Shocking Xantia Suspension collapse!

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:21

Just looking through ebay, doing the usual Citroen search, and came across this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-CITROEN-XANT ... 2a05ba15f5

I had no idea this much damage could be caused! Is this due to serious neglect of the system?

addo · Post by **addo** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:27

Yes, neglect and a slightly flawed part design. Interesting that in an era when manufacturers are raked through the coals over selling faulty vehicles, there was never a recall on these... A series II Xantia won't collapse in the same way.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:37

It looks worse than it is, a new bonnet and strut will have the car good again.

Oddly it usually happens when the car is pakred

Watch out for the same thing on Xms:

Bad design really, just watch for corrosion around the strut tops. Bad spheres can make the problem more prone.

Why wouldnt a S2 Xantia do this?

I wonder if the C5s strut tops are of a different design?

harryjoe · Post by **harryjoe** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:38

Now thats what i call i SINKER

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:46

I bloody well hope the C5 has a different design!

I'm still in shock, I had NEVER heard of this before. What an odd fault.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:48

Hmm i wouldnt worry, ive never heard of a C5 having this problem, the strut top certainly looks different to the Xms and Xantias.

Its not a huge problem, so long as the strut tops are good there wont be a problem.

Im yet to find a french car without a quirk or two

R9UKE · Post by **R9UKE** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:50

Im yet to find a french car without a quirk or two

And that's why we love them!!

vince · Post by **vince** » 24 Mar 2010, 22:55

Although this is a known fault on Xantias and Xm's it is easy to blow this out of proportion.

I spoke at length about this about a year ago with a Citroen master technician who has worked extensively on Citroens for over 20 years and even now owns a Xantia and looks after plenty "older citroens" for friends and family etc. I too was worried about strut top failure and voiced my concerns to him. Although he was aware of the problems some cars have had he assured me that by no means it is such a common fault that i need be unduly worried about it or that Xantias and XM's were dropping like flies from such issues.

This is not to say of course that these faults cannot occur as clearly they can, and i would recommend that any extra waterproofing that can be done around strut tops should be done, but more to say that it doesnt mean we are all driving ticking time bombs

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 24 Mar 2010, 23:01

Indeed it is, someone has to

Yes i agree Vince, a rare thing to happen really. This is not what kills off Xms and Xantias, nothing to be worried about. Check the thread in the supersticky area on here to find out a bit more. But its nothing to get concerned with.

xmexclusive · Post by **xmexclusive** » 27 Mar 2010, 23:24

Hi Vince

I cannot agree with your advice on strut heads.
With some years of experience with a good number of XM's I consider that there is a very real problem that needs regular condition checks. Not something to play down as Citroen have tried to do since the problem first emerged. The early Xantia head seems to suffer even more than the XM one due to the lamination failure of the wheel arch rubber on the underside of the strut head. The XM head is unprotected bare metal on the underside but does not suffer from rusting at this point so I cannot support the advice about waterproofing. This waterproofing will hide deteriation from examination and detection and is also very likely to accelerate the rusting process.
From my reseach it seems that Citroen changed the manufacturing method for strut heads sometime in 1998 and this is why later Xantias do not seem to have a problem.

John