Xantia suspension clip (rear)

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triumphtoledo
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Xantia suspension clip (rear)

Post by triumphtoledo »

As a matter of interest, when the rear height corrector's platsic clip fails, does the rear end of the car get stuck on "high"?

Rob
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Re: Xantia suspension clip (rear)

Post by PowerLee »

triumphtoledo wrote:As a matter of interest, when the rear height corrector's platsic clip fails, does the rear end of the car get stuck on "high"?

Rob
That depends on if your height corrector is stuck :wink:

Normally it should drop quickly to the floor.

New plastic clip is very cheap from Citroen dealer.
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Post by triumphtoledo »

so if a xantia's clip broke and the suspension was stuck on high at the rear, even through the front drops, would the HC would be seized as well?
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Post by PowerLee »

Normally the HC being seized is what busts the plastic clip.

If you remove the clip the rear suspension should drop down, if it doesn't then something is wrong with the HC.

Its also why you never ever go under a hydropneumatic Citroen with out it either up on a proper car ramp or axle stands under the body supporting it, knock the rear HC clip off ( it has happened) & its goodnight vienna
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Post by triumphtoledo »

so...would it be possible to lubricate the HC or are they normally in need of replacement when this happens?
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Post by PowerLee »

You can try lubricating it well & moving the suspension up & down but dont under any circumstances go under the car unless its supported under the body / subframe with axle stands or up on a proper car ramp.

People have been killed over the years by hydropneumatic Citroens dropping on them because they went under with the car unsupported.
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Post by mezuk04 »

Never a truer word spoken, I get nervous everytime I'm under the Zx, just incase something drastic happened....it is of course always safer to be cautious
Volkswagen Golf 59' 1.6TD S :(
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Post by UFO »

mezuk04 wrote:Never a truer word spoken, I get nervous everytime I'm under the Zx, just incase something drastic happened....it is of course always safer to be cautious
:roll: :roll: :roll: :-k Those hydropneumatic ZXs are deadly I hear :wink:
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Post by PowerLee »

UFO wrote:
mezuk04 wrote:Never a truer word spoken, I get nervous everytime I'm under the Zx, just incase something drastic happened....it is of course always safer to be cautious
:roll: :roll: :roll: :-k Those hydropneumatic ZXs are deadly I hear :wink:
I wouldnt want to try & change the spheres on one :wink: :lol:
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Post by Mandrake »

PowerLee wrote:Normally the HC being seized is what busts the plastic clip.
Only if you consider the height corrector to include the entire spring assembly in the saddle that its mounted in... the actual height corrector itself (the small drum unit with the pipes going in) CANT cause the clip to break or pop off due to being "seized". (This is an old chestnut IMHO)

Why ? Because the height corrector has built in hydraulic damping which prevents it from moving at all in response to short term movements of the suspension anyway.

So you hit a big dip in the road - the suspension compresses, the rollbar turns, the plastic link moves the spring, but the height corrector doesn't move in that short period of time. If it was "seized" there would be no additional strain on the clip.

What causes the clip to come off is one or more of the following - the cups in the nylon link wearing and becoming slack, corrosion of the steel balls the clip fits on, corrosion of the spring mechanism preventing it moving smoothly, dirt getting compacted up into the plastic clip preventing it pivoting freely. (Especially if the felt washers are missing - they're there to keep the dirt out of the balljoints)
If you remove the clip the rear suspension should drop down, if it doesn't then something is wrong with the HC.
No, if you remove the clip, the suspension should stay at whatever height it's at. If it drops down either the height corrector or the spring assembly is a bit seized up, (probably the latter) or the manual override linkage is mal-adjusted.

With the clip removed on a probably working system you can lift and lower the car using the manual height control lever, and whatever height it is at when you put the lever back to the middle is where it will stay, rather than returning to normal height. (Ignoring loss of height due to leakage and changes due to load, which wont be corrected for of course..)

In fact this is how you typically set the height - loosening the rollbar clamp has the same effect as the the clip being missing. So you loosen the clamp, tweak the height with the manual control lever, (or pressing directly on the height corrector) then tighten the clamp again...
Its also why you never ever go under a hydropneumatic Citroen with out it either up on a proper car ramp or axle stands under the body supporting it, knock the rear HC clip off ( it has happened) & its goodnight vienna
Theres plenty of reasons not to get under an unsupported hydraulic Cit - thats just one of them :lol:

Regards,
Simon
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Post by citronut »

it dose seem to be a sized linkage which causes the nylon link to pop of more often than not or the metal link from the roll bar to shear off,usualy the best fix is free off the sprung linkage then replace the nylon link rod
regards malcolm
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Post by mezuk04 »

Mock me not 8)

I dont like getting under any car including a standard zx, humans werent made for lying under small tight spaces.....
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Post by CitroJim »

mezuk04 wrote:Mock me not 8)

I dont like getting under any car including a standard zx, humans werent made for lying under small tight spaces.....
Nor small furry animals it seems. My cats often shelter under either of the 205s but NEVER under the Xantia :) They know :wink:
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Post by deian »

i agree with mandrake, i'v had recent 'fun' with the plastic clip and the behaviour of dodgy clip (mine was worn down so it fell off all the time), if it falls off then the ride height will stay more or less the same until you drop it down or bring it up (the height lever inside), if you leave it in normal, it should be ok, maybe if you load the back up with two adults and some shoppings it will drop down and be a horrid ride, i noticed that to fix this meat putting the suspension up to the internediate high to pump the back up then back to normal fixed it... all very much fun and annoying behaviour... oh and quite hard to work out until you can do logical tests.

1.79 from citroen, i helped my new clip to stay on with some cable ties just incase the ball is a bit too worn down too.
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Post by andmcit »

I've just recently had the actual anti roll bar clamp's rod shear off the anti roll
bar on my Xantia TD estate. The metal had actually weakened with rust and
sheared straight across. Fortunately had one on a rear subframe I dropped
off the back of another estate. Got to be worth removing these if you see a
good one in a yard where it's all shelved up in the air - otherwise it'll cost you
£16.37 from Mr Citroën...

Andrew
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