Xantia suspension cost

redzzed · Post by **redzzed** » 14 Feb 2011, 21:33

I had a problem with the front suspension remaining high and being rigid.

I booked the car in at a citroen specialist garage (not a citroen main dealer) that i mhave used off/on for 12 years .
and they have loosened both back and front height correctors .
'cos i was late picking the car up on saturday (my bicycle chain snapped on the way),they had gone home and thier employee gave me the keys and said to call on monday for a quote .
They say it needs back and front height correctors and also 2 spheres and i got a quote of over £600 incl vat which our lovely scumbag govt will have from me if they can .

I'm unwaged and living off savings and cant really afford this .
Can anyone confirm that that is an accurate quote for the work , are there any options with recon. correctors and spheres .

The suspension is working ok today and the mot is due in june , how good does the susp. have to be to pass , anyone know .

I'm havin a very bad run with my citroens , this is my 3rd in about 11 months .

thx

dave

mendedit · Post by **mendedit** » 14 Feb 2011, 21:52

There's a lot on here about cleaning the height correctors,
seems to be a fairly streightforward job,
maybe this may cure, many more here know a lot more than me about this, I'm sure they'll be in touch soon.

redzzed · Post by **redzzed** » 14 Feb 2011, 21:54

Thx for the reply , can i take it that bananas are no good for cleaning the correctors then ??

Post by **myglaren** » 15 Feb 2011, 06:49

Take a look here for height corrector specific instructions and here for general instructions on changing spheres and general hydraulic maintenance.

If it should be that the actual height correctors, rather than the operating turrets, are defective then they can be dismantled and cleaned, there is a related thread on here somewhere.

The quoted price does seem rather on the high side.
Doing it yourself and allowing for a Hydrorinçage flush and then refill with LHM+ should save about £500.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 15 Feb 2011, 08:32

redzzed wrote
"I'm havin a very bad run with my Citroëns , this is my 3rd in about 11 months"

have you thought this might have something to do with the INDY you are useing,

as Steve says it is more than likely the H/C mechanisum/turrets binding,

and for the MOT as long as the tester can feel some movement in front and rear suspension it should pass,

the only thing that quite offten gets misstaken as a fail is if there is lots of lubb/grease/oil around the H/C/linkage's,

as the uninitiated tester takes this as being a hydraulic leak,

regards malcolm

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 15 Feb 2011, 10:19

I ALSO doubt the Height correctors are faulty...

Its MORE and most likely the levers that act on the Corrector, they should both be nice and free to move! And stiff ness or sticky ness will cause all sorts or height problems

The reason they stick and the height doesn't alter is that they are connected with Spring action connectors built into the levers so soften the lever movement in the car..

Ive been driving Hydraulic citroens for Ten years now, and had about 2 height corrector problems, and they were leaks more then anything else.

Id be suspect of your Indy, they obviously do not know as much as they think they do!

Paul

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 15 Feb 2011, 13:20

I Agree with everything Paul/Malcolm/Steve has said, ive never known a height corrector to pack up, its always lack of maintanance that causes the linkages to stick, they just want a clean and grease thats all, new spheres would be money well spent, about £25/each but not super essential if there is still suspension movement, mind you, no point having a citroen if it rides like your driving on bare rims.

D

Post by **Rhothgar** » 15 Feb 2011, 17:51

Height correctors cost in the region of £150 a piece.

Spheres are anything from between £25 (GSF) - £50 (Citroen) a piece.

Labour for doing the work is going to be somewhere around 3 - 4 hours at £50 an hour.

Quote is not reasonable but the fact that this is work, as all the other guys have said, that you can easily do yourself with the help of topics and forum members this is what makes it unreasonable.

Add to that the fact that height correctors rarely cause problems then £100 will easily see you right.

Just make sure you read the topics that have been linked to for you thoroughly and don't get crushed to death under the car.

The front height corrector mechanism is the one to make your knuckles bleed!

You don't need to remove the rear one in my opinion but you will get a better result if you soak it overnight in parafin or something that will lubricate it.

redzzed · Post by **redzzed** » 15 Feb 2011, 19:05

Thx for the replies and advice , my previous 4 cars have all been citroen ZX tds'' , the last 2 .. 1 failed mot on back axle after having had a xsara replacement axle the previous year , and the next zx got torched by someone overnight in the road where i live .(the diesels burn like a damp haystack btw..the engine/front anyway)

I will not book the car in with these guys , they probably are reading this anyway , and i will checkout the pheasability of doing it myself or getting spheres and finding a garage to do it , i have no access to axle stands nor space or a place where i can do that .
thx again for the advice i was dreading spending 650 when there might be other stuff wrong with it .

I still prefer zxs tho and yearn for a good late volcane td .

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 15 Feb 2011, 20:23

No wonder you have had a few then, a pretend Citroen. The ZX is ok, I dont rate them though, they seem to suffer rust around the front subframe mount areas under the car...

A Citroen is a car that HAS to hae hydraulics!! Any other, is just not good enough

Paul

redzzed · Post by **redzzed** » 15 Feb 2011, 20:38

Dunno about the lesser models , i have had volcanes and one memphis.
The metal is galvanized i don't beleive i have seen any rust at all on any of them .

They all ran on wvo/svo and the last 2 did 50 mpg .

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Feb 2011, 20:42

citroenxm wrote:a pretend Citroën. The ZX is ok, I dont rate them though

Ouch! That's a bit harsh Paul...

citroenxm wrote: A Citroën is a car that HAS to have hydraulics!! Any other, is just not good enough

Well, you know I subscribe to that view.

A bit off topic really but I was quite surprised today when the meter reader called at my house and asked if I'd mind moving my Activa so that he could get to the meter boxes.

I told him no problem but he'd have to wait a moment for the hydraulics to come up to pressure.

he said "Yes, of course, it's a Citroen isn't it?"

So that's what is in the minds of the general public as well. Citroens are hydraulic.

Post by **RichardW** » 15 Feb 2011, 21:19

redzzed wrote:Dunno about the lesser models , i have had volcanes and one memphis.
The metal is galvanized i don't beleive i have seen any rust at all on any of them .

They all ran on wvo/svo and the last 2 did 50 mpg .

They rust, trust me! Mostly the front inner wheel arch seams, and as Paul said around the front subframe mounts. Ours went to the scrappers because it needed welding for the 3rd year in a row in the inner arches, and also around the OS subframe mount - which looked a sub frame out job to me. Oh, and the brakes were shot! With sorted rear suspension they are a hoot to drive on the bendy stuff though!

vince · Post by **vince** » 15 Feb 2011, 21:51

Dave where are you based in "england" ?

Which spheres do you need changing? Where are you in "england" ?

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 15 Feb 2011, 22:37

i agree with Richard ZX's do suffer with tin worm,

although end part of last year i delt with two that had no tin worm in sight

,

regards malcolm