Sphere help please

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 14:29

Hey all, car failed MOT on front suspension, so i need to change the front spheres. i was planning on buying the spheres and fitting myself as its only the front two,, however, the chap at CitroenPartsLondon said if the car is hydractive,(which it is), i will need to also replace the front hydractive sphere(the one the nsf i think he said near the airfilter???), as the the spheres wont do anything unless that is also changed.
is this correct? or can i just change the front two suspension spheres without having to change this part? time is running out for a free retest....

Sl4yer · Post by **Sl4yer** » 20 May 2010, 15:12

What did it actually fail for?

James

Post by **Peter.N.** » 20 May 2010, 16:44

The centre sphere is responsible for the soft ride on a correctly operating hydractive system so you won't get much improvement by just changing the corner ones.

The centre sphere is underneath behind the engine, the one near the air filter is the accumulator sphere, it would be a good idea to change that as well. About £20.00 + vat from GSF

As James says, I cant see how low spheres would cause it to fail the MOT unless there is no movement on the suspension at all.

Peter

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 20 May 2010, 16:54

And if there's no movement, then you could be in hard mode perminantly and will need to apply the diode mod to get it working properly, which isn't a big job.

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 16:59

well,,,its really bouncy,,kinda like a boat riding on rough seas,,its really bouncy...so which spheres do i need? For now i just want to get it through the mot so i don't have to pay another test fee,,my funds are quite low at the moment...eventually i plan to get them all changed but like i said,at the moment the mot is the main thing

Sl4yer · Post by **Sl4yer** » 20 May 2010, 17:11

If you open the bonnet and press down (hard) on the slam panel, can you push the front down? Is there any travel?

Does the ride height look normal?

James

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 17:38

i pushed down on it with the car on and off,,,same result,,,it seems really stiff,,feels like pushing against a really compressed, tight spring, rather than pushing against an extended loose spring,,,if you know what i mean??

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 17:44

im so stupid! i forgot to mention to you guys that the car is a xantia 2.1td vsx 1997

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 17:52

i cant see any mention of the centre sphere on aepdirect website??? theres the front and rear suspension spheres - thats 4,, theres the the anti-sink sphere - thats 5,, theres the accumulator sphere - thats 6,, and theres the front and rear regulator sphere - thats 8 in total.... so which is the centre sphere? because this car only has 8 spheres in total...

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 20 May 2010, 18:00

The front and rear regulator sphere is the middle sphereon each axle;
you're quite correct to count the x4 corners, the anti sink (that's 5),
the accumulator(6) and this leaves the front and rear hydractive sphere.

Your AEP bloke is quite correct to say the middle spheres do all the soft
ride as Peter says; tge Xant will have it's sphere below the air filter on the
front cross member not as Peter says at the back of the engine bay as he's
in XM mode!! Sorry Peter...

Andrew

Post by **Peter.N.** » 20 May 2010, 18:12

Sorry about that

I looked in the Xantia book and thought that was where I saw it. I did mean underneath though.

If your suspension is bouncy it could be at the wrong hight and hitting the bump stops, if not, the corner spheres or a centre shpere will give it some movement, the front corners are the easiest to change of the lot, should be a five minute job.

Peter

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 20 May 2010, 18:23

These should help.

http://www.kolumbus.fi/perhe_pitkanen/xw/spheres.htm

http://cx.podolsk.ru/xm/docum/citroen_kule.pdf

hopefully!!?

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 20 May 2010, 18:30

For the car to fail an MOT on insufficient suspension travel I'd suggest
the corners and centre ARE goosed. Whilst you're at it there at the front
spend more than 5 minutes checking the condition of the metal and rubber
on the sphere mounting brackets as THESE WILL FINALLY FAIL WITH
FLAT SUSPENSION AND SPEAR YOUR BONNET AND GIVE YOU THE SHOCK
OF YOUR LIFE!!!

Andrew

i3 · Post by i3 » 20 May 2010, 18:45

ok,,,so i need the front two suspension spheres,,, but the regulator sphere im not sure which one i need...please look at the two links and tell me which one to order:
https://www.aepdirect.com/index.php?opt ... ct_id=3134
https://www.aepdirect.com/index.php?opt ... ct_id=3161

if you see with the rear regulator it seems like they have the one i need listed but im not sure with the front...heres the rear one which i think is suitable for this car:
https://www.aepdirect.com/index.php?opt ... ct_id=3131

please have a look at the top two links and let me know which i should order for this car...

Post by **xantia_v6** » 20 May 2010, 18:58

the top link you gave is the correct front centre sphere for your car, but the other one is not much different.

The center (regulator) sphere on your car is mounted to the crossmember almost under the battery, not to be confused with the accumulator which is mounted on the front of the engine or gearbox.