Xantia rear suspension cylinders

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 17 Apr 2011, 21:35

Are there after market rear suspension cylinders ? Can a faulty rear cylinder be fixed ?

Thank
Zohar

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:01

Personally I have never seen aftermarket parts for Citroen hydraulic components - except the gas spheres.
They are er too special and slow selling.

Your best chance is a breaker or private seller.

If they leak from a defective seal, the seal can in fact be replaced, but then you MUST correct the cause of the defective seal, i.e. polishing the piston.
And the piston must positively NOT be pitted - at all.

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:08

Hi Anders

How do you take the cylinder apart ? Does Citroen sell the seal ? How do you polish the piston

Thanks
Zohar

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:44

Remove the clamp that holds the rubber bellow on to the cylinder.
Then pull off the bellow.

Note the felt washer.

With 2 fingers inside the hollow piston draw the piston out from the cylinder.
Take care not to drop it or scratch it.
Inside the cylinder you can see and feel the seals.

The outermost seal is the dust seal, the innermost seal is the piston seal.
Its exactly the same construction as a brake caliper.

The seals comes in different diameters - according to the internal diameter of the cylinder.
There are different cylinder sizes according to year model of your Xantia, therefore you must first know the cylinder diameter.

Clean the piston, then polish it using standard steel polishing methods.

Before assembly, clean all parts and lubricate with fresh LHM.

SwissSPEC · Post by **SwissSPEC** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:49

Slight hijack of this thread, anyone know where some cheap xantia saloon non hydractive cylinders can be purchased from, i need some for a bx as those one's are stupid prices. I'm aware that they aren't a direct fit & require modding, but thats not a problem. I'd prefer new if poss, but if good condition 2nd hand ones are lurking about then i'd be interested if anyone has any spares that they don't need?

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 18 Apr 2011, 14:18

Hi Anders

Thanks for the detailed instructions , is a fine sand paper can be used to polish the piston ? The sealing you mention is an O-ring like ? Is the thickness of the sealing of an importance ?
Are these sealings sold by Citroen or you can find them in any hardware store ?
Citroen part number for the rear cylinders are:

Right: 5272 53
Left: 5272 54

Thanks
Zohar

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 18 Apr 2011, 15:00

You need one of these - for each cylinder :
5272.18 O-RING seal DIAM 37,3 EP3,6 - xantia since OPR 06779 & C5 SEDAN
5272.29 seal DIAM 37 EP3 - xantia since OPR 06779 & C5 SEDAN
5272.31 seal DIAM 38X44 EP2,4 - xantia since OPR 06779 & C5 SEDAN

The seals are special and only Citroen can supply them.

Polishing the piston must be done with care using very fine emery paper Grit 600 or higher.
Finish off using polishing paste like your grandma uses for silver and brass household.

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 18 Apr 2011, 15:15

Hi Anders

In order to that I have to remove the spheres from the cylinder can I re-use them after I fix the cylinders ? They are month old .

Thanks
Zohar

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 18 Apr 2011, 15:41

Yes you can reuse the spheres.
You have to remove them before you can remove the cylinder.

Have you confirmed that one of them is leaking?

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 18 Apr 2011, 22:36

No I still hadn’t but I am going to do that , it locks logical that this is the case since the rear suspension is sinking immediately after stopping the engine and no resistance when pushing it downwards. The main accumulator is 10 month old and before replacing it was ticking. I replaced all the rear three spheres and the middle one manufacturing year was 2004, it may be that it was defective I don’t know for sure but it looks that a shelf life of 7 years it too long. Anyway I’ll start with checking the cylinders, once I’ll do that I’ll post the results.

Thanks a lot
Zohar

hanskj · Post by **hanskj** » 19 Apr 2011, 16:13

Hi

It could also be the rear antisinkvalve or the brakevalve/Doseur thats leaky

Here´s a guide on how to fix the doseur.

http://www.bxclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6351

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 19 Apr 2011, 22:35

Are the BX's doseur and the Xantia's doeur the same ?

Thanks
Zohar

lancia58 · Post by **lancia58** » 20 Apr 2011, 06:15

How can the antisinkvalve be checked if it functions OK

Thanks
Zohar

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 20 Apr 2011, 16:55

You cannot check the antisink valve by itself.

Stick to your first idea : check the rear suspension cylinders.
Then take it from there.

hanskj · Post by **hanskj** » 20 Apr 2011, 21:01

BX and Xantia doseurs has the same repair procedure. There is an O-ring inside the antisik valve if it´s damaged it will leak internally.