xantia v6 sudden suspension change.

[dowen]

Hi, my 98 mk 2 xantia v6, is not the most comfortable xantia I have ever driven, certainly not a patch on my XM. At the best of times its rather harsh, not bouncy, I find myself steering around potholes and bad bits in the road!

Just latley its taken to becoming alarmingly bouncy ,I think on the back, this happens suddenly as I am driving, lasts for about a mile then goes back to its normal ride. The hydractive switch seems to make no diference at all.

The car will raise and lower as it should, the pump clicks about every 45seconds, and each corner feels ok on the bounce test with engine running.

Can any one help?

Dave.

[CitroJim]

Hi Dave,

Yes, the V6 is a little erm, firmer on the suspension than other hydractive Xantias. By design I believe. Certainly my HDi is a lot squidgier than my V6. Only my Activa is firmer... MK1 V6s always seemed a bit softer to me...

On the MK2 Xantia the design of the hydractive sphere blocks changed and it made them a little more sensitive to pressure deficits in the mainline hydraulic circuit and results in them being a little sluggish to switch back to soft mode from hard mode. The rear suffers much more than the front.

Bizarrely, a flat anti-sink sphere can cause this effect to be worse along with flat corner spheres. Corner spheres on a hydractive car can go flat and even rupture without you being aware.

Firstly, I'd have all the rear spheres checked on a pressure tester and if all is good then I'd turn my attention to the pressure regulator and have it tested to ensure it's properly cutting out at 170 Bar. Over time the spring gets weaker and the cutout pressure falls accordingly.

[dowen]

Thanks for advice Jim,Ive bought corner and and regulator spheres for the back and will fit them when the weather lets me.Bizarly the car was really smooth yesterday, today its not so good ! Maybe its got wind of its impending transplants!
Im not sure where the bleed valve is and can I get at it?
If replaceing spheres has no effect, I will remove regulator, I think you wrote somthing about it, Ill try to find it.
Thanks again for getting back. Dave.

[CitroJim]

Good stuff Dave

The bleed screw on the V6 is almost inaccessible and I never bother with it when replacing spheres... Crack off the corners on high as per the procedure, have axle stands ready and set the height full low and proceed, ignoring any bleed valve references...

Please observe the safely precautions when doing this job...

Yes, a number of articles on overhauling the electrovalves have been written but these are the last thing to check Dave; they're likely to be OK...

[dowen]

Thanks Jim, OK ill ignore bleed screw, but as allways Ive got to wait till the weather gets better.
I attemped to change aux belt to day but could not for the life of me find sq hole to release tension! I did it once on a c5 with ,looks like same engine and set up, but I just couldnt find the hole! Where is it?
THanks again, Dave.

[CitroJim]

There isn't one Dave!!!

rather than me waffling away on how to do it, here's the official words...



Hope that's OK.

Quick edit. The small bolts are 13mm and the big hexagon is 21mm. A good long ring spanner is needed to get good torque on it.

Bolt 2 is best got at using a cranked ring as there's not enough space for a ratchet head there...

[dowen]

Thanks Jim,I thought I was going mad had to go to the pub.
Dave.

[CitroJim]

I thought I was going mad had to go to the pub.
Dave.