Driveshafts / CV Joints

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ids987
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Driveshafts / CV Joints

Post by ids987 »

Hi Everybody,

New here - been a member for a while, but my first post.
I've just bought a W Reg 2.0 16V Xantia Estate via Ebay (oops) - to replace my trusty old P Reg 1.8 16V hatchback.
Starting to think I should have spent the money on fixing the old car....
Anyway, one of many problems with the 2.0 is the N/S driveshaft. The inner CV joint has shed its boot, and presumably run dry for some time - hence vibrating etc. I was hoping to swap the whole driveshaft between cars, but this is defo a no-no (ABS vs no ABS etc). I can see that there are many variants of driveshaft, but believe this may be mainly due to the outer CV joint and ABS vs no ABS vs 48 teeth ABS ring vs 29 teeth ABS ring......
Just wondering if anyone knows whether the inner CV joints are all the same please.
Thanks for any input !

Ian
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Post by CitroJim »

Tell me about it Ian :evil:

Most cars on the 'bay are suspect to say the least and perhaps Xantias even more so because of their complexity. I bought a superficially good Activa there and superficially it looked fine. A dirfferent story once I got it home.

It is a great car now but the words in my sign-off are not there for frivolous reasons... Lots of blood, sweat and tears and quite a lot of money went into making mine what it is now...

Anyway, welcome!

The driveshaft is not serious, a visit to a breakers should flush out a new driveshaft pretty sharpish and they're not hard to fit. I think all inner CV joints are much the same and dependant on which gearbox you have, either a BE3 or an ML5. It should be possible to fit just a replacement inner CV joint if the rest of the shaft is OK although for the trouble involved, you'd may as well do the whole thing.

So what else is wrong? Just keep on coming back here with the problems and all the help you need will be forthcoming.
Jim

Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
ids987
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Post by ids987 »

Thanks for the Reply - The story so far:

One electric window declared as "stuck slightly open" - no motor present (bought a pair S/H - eBay - should have soon).

Heater blower wired to toggle switch, so off or full blast. Blows hot air all the time - blower on or off (declared in all fairness, but haven't had time to look at yet - due to other faults).

Front spheres completely flat (replaced a couple of days ago).

Rear spheres not all that either.

Tyres on their last legs. Was hoping to swap with old Xantia - both 195/65 - then noticed the different diameters (15" vs 14") - D'Oh !

Slight hydraulic anomaly (may post separately). Going from depressurised to full, the back doesn't come up. From depressurised to normal, the back normally rises (not always), sometimes the front doesn't, sometimes normal. Going to depressurised setting, the rear doesn't always sink. Once settled to normal, seems to work ok......

Driveshaft - been trying to find second hand, but shortage of breakers locally. I May try to swap the inner CV joint with the old Xantia if I can't find one soon (looks fairly straightforward). Bizarrely, the old Xantia has just died a major death.

Antiseptic smell and slight steaming - suspect heater matrix leak. The old Xantia did this too. More noticeable with this one cos it's on full heat all the time.

I think I'm gonna find more front end stuff needing attention when I do the driveshaft, and I've only had it just over a week - mostly par for the course I s'pose though. More annoying than anything.

Ian
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Post by LeeDJC »

ids987 wrote: Heater blower wired to toggle switch, so off or full blast. Blows hot air all the time - blower on or off (declared in all fairness, but haven't had time to look at yet - due to other faults).
Is the switch there due to the infamous heater/rear window demister problem? Perhaps someone has bypassed all the usual wiring and placed a switch between the fan and a permanent live? I'm not sure if this was/is a problem with the Mk2s.
Front spheres completely flat (replaced a couple of days ago).
Um, dodgy spheres perhaps?
Slight hydraulic anomaly (may post separately). Going from depressurised to full, the back doesn't come up. From depressurised to normal, the back normally rises (not always), sometimes the front doesn't, sometimes normal. Going to depressurised setting, the rear doesn't always sink. Once settled to normal, seems to work ok......
Could be that the linkages on the height corrector need adjusting.
Antiseptic smell and slight steaming - suspect heater matrix leak. The old Xantia did this too. More noticeable with this one cos it's on full heat all the time.
Very likely

Hope this helps.....perhaps some more seasoned members can come along and give you a bit more info than I can!

Lee
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ids987
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Post by ids987 »

Lee and Jim, thanks for the replies so far !
LeeDJC wrote: Is the switch there due to the infamous heater/rear window demister problem? Perhaps someone has bypassed all the usual wiring and placed a switch between the fan and a permanent live? I'm not sure if this was/is a problem with the Mk2s.
Probably - need to find time to trace the wiring - and find out how it should be (any pearls of wisdom appreciated).... Read a few posts, so I know the temperature adjustment is motorised flap arrangement. Suspect there may well be no power to the gubbins - with the flap stuck on full heat.
Front spheres completely flat (replaced a couple of days ago).
Sorry, I meant that the ones which came with it were flat - the front spheres are ok since I replaced them.
Slight hydraulic anomaly (may post separately). Going from depressurised to full, the back doesn't come up. From depressurised to normal, the back normally rises (not always), sometimes the front doesn't, sometimes normal. Going to depressurised setting, the rear doesn't always sink. Once settled to normal, seems to work ok......
Could be that the linkages on the height corrector need adjusting.

Lee
Must admit, I thought it was a problem with the rear height corrector / linkage at first, as it was the rear not rising on full height which I noticed first (trying to get it to do Citrobics). Smothered it in WD40 and Spray Grease. Now wondering if it is the height adjuster itself. Doesn't really seem to correspond to a problem with either end of the car in isolation, and seems to correct normally once it is in position.

Ian
Last edited by ids987 on 25 Apr 2007, 21:50, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Xaccers »

Check your anti-sink and accumulator as on both 2nd hand cars I've had, they've been flat or close to flat.
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ids987
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Post by ids987 »

Xac wrote:Check your anti-sink and accumulator as on both 2nd hand cars I've had, they've been flat or close to flat.
Thanks Xac, I think the accumulator is ok, as it seems to hold pressure. Is there an easy way to check the anti-sink (or is that a stupid question) - it doesn't seem to sink when it shouldn't :? ?

Ian
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Post by FrenchLeave »

Hi Ian,

The name "anti sink sphere" is misleading. As you probably know, the rear brakes get their operating pressure from the rear suspension; that way they are load sensitive. When Citroen fitted anti-sink it was realised that, in the event of hydraulic failure, the a/s valve would close and isolate the rear brakes from their pressure supply. So they put in an extra sphere to act as an emergency brake supply and, because it was required as a result of fitting the a/s system, they called it the a/s sphere. It might have been more logical if they'd called it the rear brake sphere.

Hydraulically it's fitted on a pipe taken from between the rear height corrector and the anti sink valve. Physically I don't know where it is on the Zant, on the XM it's in the most inaccessible place imaginable.

As far as testing is concerned, I suppose you could depressurise the system until the a/s valves close (the front one will close first), then see if you can operate the rear brakes - several times. Someone a lot cleverer than me will probably come along and say that's the wrong way to test but it's my best guess.

Derek
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Post by ids987 »

LeeDJC wrote:]
Could be that the linkages on the height corrector need adjusting.

Lee
Must admit, I thought it was a problem with the rear height corrector / linkage at first, as it was the rear not rising on full height which I noticed first (trying to get it to do Citrobics). Smothered it in WD40 and Spray Grease. Now wondering if it is the height adjuster itself. Doesn't really seem to correspond to a problem with either end of the car in isolation, and seems to correct normally once it is in position.
Lee,

Sorry, just realised that the height adjuster is directly linked to the height correctors. I guess this is the most likely source of the problem (and probably the linkages you meant).

Ian
ids987
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Post by ids987 »

FrenchLeave wrote:Hi Ian,

The name "anti sink sphere" is misleading. As you probably know, the rear brakes get their operating pressure from the rear suspension; that way they are load sensitive. When Citroen fitted anti-sink it was realised that, in the event of hydraulic failure, the a/s valve would close and isolate the rear brakes from their pressure supply. So they put in an extra sphere to act as an emergency brake supply and, because it was required as a result of fitting the a/s system, they called it the a/s sphere. It might have been more logical if they'd called it the rear brake sphere.

Hydraulically it's fitted on a pipe taken from between the rear height corrector and the anti sink valve. Physically I don't know where it is on the Zant, on the XM it's in the most inaccessible place imaginable.

As far as testing is concerned, I suppose you could depressurise the system until the a/s valves close (the front one will close first), then see if you can operate the rear brakes - several times. Someone a lot cleverer than me will probably come along and say that's the wrong way to test but it's my best guess.

Derek
Cheers Derek, I know where the a/s sphere is. Guess I need a Debbie McGee to check the rear brakes in isolation....

Ian
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