not work but the problem has always been lack of lubrication on the associated levers and ball joint connection or a build up of 'crud' on these.

Dave.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 26 Jul 2006, 12:40

Come on guys -

We all tend to take our own experiences as the truth - the only truth - that exists in the world. But as we all know the truth is always dependent of the eyes looking at - and the hands been on - any job.

Thanks.

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 26 Jul 2006, 14:03

Hi all.

I've just been reading through this thread, "interesting"

We all refer to the Xantia height corrector as simply a height corrector, but as most will know this refers to the height corrector and the cradle, as supplied ready to fit.

The part that normally seizes is indeed the cradle, at least here in the UK they do, mostly due to the fact that they sit under the rear of the car getting covered in wet spray, salt and whatever else the road has to chuck up.

Now as said before the cradle arrangement will sieze, a lot of people see that the plastic clip has popped off and quite rightly think "i'll pop a new link on and that will sort it" Well in my experience it dont! It only makes the clip stronger thus resulting in a broken metal link, see piccy.
Also note the shiny new plastic clip and broken link!!

This piccy shows the recon height corrector ready to fit.

And as for the throttling valve inside, well this was replaced years ago with a plasic sleeve arrangement, this will block up quicker than a toilet at Glastobury, so keep the LHM clean and if in doubt, FLUSH IT OUT.
See piccy of modern type throttling valve.

Hope the pics help to explain the problem, as they sat a picture tells a thousand words!!

As you may have realised I have fitted more of these height correctors than I care to remember, just so happens that the classic broken link one was removed from a 2001 Xantia yesterday.

Must go now I have another Xantia height corrector to fit!!!!!

Regards
Slim

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » 26 Jul 2006, 19:11

Thanks for the explanation, slim.

I had incorrectly assumed that you were referring to just the height corrector unit and not including the linkages.

Dave.

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 27 Jul 2006, 01:48

slim123 wrote:We all refer to the Xantia height corrector as simply a height corrector, but as most will know this refers to the height corrector and the cradle, as supplied ready to fit.

Guess that must be a regional thing then

I cut my teeth on GS's and CX's, and they didn't have a "cradle", they just had a long torsion bar going from the roll bar clamp to the height corrector... why they took a simple, reliable and indestructable torsion bar and replaced it with a complicated bracket, spring, and plastic clip for the Xantia is anyones guess!

Just refering to the entire assembly as "the height corrector" is bound to cause confusion IMHO, and unnecessary replacement of an expensive and seldom faulty item.

Now as said before the cradle arrangement will sieze, a lot of people see that the plastic clip has popped off and quite rightly think "i'll pop a new link on and that will sort it" Well in my experience it dont! It only makes the clip stronger thus resulting in a broken metal link, see piccy.

Agreed - the spring unit must be checked and cleaned/lubricated as well. I think this is a regional thing though to - over here in New Zealand the spring units show no sign of deterioration or seizing even on 12/13 year old cars. Probably the same in Australia. I greased the springs on mine as a preventative measure all the same.

And as for the throttling valve inside, well this was replaced years ago with a plasic sleeve arrangement, this will block up quicker than a toilet at Glastobury, so keep the LHM clean and if in doubt, FLUSH IT OUT.
See piccy of modern type throttling valve.

What model/year has a valve like that ? I've stripped the front height corrector on my 1997 Xantia a few months ago to clean it, and it didn't have anything like that, it had the standard small round discs with pinholes held apart with spacers...

Regards,
Simon

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 27 Jul 2006, 17:59

The new plastic type throttle valve was fitted to the later cars, I dont have any info as in dates or RP no's.

Pleiades tell me that most going in for overhaul have this type now, but getting it out aint easy especially for DIY as it is crimped into the ally housing, they tell me that they have to drill it out before fitting a better modified throttling valve, does not block so easy and keeps the height corrector more responsive.

Also the cradle is built as a rivited unit and is not designed to be taken apart (like so many things today) To clean this properly will need the use of drilling and tapping then putting back together using set screws.

The word from the experts is that one of their fastest selling items is, the Xantia rear height corrector.

A lot will ask, why not the front one?? that seems to be location, under most engines (except Jap engines) there will be a small amount of oil residue and the heat from the exhaust helps to keep the fromt height corrector dry and fairly rust free.

Regards
Slim.