Citroen Xantia 2.0L HDI SX spheres

[stevestix8]

Hi all,

All good news from me. The parts turned up yesterday afternoon (they are the Amtex make). I got it set up and depressurised and then we tried using a chain type tool but the spheres did not budge. I had already made the thread part of the xac special when my Dad turned up and made the pole part about 1m long with holes drilled. We put tool together and tightened it up around the sphere and a small easy turn later released the sphere. I could then unscrew, and both spat out some LHM but not too much was lost. I coated the new 'o' rings in lhm and then screwed on the new spheres. Have done them up just with my hands, so they are tight on.

The ride home was the best it's been since I got it a year and half ago. All smooth and easy. It was very bouncy before (thought I was gonna have to get a saddle) so I know this has worked and I am happy with how its gone back together.

So thankyou Xac and others who chipped in to this thread, problem solved.

P.S. the accumilator sphere is ticking about every 15 secs. What would this mean longer term if I don't replace now?

Steve

[myglaren]

P.S. the accumilator sphere is ticking about every 15 secs. What would this mean longer term if I don't replace now?

Damage to the regulator. A tick rate of <30" is bad news.

[addo]

If your pump is working two or three times harder than it should, expect the following:
Pump wear increases
Pump O-rings fail sooner due to increased heat in the pump
Regulator return hose fails sooner due to increased heat in the LHM and pressure cycling
Regulator O-rings fail sooner due to increased heat
Hotter LHM stressing more rubber/compund items in the chain (such as doseur boot)

Ask me how I know!

[stevestix8]

If your pump is working two or three times harder than it should, expect the following:
Pump wear increases
Pump O-rings fail sooner due to increased heat in the pump
Regulator return hose fails sooner due to increased heat in the LHM and pressure cycling
Regulator O-rings fail sooner due to increased heat
Hotter LHM stressing more rubber/compund items in the chain (such as doseur boot)

Ask me how I know!

Hi all,

Yep thanks for advice. Have ordered the accumilator today (£28) from GSF. It should turn up weds. Will change it then.

Does anyone know if I have to depressurise the system again before changing the accumilator?

Otherwise am ready to change the accumilator aswell. Am pleased with the cars performance at the moment and this will the final job for a while hopefully.

Steve

[Xaccers]

Yes, depressurise the system.

[addo]

Piece of cake; the easiest of the lot. If the local area around the sphere is a bit grimy, consider degreasing it first and allowing to dry.

Start the car, dump the suspension and open the bleed screw. Let it run a bit, then shut off your motor. Handbrake on, pump the footbrake a couple of dozen times to exhaust any saved pressure, then place a drain pan under the sphere and unscrew. Blot up excess fluid.

When attaching the new sphere, because visibility isn't so good - make sure the sealing ring stays where it ought.

FWIW I am about to be forced to swap the anti-sink O-ring as well.

[rmunns]

Also remember this may well be extremely tight, you may need PlusGas.

[stevestix8]

Hi all,

Thanks for advice. I have removed the old accumilator sphere, was more effort than the other 2 but leaked less LHM. The Xac special performed well again. I coated the new 'O' ring in new LHM and fitted nicely in place. The new sphere went in well and have hand tightened, we timed the old 1 before removing was at about 8 secs between ticks, the new gives 3 ticks in quick succession about every 1 min.

All seems to be ok and am enjoying the ride and performance of mine at the moment.

Thanks again,

Steve

[scr8pdo]

Hi everyone I just joined up.

Basically I just bought a 1997 Xantia 2.1 TD and its very very bouncy at the front, it seems rock hard and bounces down the road, it seems to sit very high on the normal setting too although it does rise and drop as required, bloke I got car from rekons it needs 2 front spheres, Iam a mechanic by trade but not had much to do with Citroens especially the the suspension systems, any advice would be great, all the best Steve


BTW my sister lives near Milton Keynes in Wolverton IIRC

[Xaccers]

Hi everyone I just joined up.

Basically I just bought a 1997 Xantia 2.1 TD and its very very bouncy at the front, it seems rock hard and bounces down the road, it seems to sit very high on the normal setting too although it does rise and drop as required, bloke I got car from rekons it needs 2 front spheres, Iam a mechanic by trade but not had much to do with Citroëns especially the the suspension systems, any advice would be great, all the best Steve


BTW my sister lives near Milton Keynes in Wolverton IIRC

Welcome aboard
With the car set to normal height (that's the thickest marker, first up from low) you should have 3 fingers between the top of the front wheels and the wheelarch, and 1 finger for the rears.
If either end is too high or too low then the ride will be too firm.
The condition of the spheres has no effect on the ride height, just the ride quality when the height is right.
So, if the ride height is correct and the ride is hard, then the spheres are low/flat/ruptured and need replacing.
Of course it could be a combination of the two.

If the height needs adjusting, then get the car up on full length ramps so you can safely work underneath.
The first thing to check is that the manual height setting isn't causing the issue.
Along the middle of the underside of the car running front to back is the manual height control rod.
It has clamps on each end which connect to the height controller arm.
If the clamps slip they can hold the car slightly high or low.
The rear one is easiest to view so have a look at that to get an idea how it all works.
The height corrector is the barrel that has 3 pipes going to it, out the end is the control arm which has a square hole in it.
The manual linkage has a pip on the side of it which fits inside the hole.
On normal height setting, this pip should be bang in the centre of the hole.
Connected by spring legs either side of the square hole is the self leveling linkage, this is connected to a clamp on the anti roll bar via a white plastic arm that looks like a dog bone.

If the manual linkages aren't causing the height to be wrong, then it's the clamp on the ARB that has been knocked.
Slacken the clamp and rotate it a tiny bit, it only needs small movements to make a huge difference in height.
Once you've got the height right and clamps tightened sit on the car to exercise the height controllers and make sure its definitely the right height.

It's always a good idea to dowse the linkages in spray lube too.

[scr8pdo]

^ Thanks for the advice, the car is sitting far too high on that normal setting so I shall check the height settings then, I will have to get down my mates yard with his 4 post ramp and have a look, so this sounds like its more of the height problem rather than the spheres and to be honest, the two front spheres look brand new from the outside.